17 new restaurants in Philly’s suburbs | Let’s Eat

Just as the city is seeing a restaurant boomlet, new suburban options abound. We run down 17 newcomers. Also this week: Craig LaBan reviews an energetic Filipino BYOB, we get inside the new Bankroll sports bar, and spill the location of Marc Vetri’s forthcoming Pizzeria Salvy.

⬇️ Read on for a quiz and restaurant news.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

— Mike Klein

Elegant Italian stylings, an upscale French BYOB, a steakhouse, seafood specialists, and an English pub have joined the region’s restaurant scene in the last few months — on both sides of the Delaware. I’m looking at you, too, South Jersey.🔑

Chance Anies has segued his Filipino food cart to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Critic Craig LaBan says Tabachoy “radiated the energy of a party as sizzle platters of crispy pork belly sisig topped with cracked eggs steamed their way to large groups at rustic wooden tables, where stacks of crisp lumpia and festive purple sundaes of ube soft-serve disappeared beneath the golden glow of Tabachoy’s neon pig.” There’s clearly a lot going on at this 28-seat BYOB named for the Tagalog word for “chubby.” 🔑

Bankroll, a splashy sports bar with today’s excitement-seeking, gambling fans in mind, opens this weekend on the former site of the Boyd Theatre near Rittenhouse Square. What does $25 million buy?

Fish fries are popular during the Lenten season, which runs till April 6. Hira Qureshi found nine bars and restaurants offering specials — from fish and chips to sardine sliders.

How about a retro seafood menu? Keg & Kitchen in Westmont is re-creating dishes from the long-gone Philadelphia Fish & Co. through Easter weekend.

Espresso martinis are one of the most popular drinks today, but they’re a time-suck for bartenders. Enter technology, and a machine that mixes spirits, coffee, and nitrogen and can knock one out in 20 seconds.

Friday will be Day One for Gilda, the Portuguese cafe-market at 300 E. Girard Ave. in Fishtown from husbands Brian Oliveira (left) and Brian Mattera, serving pastéis de nata and other pastries for breakfast and lunch. There’s a retail counter with specialty foods, including breads imported from Teixiera’s Portuguese Bakery in Newark, N.J. Say it: JILL-da. It will be open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. every day but Tuesday.

Also in the news:

Fiore Fine Foods announced that it would move from Queen Village to East Kensington. Last day on Front Street will be April 1. Chef-owners Ed Crochet and Justine MacNeil are seeking an improved quality of life.

Loch Bar, a swank seafood restaurant out of Baltimore, will light up the ground floor of the Arthaus condos at Broad and Spruce Streets, across from the Kimmel Center, this fall. Among the selling points for restaurateur Alex Smith was the Steak 48 restaurant on the other corner.

Famous 4th Street Deli in Queen Village is on the market. Well, it’s always on the market, for the right price. This time, owner Russ Cowan says a sale would figure into his exit plan from the world of pastrami.

Marc Vetri’s Pizzeria Salvy, honoring his 86-year-old dad, has a location: It will open this spring at the Comcast Technology Center. Vetri says he’s been futzing with the dough recipe for 10 years.

Free hoagies to the first 100 people in line at the Primo Hoagie shop opening at 10 a.m. March 7 at 1461 N. Gravel Pike in Perkiomenville.

Brewerytown Food Hall, assembling seven food concepts under one roof at 31st and Master Streets, opens Thursday at 4 p.m. and will be open all weekend from 4-10 p.m. as it ramps up.

Chef Tonii Hicks is the chef in residence through March 19 at Jose Garces’ Volvér at the Kimmel Center. Hicks’ dishes are inspired by North African cuisine, including golden beet crudo, shrimp tostada, salmon cake, and cherry water ice. It’s also a fundraiser for a new commissary in West Philadelphia. The Garces Foundation will match up to the first $5,000 raised, giving Hicks the opportunity to raise at least $10,000.

CO-OP at the Study Hotel (33rd and Chestnut Streets) is taking advantage of a location adjacent to Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital by offering a third-shift happy hour dubbed Sips & Scrubs from 7-9 a.m. weekdays with $5 mimosas and 10% food discounts. Weekend brunch runs from 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Sunday is last call for the Nick’s Roast Beef location on Cottman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia after more than a half-century. Owner Matt Rossi said he balked at a proposed rent increase. Want to say goodbye? He’s putting out a buffet from 4-7 p.m.

101 Unlockd is a speakeasy-style lounge in Center City. Jenn Ladd says there’s a membership application. What info are they after?

A) favorite Eagles player

B) occupation, salary, zip code, drink of choice

C) net worth

D) spirit animal

Find out if you know the answer.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? E-mail your questions to me at [email protected] for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

📧 If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you like what you’re reading, sign up here to get it free every week.

🍲 Keep reading more food news.

📱 Follow me on Twitter. Or follow me on Instagram.