Puyero spread.

Here are some interesting developments on the West Philly restaurant scene, from new openings to updates on existing businesses.

Puyero is bringing authentic Venezuelan cuisine to the heart of University City along the iconic Sansom Row, at 3428 Sansom Street. The restaurant serves authentic Venezuelan street food. Their “comida callejera” revolves around the arepa, a round corn flour patty that is stuffed with a variety of fillings and enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Their most popular arepas are the Reina Pepiada (chicken-avocado-salad) and the Pabellón (beef, beans, sweet plantains, and white cheese). Other must-try menu items include patacones, tequeños, and a memorable tres leches for dessert. The business was founded in 2017 by three Venezuelan immigrants: brothers Gilberto and Simón Arends, and Gil’s wife, Manuela Villasmil, who runs the kitchen. The idea behind Puyero was to share Venezuelan culture and identity, but most importantly their food with the city of Philadelphia. For more details about the restaurant, go to: www.puyeroflavor.com.

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2024 Philadelphia Marathon Course Map

The 2024 Philadelphia Marathon events will take place this weekend. The City has announced road closures ahead of the races, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23 (half marathon) and Sunday, Nov. 24 (the main event). Streets will be closed in many parts of the City during Friday, Nov. 22, through Sunday, Nov. 24. The closures will be implemented on a rolling basis. Traffic delays can be expected, and motorists are advised to use alternate routes and allow for extra driving time.

The streets and roads impacted by closures in West Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 23 include:

• 31st and Spring Garden
• Eastbound I-76 @ Spring Garden Street (top of the ramp)
• Westbound I-76 @ Girard Avenue (Exit #342)
• Walnut Street, from 12th Street to 34th Street
• 33rd Street, from Walnut Street to Spring Garden Street
• 34th Street, from Walnut Street to Girard Avenue
• Spring Garden Street, from 32nd Street to 34th Street
• Girard Avenue, 33rd Street to 38th Street

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The city’s Office of Multimodal Planning and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) are hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 20, to provide information and get feedback on the 47th Street Traffic Safety Project, which aims to improve traffic safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers from Chestnut Street to Kingsessing Avenue.

The project was first presented in 2023, along with the 48th Street Traffic Safety Project, but the redesign and repaving phases were put on hold earlier this year since more public input was needed. The initial plan included such changes as conversion of a portion of the street, between Paschall and Market, to one-way vehicle traffic.

Blocks along 47th Street from Chestnut Street to Paschall Avenue is on the City’s Vision Zero High Injury Network (HIN).

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Dinner Out Catering is bringing their delicious, family-style meals to Drexel-Aramark’s Local Restaurant Row next week. (Photo courtesy of The Enterprise Center)

Local restaurant lovers take note: Two new local pop-up culinary experiences will open next week and in early December on Local Restaurant Row located near 34th and Race on the Drexel University campus.

Dinner Out Catering, which features main course entrees such as Thai Chili Glazed Salmon and Coq au Vin and “upgraded American fare,” will be on the row Nov. 18-21 from 4-8 p.m.

Smokin’ Sone’s Fresh Grill, a “boutique catering and private chef company,” will be open Dec. 9-12 during the same hours. Smokin’ Sone’s offers an extensive menu of “upscale comfort” food and is led by Chef Sonya R. Combs.

Both Dinner Out Catering and Smokin’ Sone’s honed their skills at The Enterprise Center’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises (CCE), a culinary start-up culinary business incubator that includes a commercial kitchen.

Local Restaurant Row, which is located at the Northside Dining Terrace at 203 N. 34th Street St., is open to Drexel students and the public. It’s a partnership between Drexel University, Aramark, and The Enterprise Center and is aimed at giving neighborhood restaurateurs the opportunity to showcase their menus to a wider audience. 

A West Philly cyclist who regularly uses the Baltimore Avenue bike lane for commuting, was recently seriously injured when she swerved to avoid a trench near 46th and Baltimore. Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) dug the trench (see photo) during work at 4527 Baltimore Ave. about a month ago.

“The trench is so large that it makes part of the bike lane disappear and reduces it down to about 10 inches,” writes the injured cyclist, Hanna Kahler. “Because there are trolley tracks on Baltimore Ave, many bicyclists are getting forced into traffic and dangerously being forced to cross the trolley tracks with little notice.”

Hanna was injured on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 26 and had to spend the night in the ER.

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SEPTA is planning to increase fares by 29 percent from the current rates and also shut down many routes in an effort to help fund its operating expenses.

The decision was made this week after it became clear that much needed state funding may not be coming any time soon. SEPTA faces a $240 million budget deficit. SEPTA is also currently negotiating a new contract with its workers’ union, Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234, which is demanding wage increases and safety improvements for both passengers and transit workers.

A bill funding SEPTA $161 million per year has passed the Pennsylvania State House with bipartisan support, but is being stalled in the Senate.

Starting January 1, 2025, SEPTA fares may increase to $2.90 per ride, according to a proposal announced this week. This is the second fare increase proposed by SEPTA this year. The first increase, from $2.00 to $2.50 per ride for SEPTA Key and contactless card users, was proposed in September and will likely become effective on Dec. 1.

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SEPTA has erected metal fences around the 40th Street portal in preparation for the potential workers strike, according to the University City District (UCD). The exact purpose of the fences is not clear.

The strike was expected to begin as early as today (Nov. 8), right after the expiration of the contract between SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234, but since some progress was made during the negotiations of the new contract in the past couple of days it has been postponed.

“After months of bargaining we finally began to make some progress over the past couple days, but we simply ran out of time. We’re willing to go the extra mile and grant additional time to reach a fair agreement,” TWU Local 234 President Brian Pollitt said yesterday. “However, let me be clear if SEPTA’s managers fail to meet our demands, we will be on the picket line by the end of the month.”

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A great West Philly tradition, the Peoplehood Parade & Pageant, is returning on Saturday, Nov. 9. The family-friendly event, featuring giant puppets created by Spiral Q as well as drumlines and banners, will kick off at 1 p.m. at the Paul Robeson House (4951 Walnut St). The line-up begins at 12 p.m.

The parade will proceed to Clark Park at 45th and Kingsessing, where performances will take place, starting approximately at 2:15 p.m.

The annual event, which has been held since the 1990s, promotes diversity, civic engagement and creativity. The longtime organizer is the West Philly-based arts organization, Spiral Q, which works with artists, activists and community members and groups to create the giant puppets and banners for the event.

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Clean & Green Philly, a local organization that helps community groups clean and green vacant properties to reduce gun violence, is offering a new workshop in partnership with the West Philadelphia non-profit Hope PHL. The workshop will help explore hands-on strategies for activating vacant spaces.

Session 1 of the workshop will be held at Wonderspring – Powelton Village (3939 Warren St.) on Thursday, Nov. 14, beginning at 6 p.m. To RSVP, please click here or scan the QR code in the flyer below. Seats are limited.

Clean & Green Philly’s research shows that greening and cleaning vacant properties is one of the most effective interventions available to reduce gun violence in a neighborhood. Philadelphia has nearly 40,000 vacant properties. Continue Reading

Photo by Albert Yee for Fairmount Park Conservancy

Over 100 Philadelphia parks need help preparing for the winter season and will host clean-up service events during Love Your Park Fall Weekend (November 8-10). Love Your Park is a program of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Fairmount Park Conservancy, in partnership with the Park Friends Network, made up of 140 volunteer groups who steward their neighborhood parks.

Love Your Park Fall Weekend is dedicated to service and celebration in Philadelphia’s parks. Every fall, thousands of volunteers mobilize over the course of one weekend to care for their neighborhood green spaces by planting trees, raking leaves, cleaning up litter, and more to help prepare parks for the winter.

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Bark in the Park, the outdoor party for dogs and their owners, will return to 43rd & Chester beside the Bowl in Clark Park this Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. This frolicsome fall affair will be held by Friends of Clark Park in honor of Fran Byers, founder and longtime organizer of the event, who passed away earlier this year.

A host of silly contests will give every kind of dog a chance to compete for prizes, treats and toys! And a raffle will give one lucky winner a bag of goodies to bring home.

The party will last an hour. As always, it’s free. See the flyer below with more details. For questions, contact anthony.abbott.west@gmail.com.

The Friends of Clark Park will also plant a memorial tree for Fran Byers this Sunday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. in the Dickens Garden. All are welcome to join.

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Here’s an interesting shakeup at the storefront located at 4508 Walnut Street (near 45th and Walnut), which was until recently occupied by Lulu Cafe. The cafe specializing in Taiwanese street snacks and bubble tea, has recently closed its doors on Walnut and announced its move to 28-30 S. 40th Street, the space formerly occupied by the Green Line Cafe. The space on S. 40th Street is currently under renovation and Lulu is expected to reopen at this new location next month.

While the space at 45th and Walnut has been vacant since late August, a new sign appeared in its window, announcing that a new restaurant, Urban Sushi & Kitchen, is going to open there soon. The new establishment will serve halal food, according to the sign. So far, no additional information is available. We’ll let you know when we have more details.

Keswick Cycle opening in University City in 2011 (Archived photo).

Keswick Cycle has unexpectedly closed its University City location on Locust St. near 40th after 13 years of operation. There were no prior announcements about the closing on their social media, but there is a message on their website that reads simply:

“We are saddened to announce the closing of our University City location.”

The last post on the store’s Facebook page is dated Oct. 15. Some operations at the store are still temporarily ongoing for those who have pending order pickups.

The business was founded in 1933 in Glenside. The University City shop was their only location in Philadelphia. Two other remaining shops are in Glenside and Paoli where customers are now referred to by Keswick Cycle.

The 2024 general election will take place Nov. 5, when registered voters can cast their votes in person at the polling locations around the city, but here are a few reminders for those who want to vote earlier.

Voter registration has been closed, but those who have registered can still apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29. The Philadelphia City Commissioners has opened ten Satellite Election Offices throughout the city, one in each council district, where voters can apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot, complete it, and/or return it. All election offices are open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat-Sun 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Here are the election offices in West and Southwest Philadelphia:

2nd Council District

6100 Woodland Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19142

3rd Council District

4029 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

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