Greensgrow’s new, larger and more permanent location at 5123 Baltimore Avenue is ready to welcome its first customers. The soft opening is this Friday, so stop by and check it out. Grand Opening is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 8. The former temporary Greensgrow West location at 4912 Baltimore Ave. closed on August 7.

Greensgrow signed a long-term lease with the city for 5123-29 Baltimore Ave. in Spring 2015 and began developing the new lot late last year. Previously empty and overgrown with bamboo, the new site was reimagined by student architects from Drexel University who gathered input from local residents with an eye towards green building practices.

The site features a high tunnel, demonstration green roofs and rain gardens, repurposed shipping containers, and even a tiny house. An outdoor classroom is being built by students from the Workshop School for Greensgrow’s educational workshops and will be open for neighborhood schools and organizations to use. Several West Philadelphia partners and organizations such as Cedar Park Neighbors, the Baltimore Avenue Business Association and the Philadelphia Water Department, contributed critical support to getting the site cleared for reuse. The new fence was built with the support of an Indiegogo campaign started by a neighbor.  Continue Reading

University City Dining Days return on July 14 with an impressive list of participating restaurants, well-established and new. Just a reminder that the purpose of this popular annual event organized by the University City District is to encourage folks to visit their local eateries during one of the slowest summer months. This summer, a record thirty-four of University City’s most popular dining destinations – including seven restaurants participating for the first time – will offer a pre-fixe three-course dinner special for $15, $25 or $35 (drinks and tips are not included).

The restaurants are now taking reservations, including popular spots such as Distrito, Dock Street Brewery, Stephen Starr’s Pod, Han Dynasty, and more. Seven new restaurants have joined this year’s program: Jose Garces’ JG Domestic, new Baltimore Avenue eatery Renata’s Kitchen, Nicole Marquis’ HipCityVeg, new fast casual concept Herban Quality Eats, Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burger Palace, Japanese hand-drawn noodle spot Ochatto, and Indian restaurant Tandoor.

The event will run for 10 days: July 14 through July 24.

The full list of participating restaurants, prices, and contact information for each restaurant are available at: www.ucdiningdays.com (make you reservation directly at your restaurant of choice).

Saad’s Halal is closed until Monday, July 11. (Photo West Philly Local)

Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim neighbors! The holy month of Ramadan began on Sunday, and as always, some of Muslim-owned restaurants will be closed for a month or will have limited hours.

Saad’s Halal restaurant at 45th and Walnut has closed and will reopen on Monday, July 11. Manakeesh Café and Bakery will be closed during the day starting Monday, June 6 and will be open for pickup starting at 7 p.m. Dinner will be served starting at sunset, and closing at 11 p.m. every night. The restaurant is also offering special catering for iftar. For more information, visit Manakeesh’s Facebook page.

Other restaurants may also offer specials during this month. Feel free to post this information in our Comments section below.

When I walked into Youma (Facebook page), a new African restaurant at 4519 Baltimore Ave., I was glad to finally get to spend some time with owner Youma Ba. When I met with her, she was covering for a server who was out sick. It was somewhat of a homecoming for Youma, since this very location was where she got her start as a server in Philly back in 2001, when it was known as La Calebasse. She left there to open Kilimanjaro on Walnut St.

Youma Ba

She was recruited by La Calebasse to work in their New York City location and was invited to West Philadelphia when the owners expanded into the area. “I’ve been a server, I’ve been a cook, I’ve been a manager,” she recalled. A veteran of the industry, she decided she was ready to open up a new restaurant when she saw the vacant storefront.

Youma Ba never intended to work with food. Her mother, Vice Mayor of Dakar, wanted her to be an economist so she got an economics degree from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. Her mother also taught Youma to cook for her large family twice a day. As one of 12 children, Youma gained the skills that helped her open her first restaurant.  Continue Reading

Mubarak Shawarma now open at 225 S. 45th St. (Photo by Rana Fayez)

The 45th street block between Locust Ave and Walnut Ave has seen a couple of new restaurants as of late, the newest of which is Mubarak Shawarma, has opened in the space where Ethio Cafe used to be.

Helmed by Jemila Mohamed, the restaurant will be offering Ethiopian and Middle Eastern food – breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you’ve had injera bread at a restaurant in Philly, chances are good you have already tasted her cooking. She has been making the signature bread out of her home kitchen and supplying it to restaurants, grocery stores and bodegas.

“So far I’m the No. 1 injera maker in Philadelphia,” says Mohamed. “It’s always been my dream to cook, I’ve always been cooking.”

Mubarak Shawarma has been open for about two weeks, but does not plan on making any drastic changes to the interior of the restaurant and the menu, only make additions to the menu. Mohamed says she was friends with the previous owner and that was how she found out about the storefront vacancy.  Continue Reading

Montrose building at 47th and Baltimore (Photo West Philly Local)

Many people have been wondering what business is coming to the vacant storefront in the Montrose apartment building at the northeast corner of 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue. It was revealed last week (Michael Klein of Philly.com’s The Insider broke the news) that a Fishtown-based L.A.-style taco bar, Loco Pez, is branching out to West Philly and chose this location. No further details were revealed, including the timeline for the opening, and we couldn’t get more info from the restaurant folks either at this time.

One of our readers asked about vegetarian options at the restaurant, and there are quite a few at their Fishtown location, which offers brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour. What’s interesting is that they only accept cash. Check out their website for more info and the menu. And we’ll keep you posted on this new location.

And here’s a little bit of history of the old Montrose building, which has housed many businesses in its four ground-floor retail spaces over the years. The beloved Carrot Cake Man, Vernon Wilkins, used to have a store in the building for 17 years until 1996.