The tea, coffee and light fare spot Unitea (265 S. 44th St.), stayed in business for just under a year, closing in late March. It opened with pretty solid reviews, particularly of its tea selection. It had a pretty good location nearby Tampopo and Local 44.
That section of 44th will likely get another foot traffic boost when (Honest) Tom McCusker opens his taco shop in August next door at 261 S. 44th (By the way, we heard what definitely sounded like construction noise coming from that little building today, so that project is underway).
Unitea’s windows are now papered over, which we hope means a new tenant is in the works. Their closing got us thinking … Has that part of West Philly hit its capacity for cafes/coffee shops? Within a few blocks you have Green Line, Cafe Clave and Earth Cup. What would you like to see in that spot on 44th? Just curious.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Something to drive away the foul-smelling hygiene-deficient hipsters that have taken what was once a nice place to live and turned it into a haven of fixies and pbr cans.po)pp
May 27th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I went there once and I was underwhelmed by the service and especially the decor, which felt cold and institutional when a coffeeshop (in my opinion) should be cozy and intimate. I’m not sure what I’d want to replace it with, though. A sandwich shop might be nice.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
An old-school breakfast place. Eggs and toast, coffee, pancakes. Nothing fancy.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
I got an iced tea and a sandwich there once. The tea was nice, but the sandwich was pre-made. My husband observed that the place had a grab-and-go atmosphere, but it’s not really a grab-and-go neighborhood.
I would like to see an ice cream shop, or at least someplace that serves several flavors of ice cream. Something cozier than Ben & Jerry’s and closer than Center City.
May 28th, 2011 at 9:51 am
There is a huge deficit of quality hard ice cream in the philly area in general. None of that soft serve, froyo, custard stuff.
May 29th, 2011 at 10:38 am
I _do_ think that with so many coffee and tea shop options in the West Philadelphia neighborhood in general, that you have to have some way to differentiate yourself so people will choose your cafe over all the others they could be walking to.
May 29th, 2011 at 11:10 am
we sampled both mood cafe & desi chaat house yesterday : both serve house-made hard ice cream in familiar ( vanilla, strawberry, cookies & cream ) and unique ( rose, buttery pistachio, mango ) flavors. no cones, but fair-sized dishes for two bucks!
May 29th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Amen Erin! Old school breakfast all the way! Sometimes you just don’t feel like shelling out 10 bucks for frittta…
May 30th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I went to Unitea on occasion for fresh juices.
I think what it lacked most was atmosphere. Everytime I went it was really HOT with no ac or heat on. They also had a television playing sports which isnt exactly what you want on when you go to sit and work or relax.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:02 am
I really enjoyed their selection of iced teas in the summer, so I am sad that it has gone. In it’s place . . . I would love a great place to get good kids’ haircuts.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Never been to Unitea because I live so close to the Satellite, which fulfills all my coffee and tea needs. We do go to Tampopo regularly though. An ice cream place would be really nice in that spot, although Milk and Honey serves ice cream and isn’t too far from there. A diner or breakfast spot would be great too.
Jennifer, do you know about Talking Headz Salon? They opened recently at 4714 Baltimore, formerly Benny’s barbershop. One of the two ladies who owns it (Sabrina) used to work at Saturn Club for many years. The other, Heather, cut my hair and was VERY meticulous and spent a lot of time to get it right. They welcome kids too. Check it out:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/talkin-headz-philadelphia
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the tip Emily!