This summer’s first Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll was held on June 15. (Photo by Ben Tran)

As the summer is coming to an end, this is a great opportunity to spend an evening outside enjoying food, drinks, treats and many other offers from local businesses, especially when every item costs $1. Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll returns Thursday, Sept. 7 for the second (and last) time this summer. It will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m. between 43rd and 52nd streets.

Over 30 businesses will participate in this Dollar Stroll (see the map below), and there will also be live entertainment: Hip Hop Fundamentals will perform at 50th and Baltimore, and Red Hot Ticket, a four-piece band featuring members of the West Philadelphia Orchestra, will perform 90s hip hop favorites as they make their way
up and down Baltimore Avenue. Also, bring your kids to see jugglers in front of Milk and Honey (Baltimore and 45th), and for some face-painting and balloon art at Cedar Park.  Continue Reading

Bernie’s Restaurant and Bar is opening this fall at 3432 Sansom St.

Good news for this University City storefront that has remained vacant since Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House closed in July 2016. Come this fall, Bernie’s Restaurant and Bar, a casual dining restaurant, will open its doors at 3432 Sansom Street. Penn’s Division of Facilities & Real Estate Services, which has signed the lease for the Sansom Street space with the restaurant owners, announced the upcoming opening earlier this week.

This will be the third Pennsylvania location for the restaurant known as a “full-service independent American-style restaurant and bar serving quality food and drinks in a cozy neighborhood setting,” according to the announcement. Bernie’s currently operates two locations in southeastern PA: Glenside and Hatboro, and its owner, Eric Kretschman, is both a Drexel and Penn alum.  Continue Reading

A group of local non-profits and Reading Terminal Market are teaming up to bring more fresh and healthy food to Parkside residents this summer. The first-ever Parkside Fresh Food Fest kicked off on Viola Street between 41st St and Belmont Ave on July 6 and will be held on select Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. throughout this summer. The festival brings fresh food to residents (via a food share program) and also includes cooking demonstrations from Reading Terminal, live entertainment and activities for families.

The next event in the series will take place this Thursday, July 20, and the remaining four events are scheduled on the following dates: Aug. 10, 24 and Sept. 14, 21.

The food share program was created after gauging residents’ interest in a potential subsidized Community Supported Agriculture service for East Parkside. Each food share includes fresh fruit, vegetables, locally-sourced eggs and/or dairy, and an assortment of other grocery items from Reading Terminal. Participation in the food share program requires a subscription (four-event subscription is $35), and some limited single shares ($10) will be available at each event. Information on each item in the food share package will be included along with a recipe card.

The series seeks to use food as the foundation to build community and utilize common public space. Attendees can also participate in organized art activities, bicycle safety workshops from the Indego Bike Share, and a Philadelphia Free Library Book Nook for children. Activities will vary each week and may include live music performances and a movie night.

The program is supported by the Knight Foundation.

More information about the fest can be found here. To subscribe to Parkside Market Food Share, click here and type the password “viola”.

University City Dining Days, the annual event where you can try food prepared at some of the best area restaurants at a discount, kicks off this Thursday (July 13). As always, dozens of University City-based restaurants will offer three-course dinner menus at three fixed prices – $15, $25 and $35.

Over 30 restaurants will participate in this popular event this year – from those run by famous chefs to ethnic cuisines to cozy BYOBs.

Some of the area’s well-known restaurants and bars are offering $15 three-course dinners, including Dahlak, New Delhi, Vietnam Cafe, Dock Street Brewery, Kabobeesh and more.  Continue Reading

The summer’s first Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll will take place Thursday, June 15, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., and the location of this extremely popular annual event has now expanded. Neighborhood businesses will be offering $1 food samples, drinks, pet supplies, vouchers, theater tickets, merchandise, and more along Baltimore Avenue from 43rd to 52nd streets. Click here for a detailed map showing what and where the participating businesses will be selling.

Along with veteran businesses, it’s great to see many new businesses participating in the event. While doing the stroll this Thursday, please stop by to say hello and check out offerings by such recently opened businesses as Amari’s Restaurant, Black Hound Clay Studio, Greensgrow West at their new location near 52nd and Baltimore, Ice Cave, and more (see more details here).  Continue Reading

Clark Park Farmers Market (archived photo).

Those who shopped at Clark Park Farmers’ Market this past Saturday noticed something different about it – all the vendors were positioned in the middle of 43rd Street instead of the sidewalk, while the street was closed to traffic. Just like you, we wondered if it was just for the day or long-term. The Food Trust, the nonprofit that hosts Clark Park and many other farmers markets around the city, says the new location for Clark Park Farmers Market on Saturdays is here to stay:

“After 20 seasons on the sidewalk, we’re moving our vendors into 43rd Street to enhance the shopping experience,” reads a message on The Food Trust’s Facebook page.

So come check it out on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Continue Reading