Though it opened a few months ago, many West Philly Local readers may not be familiar with Hadramout Restaurant, a Yemeni eatery located at 136 S. 45th Street (between Walnut and Sansom, just across from the AICP mosque).

Hadramout serves generous portions of traditional Yemeni dishes, many of which feature ingredients and flavors not often seen in American eateries. Among these dishes are molokhia chicken (chicken with cooked greens), saltah with holba (beef stew with fenugreek topping, served with fresh-baked flatbread), haneeth (pressure-cooked lamb) and Yemeni milk tea (shahi haleeb). All the meat is halal, slaughtered in accordance with Islamic dietary law.

Hadramout offers both takeout and dine-in options, with delivery a possibility for the future. The restaurant is open until 10 at night, 7 days a week.

– Mike VanHelder

Photo via tastiesoulfood.com

A fine-dining soul food restaurant has opened on a block not exactly known for upscale sit-down eateries. Tasties Soul Food is launching where Pappy’s Pizza used to be, just north of Girard on 52nd Street. The restaurant is from Barbara Devan, a home-grown Southwest Philly success story who already runs two fast casual take-out restaurants under the Tasties brand. You may remember her from Jollies West, now the Corner Bar at 38th and Lancaster (right across from the site of the notorious Women’s Medical Society), or the old Tasties food truck, which would be often spotted near 48th and Market.

Tasties Restaurant features a full bar and will have brunch options on the weekend. In addition to standard soul food fare like BBQ chicken, turkey chops, candied yams and collard greens, Devan has added fancier options like fried lobster, lamb and mussels to the menu.  Continue Reading

Photo from Taco Angeleno’s Facebook page.

Taco Angeleno, the popular Mexican food truck that operates in Cedar Park May through October, is not going to reopen this spring, according to an announcement on the business’s Facebook page.

“Dear taco buds, as Summer vibes draw near I want to sadly inform you that Taco Angeleno will be closed until further notice,” the Facebook post reads. “We’ve enjoyed getting to know all of you loyal and kind taco lovers but running a small business is full of unique challenges and they force us to change sometimes. We’re not sure what’s to come next but please stay tuned to discover how we will serve West Philly in the future.”  Continue Reading

Rosa’s Fresh Pizza, the no-frills dollar-slice pizza shop, opened its second location this month on 40th between Ludlow and Market. Rosa’s is the brainchild of businessman Mason Wartman, whose claim to fame is appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his restaurant’s wall of pay-it-forward post-it notes. Each post-it represents a slice of pizza purchased by someone to feed the city’s homeless population, and anyone who can’t afford to buy food for themselves can take a post-it off of the wall and trade it for a slice at the counter.

Rosa’s original location, in Center City near Jefferson Hospital at 11th and Ludlow, serves free slices to 50-100 customers a day. A person behind the counter at the new University City location who declined to give his name said that they had “some” people taking advantage of the free slices, but not as many as 30 or 40. “I guess people just haven’t heard yet,” he explained.  Continue Reading

In 2016, we reported on the possibility that Loco Pez, the cash-only Fishtown taqueria, was opening a new location at 47th and Baltimore, in the spot that the Carrot Cake Man used to occupy in the old Montrose building. What ever happened to that plan? According to a local realtor’s website, Loco Pez signed a lease for the space in early 2016, but since then progress has been erratic.

For many months there was little to no activity, then eventually various construction permits for a sit-down restaurant appeared in the window, but construction seemed to stall as of late last Autumn. The location’s liquor license is in “safekeeping” status, which means that it’s still attached to that location, but not currently active. Only in the last few weeks have local residents reported renewed activity inside the space.  Continue Reading

Atiya Ola’s is now open on S. 48th Street next door to 48th Street Grille. (Photo by Rana Fayez)

A few months ago, Atiya Ola’s had no choice but to move out of their Baltimore Ave. location. Community organizations held fundraisers to help them pay rent, but restaurant owner Atiya Ola has not been able to find a suitable location until recently. Atiya Ola’s Spirit First Foods (Facebook page) held a grand opening earlier this month to invite the community into their new, albeit temporary location at Common Table on 48th street between Pine and Spruce. The business has even installed window signage, indicating that the restaurant is here to stay.

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Culinary Center, a division of the Enterprise Center in the Garden Court neighborhood, has a pop-up restaurant space called Common Table. The space is made available to businesses enrolled within the Center’s food industry incubator. As a business owner that has handled change gracefully, Atiya Ola welcomes the new scenery. “The universal laws opened the gateway for me to relocate here,” said Ola.  Continue Reading