Fond Farewells, Friendly Hellos & A Focus On The Future: Tracking All The Things For The July Edition
We’re mid-way through summer, and barreling towards the debut of fun and great things in the neighborhood, both next month and this fall.
We thought we had successfully captured all of the new projects coming to JUST this neighborhood and boy, were we wrong.
We added 11 NEW projects to last month’s list of 27 (and we know we missed a few more!) The one thing they all have in common? FUN. We’re finally – finally! – seeing restaurateurs, big brands, small brands, and business owners taking a leap of faith, and build what they’ve been thinking about or wanting to do, like:
…A quirky wine bar and bar bar from a duo known for their eclectic vibes and great drinks
…Japanese comfort food from one of the best Sushi chefs in the country, based in Queen Village
…A jazz and games lounge from a known New York City mainstay (although they are replacing a Philly mainstay)
…Two independent coffee shops expanding within Philly, one from not too far away, and the other from West Philly
…A brick-and-mortar bakery from some VERY talented wedding cake bakers
Long story short: Rittenhouse is back baby! Take a look below to see what we mean.
Fond Farewells:
Howl at the Moon | 📍258 S 15th St
(Almost) everyone’s favorite place to go for a bachelorette or coming-of-age venue, Howl at the Moon on 15th Street closed after a decade. As far as neighborhoods go, this was a place that you didn’t think you’d miss until they announced that they were closing immediately.
Thanks for the memories Howl at the Moon, you are very much missed.
Portabella | 📍1604 Chestnut St
Like Howl at the Moon, the NYC’s Philly-based Portabella store has been part of the neighborhood background for a long time, and a go-to for men’s special occasion wear. It’s moved around quite a bit- thanks to fellow Ramblers we’ve learned it’s moved from the previous Payless location to…
Friendly Hellos:
Portabella | 📍1528 Chestnut St
Similar to a traveling vagabond, our local Portabella has moved around a few times, usually up and down on Chestnut Street. This time it’s moved to the more snazzy and spacious former home of Modell’s.
Reformation |📍 1723 Walnut St
And just like that, one of the summer’s hottest arrivals arrived. Californian brand Reformation opened up on Walnut Street, next to the active work on what will be Aritzia, providing a wide range of options for polished, on-trend clothes and shoes. See our pics and details of the store here.
Skin Laundry |📍 123 S 16th St
Skin Laundry, a subscription laser facial chain from New York, joins an impressive list of places to go for glowing skin, including the recently opened Glowbar, LaserAway, Heyday, Rescue Spa, and more. It replaces the cute little Kimberly Boutique but as you can see, it’s pretty chic!
Starbucks |📍1900 Market St
One of the Starbucks with the nicest staff and generous puppucinos reopened, and boy, was it a major overhaul! The store no longer offers any space to hang or accommodate many people, but a larger store opening up nearby on Arch should have tables (still TBD but hopeful).
The Sugary | 📍 251 S 21st St
The Sweet Treat Gods continue to giveth as The Sugary opened, bringing a whole new level of dessert deliciousness to the neighborhood. Check out our article for details on the space and food. In the meantime, we’ll keep visiting them for their tasty iced teas and lattes.
Focus on the Future:
Aritzia |📍1725 Walnut St
This construction is no joke! They’re literally tearing down the walls of the former H&M to build a beautiful (we’re sure) Aritizia, that’s been long in the making (only 2 years, but still…)
Ayat |📍2021-23 Sansom St
The New York to Philly (and vice versa) love continues with the impending arrival of Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant, replacing the long-vacant Roxy Theatre space. This will be their seventh location, and second in Pennsylvania. There had been an attempts to demolish the building but it’ll be good to have another restaurant on that stretch of Sansom next to Bolo.
Black Turtle II |📍129 S 18th St
For a while, it seemed that, despite an increase in visitors and RTO mandates that have more people than ever commuting in, the neighborhood had fewer options for cool coffee and pastries options but that’s slowly changing with the opening of new coffee shops. The latest is Black Turtle Coffee‘s second shop as it replaces neighborhood fave and long-closed LeBus Bakery.
We liked the iced lattes we’ve had at their 21st & Chestnut store, and plan on doing more research, which may or may not involve an iced Hawaiian coconut latte. ETA is this fall but, until then, see you at their Chestnut St cafe!
Bleri’s Beanery Cafe |📍1745 South St
Courtesy of @walking_philly, we discovered Bleri’s Beanery Cafe is sliding into the just recently closed OCF Coffee House on South Street. ETA is TBD as we wait for their social and website to be established.
Borromini* |📍1809 Walnut St
We placed an asterisk by the Borromini name because it’s more commonly referred to as the new Stephen Starr restaurant and rightly so: it’s been a while since we had a new Starr restaurant in Philly, let alone Rittenhouse, replacing the local cultural icon that was Barnes & Noble.
This is a highly anticipated launch that won’t arrive until next year, but it takes a lot of work to transform a busy bookstore into an epic restaurant on the Square, we’re sure.
Brunchaholics Unlimited |📍40 S 19th St
Calling all brunch squads: Brunchaholics is rolling into Rittenhouse, next to Bao Nine! You may have seen or been to a Brunchaholics in Fishtown, Chester, or Cherry Hill: They’re a franchise whose entire business is exactly that – brunch! From what we’ve seen online, the portions are HUGE so a squad would be able to do it justice.
This one is a Brunchaholics Unlimited which could be unlimited mimosas, but we didn’t see a liquor license application. We heard they’re targeting an August opening, so ETA is soon!
Once occupied by Whistle Bar, the space has been empty ever since – Google Maps claims it closed back in 2014 but we’re not sure it that’s 100% accurate.
Cellar Dog |📍258 S 15th St
If you’re an ex-New Yorker, you may remember Fat Cat in the Village: It was a hodgepodge of music and games, along with all the elements of a good dive bar. Well, back in 2021 they reopened as Cellar Dog and now they’ll expand to Philly, replacing Howl at the Moon on 15th Street.
We were a little worried that the space would be empty for a period of time, especially as Garage Bar still hasn’t moved in at the corner of Spruce and 15th, so this is good! Cellar Dog will have live jazz music, performances, billiards, ping pong tables, shuffleboards, and board games. And like Good Dog Bar, their walls will feature good boys and good girls.
Last we heard the ETA was this fall but we’ve reached out to them to get a rough sense of the month.
Chip City Cookies |📍204 S 17th
Not going to lie – Miel Patisserie is MISSED but Chip City from Spiderman’s neighborhood in New York is making its way to us. From NBC 10:
The cookie chain’s menu rotates over forty unique flavors yearly, such as peanut butter and jelly, the everything cookie, oatmeal apple pie, blueberry cheesecake, s’mores, lemon berry, and the cannoli cookie. However, the menu changes each week to offer classic flavors, seasonal varieties, and dairy-free options.
ETA is Friday, August 2nd so photos to come!
Dave’s Hot Chicken |📍1731 Chestnut St
Alright, so…the sign that first appeared at the former South Moon Under boutique that closed said Dave’s Hot Chicken, the known national Nashville hot chicken chain across the US. Then, that sign disappeared. Recently a NEW sign has popped up BUT, as you can see in the pics, it lists their KoP and Willow Grow locations, which according to media outlets, are the original three that were slated to open in the Philadelphia area.
So this sign in our opinion means one of the following: (1) They are opening an unannounced 4th location or (2), The person or brand moving in let them post the flyers, or (3), They went rogue to promote their OTHER locations, to drum up business. Genius marketing move? Hoping to hear back to confirm at least one of these theories!
Dear Daphni |📍1911 Walnut St
This project has been in the works since 2021 but construction always takes longer than expected, especially if you’re a beautiful building like The Laurel. But it’s finished, and Schulson’s latest restaurant to give us another delicious Mediterranean option in the neighborhood as soon as next month (give or take) helmed by an award-winning chef. Fun fact: It’ll have both indoor AND outdoor seating!
Equinox |📍1909 Walnut St
A lot of New Yorkers’ favorite go-to gym for eucalyptus towels, Equinox, is opening up a Philly location in Rittenhouse (yeah, we’re biased, but this is 100% the correct place for them to be) and it looks hot!
It’s opening this fall in the newish condo/rentals building The Laurel, and they’re offering virtual tours as construction progresses.
FIGS |📍1625 Walnut St
Construction continues to HUSTLE at the previous, lovely home of Free People (which moved across the street), and as you can see from the most recent photo, they’ve been working hard on the lighting which looks much better in person. ETA is this fall and you can follow the progress here.
Five Iron Golf 📍2116 Chestnut Street
We’re big self-care fans. So when the neighborhood’s only indoor golf SIMS fave 5 Iron Golf announced they’ll be closed temporarily for 8 weeks to get a major glow-up, who are we to argue?
In short, Five Iron is overhauling the tech and rebuilding the bays. They’ve been really doing well and the new spaces look great, so we’re looking forward to seeing what they do here! We’re pretty sure 8 weeks will fly by.
Flight Club Darts |📍1417 Walnut St
The UK export Flight Club Darts coming to Rittenhouse is making progress! It’ll join Puttshack, ping-pong brand Spin, 5 Iron Golf, Cellar Dog, and possibly Garage Bar in offering the neighborhood places to eat, drink, and play. Rittenhouse went from a few to MANY options for a fun time! Updates to come – ETA is still fall.
Garage Bar |📍1501 Spruce St
The news back in September 2023 that a 3rd Garage Bar was opening in the long-closed Fox & Hound space was received with open arms. It would be the biggest one by far “clocking in at 6,500 square feet plus a large kitchen” and bring all the fun things the neighborhood could use, with skeeball machines, pinball, billiards, and more Eagles watch party options.
However, it’s been a bit quiet on that corner for a while now but we’ve reached out to them and will keep an eye on that corner because we could use some more indoor activity options in this heatwave.
HRG’s “Quirky” Wine Bar |📍1534 Sansom St
Things in the news that catch our eye: “quirky” and “wine” together. Is it hard to believe? Maybe, until it’s explained it’s coming from Hawthorne Restaurant Group aka the team behind Wine Dive and Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, so you know it’ll be fun. The “no pretense” (their words) wine bar is slated to open this fall, replacing the long-closed Nails by Anna D on the fun street that is Sansom.
Because they leased the entire building Rittenhouse will also get a 2nd drinking spot called Liquorette.
JD Sports 📍1530 Chestnut St
We think that the area could use more shoe options. So when the signs went up for JD Sports in the former H&M space we were super happy, although we did have to Google the brand. The stores look spacious, a bit minimalist, and carry cool shoes and brands. The store in Times Square has an Adidas MakerLab where you can customize your clothes and shoes. So hoping this location has something equally if not more fab. It’s a pretty large space with over 2 levels and 25K (!!) square feet.
This would be their 2nd Philly location as they have one in the Northeast. Launch timing is TBD.
Jordan Brand’s World of Flight |📍1617 Walnut St
There’s a reason why Sneaker Con happens every year here in Philly as this city LOVES its sneakers. So when news dropped that the Jordan Brand was opening up its first US World of Flight store after Tokyo, Seoul, China, and Milan – let’s just say, people got excited. ETA is 2025. Watch the construction unfold here.
Levain |📍1518 Walnut St
The Philly Levain is coming along SO nicely! And of the many cookie places hitting Rittenhouse, this is a crowd favorite! The New York staple that has been expanding across the country, Levain Bakery’s lusciously huge cookies will occupy the space formerly occupied by My.Suit, this fall.
Little Water 📍261 S 20th St
Foodies were caught off-guard when Twenty Manning announced they were closing. What was also surprising was that a brand new coastal restaurant called Little Water was going to open in its place, from hip restauranteurs Randy and Amanda Rucker who own East Passyunk restaurant, River Twice. The team is doing something fun: they’re sharing their journey to opening on Instagram so be sure to follow them for a look behind the hospitality curtain.
Liquorette |📍1534 Sansom St
Sometimes, when you plan to launch a “quirky wine bar” on the first floor, you may also plan to launch a bar bar on the second floor. However, if you’re the team behind local faves like Grace & Proper (vintage European vibes) or Sonny’s Cocktail Joint (“where high brow meets low brow“) you know you’re making a bar that’s probably going to be a very unique and cool one – and we love those in the neighborhood!
ETA is early 2025.
Madis Coffee Roasters | 📍1441 Chestnut St
Sweet news out of University City for Rittenhouse: Madis Coffee Roasters is expanding to this side of the Schuylkill with 2 locations. One is coming here and will occupy the corner of 15th and Chestnut, at the base of The Element Hotel, which has never been occupied. ETA is September.
Neuhaus Chocolates |📍 1616 Walnut St
Rittenhouse has quite a few stores but what we don’t have is a chocolate shop. That’s going to change with Neuhaus coming to town. The home of decadent Belgium chocolates has leased an intimate space across the street from the new Jordan store, the Apple store, and next to Paper Source, so you’re covered on every gift front. ETA is next month, so we can cross “chocolate shop in Rittenhouse” off of our retail wish list.
Ritten Deli & Juice Bar |📍1512 Sansom St
Spotted by fellow Rambler jessierose1 we have a much-needed deli and juice bar coming to Sansom Street to replace the long-closed Distante Clothing. Ritten Deli & Juice Bar’s owner said they will be open late on weekends and explore being open 24 hours, something many residents and visitors alike want. Plus, having a juice bar on that stretch of Sansom Street will be nice.
ETA is next month!
Royal Izakaya “Off-Shoot” | 📍1710 Sansom St
Getting a Japanese comfort food place to replace The Foodery (RIP) is great news. However, hearing that it’s an offshoot from Jesse Ito, one of the best chefs in the country, makes it even better. The maybe not-so-great news? It’s a year away, so buckle in for a summer 2025 opening
Starbucks |📍2 Logan Square
This space has been empty for a long, long, long, long, long time because pre-Covid months are kind of like dog years, right? So, when we heard via fellow rambler Eva that Starbucks was coming to the former 2-Yelp stars Au Bon Pain space at 2 Logan Square, we were super happy. The space is fairly big and that location can use a coffee shop to accommodate hotel visitors. ETA is TBD.
Taco Bell Cantina |📍1634 Chestnut St
The empty storefront between Dig and Uniqlo is not going to be empty anymore as the Philadelphia Business Journal shared the neighborhood is getting its first Taco Bell, and a Taco Bell Cantina at that! It’ll replace 4 Seasons Food Court which was there for 15 (!) years, although there was a brief moment when Chestnut Diner was open (2020 was a very tough year).
Taco Bell Cantinas are known for being upscale and serving alcohol, although this location is TBD for the moment. Because antiquated liquor laws and all that couldn’t possibly be a challenge. We hear their boozy Mountain Dew slushies are fun. Hoping this Cantina is able to make that happen so we can all judge how fun those are for ourselves. ETA is by the end of this year so we’ll be doing a few drive-bys to check on the progress.
Tacodelphia |📍2051 Walnut St
Fellow Rittenhouse rambler jessierose1 tipped us off that a new food place was coming to the former Chase location at 21st and Walnut, which philly_junebug confirmed was Tacodelphia, a fast-casual restaurant that was formerly known in the area as Illegal Tacos. The reviews are pretty damn good for their 427 S Broad Street location so we’re looking forward to checking these out personally.
Taylor Chip |📍1809 Chestnut St
The neighborhood is still waiting for Taylor Chip, the Lancaster-based cookie store that was supposed to open last year, to arrive. But life is busy when you make the Forbes Under 30 list and opening a store in general is ALWAYS challenging. They mentioned opening this summer but the interior has not changed at all, so hopefully it’s been moved to fall!
Teddy Sourias Project | 📍 1515 Market St
We’ve been waiting for more details on this, so we’ll share what (little) we know: Teddy Sourias, the founder of Craft Concepts Group, who has many restaurants you’d recognize in Center City including Uptown Beer Garden, is planning a Japanese-inspired restaurant at 1515 Market that includes a 4,000-square-foot patio.
Tequilas |📍1602 Locust St
📸: Google Maps
The only place you can find a rose margarita in the neighborhood since it closed due to a bad fire, rest assured: Tequila’s IS coming back! Owner David Suro has been doing anything BUT resting: he’s been focused on the family tequila brand, Siembra Spirits, and authoring the book Agave Spirits. They’ve used the time to reenvision it, we’ve heard. ETA is this fall!
Topside Tavern | 📍 10 S 20th St
We have many things in Rittenhouse but not too many rooftop restaurants. Because you can never have enough of a good thing, the owners of Thanal Indian Tavern are transforming the long-closed Farmer’s Keep into Topside Tavern which will give us a great option for rooftop drinks.
ETA is early August!
Undisclosed @The Bards | 📍 2013 Walnut St
It was in the neighborhood for 26 years but hospitality is tough, and the pandemic unfortunately forced The Bards to close. The Philadelphia Business Journal noted that the Bards’ building and the Irish Pub + Cafe were up for sale but no buyer was noted. Now there’s an alcohol application up and work is being done so we’re tracking this only closely.
Undisclosed | 📍1619 Walnut St
Not sure what’s going on at this location BUT after years of the fluorescent lights staying on day and night, crews moved in and construction has been in full swing. It’s zoned for retail and it’s a GREAT location with tons of foot traffic. We did hear that New Balance is moving over BUT it’s not confirmed!
Know of anything else coming or in the works? Shoot us an email here so we can watch their progress together.
