What to know about trying Wonder, the chain of food halls coming to Philly and the Main Line
The chain of food halls from dotcom-billionaire Marc Lore opened its second of 10 Philadelphia locations in Ardmore at 17 W. Lancaster Ave.
Ardmore residents can now get barbecue from Texas, pizza from Brooklyn, and cheesesteaks from Atlanta in just one kitchen thanks to Wonder, a rapidly expanding food hall chain that opened its second Philly-area location on Thursday.
Founded by Wharton School of Business dropout and dot-com billionaire Marc Lore, Wonder is basically a dressed-up ghost kitchen. Customers can order takeout from the Wonder app or dine in, choosing from 27 self-contained brands. Some — like salad and grain bowl brand Royal Greens — are meant to be reminiscent of other fast-casual chains, while others are partnerships with celebrity chefs or destination restaurants.
At 17 W. Lancaster Ave. in Ardmore, you can order a 15-ounce New York strip cosigned by Bobby Flay alongside a Korean cheesesteak from Atlanta’s Michelin-rated Fred’s Meat and Breads or mac ‘n’ cheese from a generic kids’ menu. Each meal is par-cooked at a central kitchen in Cranford, N.J., said Wonder’s chief marketing officer, Daniel Shlossman, and delivered to a Wonder brick-and-mortar to finish in a fryer, a warm water bath, or a rapid-cook oven.
Wonder is backed by $1.5 billion in investments and is betting big on Philadelphia. As the food hall chain grows from 38 locations in the New York City metropolitan area to a projected 90 along the Northeast corridor by the end of 2025, 10 will be in the Philly region.
The company has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase delivery service Grubhub, the meal kit service Blue Apron, and the media company Tastemade in hopes of becoming a catchall app for mealtime eventually powered by artificial intelligence.
“Philadelphia has an incredible dining scene,” said Shlossman, who has worked at Uber and Sweetgreen. “We’re not coming in and saying we’re dropping the best 20 restaurants in the neighborhood, but we do hope to be part of that conversation.”
Food critics have said dining at a Wonder can be hit-or-miss — and a little dystopian. Want to try it for yourself? Here’s what to know about Wonder, the wannabe “Amazon of food and beverage," coming to Philadelphia.
Are the same food options at every location?
Yes and no.
Wonder’s existence is predicated on the idea that ordering delivery is awful in an almost Sisyphean way, especially for families or big groups: The food comes late or cold or incomplete, and probably isn’t what everyone wanted in the first place.
“When you’re ordering [takeout] from one place with a family of four or a group of friends, you’re almost never going to land on the exact spot that everyone wants,” Shlossman said. At a Wonder location, customers can mix-and-match items from different brands on a single order.
Though Wonder has 27 “restaurants” in its portfolio, each brick-and-mortar only operates around 20. The mix is determined by a location’s size and neighborhood, said Shlossman.
At the Ardmore Wonder, pamphlet-style to-go menus for each of the 20 concepts line the wall above two self-ordering kiosks. They include three pizza options, wings, burgers, and poke, as well as those Bobby Flay-endorsed steaks, fried chicken from Marcus Samuelsson, and re-creations of the barbecue brisket from beloved Texan restaurant Tejas, among others.
Is it better to dine in or order out?
Order out.
The Ardmore Wonder only has 10 dine-in seats across four tables shoved to one side of the 3,000-square-foot storefront. When The Inquirer visited during lunchtime on Thursday, every seat was full and stayed that way.
The space felt like a cross between a Sweetgreen and a standard fast-food joint, with deep green accent walls and sparse decorations. A fine place for a lunch meeting, but not a first date or a group meal after a show at the Ardmore Music Hall.
Real talk: How long did it take to get the food?
Seventeen minutes, timed from when an Inquirer reporter placed her order at the kiosk until she received it.
That’s on par with Wonder’s promise of getting food to customers in under 30 minutes, including delivery orders. Wonder likes to keep its delivery areas small: just six minutes in urban locations and 12 minutes for suburban ones.
Is Wonder expensive?
It can be.
Prices vary across each restaurant concept. The cheapest item in the repertoire is a crispy chicken sandwich with pickles and garlic aioli from Samuelsson’s Streetbird for $6.95. It costs the same as almost every main course from Bellies, Wonder’s designated kids menu of finger foods.
The most-expensive items on the Wonder roster are from Bobby Flay Steaks, which trades off the concept that people want to eat a multicourse steakhouse dinner, just not at a steakhouse. A 10-ounce filet mignon runs $36, while a rib-eye or New York strip cost a dollar more.
Is the food any good?
Think of Wonder like going to a diner: When there’s a lot on the menu, some of it will be great, some of it won’t.
The standout at the Ardmore Wonder is Di Fara Pizza, a long-standing Brooklyn pizza shop beloved by Anthony Bourdain that makes no-nonsense pies. Wonder’s version has a chewy crust, lots of fresh basil, and doesn’t collapse under the weight of the toppings.
As for Bobby Flay’s $37 New York strip, it’s a steak. The cook was an accurate medium rare, but the meat was overseasoned, and it felt odd to pay that much money for something that’s served in plastic containers with a random bay leaf garnish.
Much of the rest varies from serviceable to so-so: The salad bowls from Royal Greens make for quick, healthy lunches, while Samuelsson’s Streetbird chicken sandwich was dry and cold, like something from a fast-food restaurant.
What else is there to eat nearby?
A lot.
Recently dubbed the “Fishtown of the Main Line,” Ardmore has at least one restaurant serving local versions of most of the cuisines in the Wonder universe.
» READ MORE: Is Ardmore the Fishtown of the Main Line?
Cozy slice shop Bella Italia, the swanky DePaul’s Table steakhouse, sushi and Thai hybrid Maiko Thai Pepper, and pub food purveyor McCloskey’s Tavern all exist on the same stretch of Lancaster Avenue as Wonder.
And if you really want to get pizza, Pad Thai, and pastries at the same time, there’s the Ardmore Farmers Market inside Suburban Square, which includes stalls from local grocers and food vendors.
Where — and when — are the other Wonder locations around Philly?
The area’s soon-to-be 10 Wonder locations are:
📍Center City: 1600 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
📍South Philly: 1001 S. Broad St., Philadelphia
📍Fishtown: 23 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia
📍Northeast Philly: Roosevelt Mall, 2327 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia
📍Ardmore: 17 W. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore (opened)
📍King of Prussia: 600 W. Dekalb Pike, King of Prussia (opened)
📍Newtown Square: Ellis Preserve, 3741 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square
📍West Chester: 706 E. Market St., West Chester
📍 Cherry Hill: Market Place at Garden State Park, 2050 NJ-70, Cherry Hill
📍 Mount Laurel: Larchmont Centre Plaza, 127 Ark Road, Mount Laurel
The King of Prussia location opened in March, just days before the Ardmore Wonder. Shlossman said the Northeast Philly and Fishtown locations will open later in April and May respectively but could not give exact dates.