Elegant Italian stylings, an upscale French BYOB, a steakhouse, seafood specialists, and an English pub have joined the suburban restaurant scene in the last few months.
The current restaurant boom, as the pandemic woes are set aside, is not in any way confined to Center City, South Philadelphia, or Kensington/Fishtown. The burbs are also where it’s at. China Remote Quality Control Service
Suburbanites became accustomed to dining closer to home as fewer are commuting regularly to jobs in Center City, so the restaurant scene is thriving.
Here are 17 newcomers in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs, and read on for 10 additional restaurants on the way.
The group behind Jasper’s Backyard in Conshohocken is behind this cozy seafood specialist-slash-cocktail bar in West Conshohocken, replacing Jasper’s Westside, which closed in March 2020. Layout is pretty much the same, with a bar, lounge, and booth seating, smart decor, and servers in crisp striped aprons.
» READ MORE: Philadelphia's buzziest restaurants of 2022
The group is also soft-opening WestSide Bar & Grill down the street, at the former Baggataway Tavern (31 Front St.) Both restaurants are under executive chef Hilary Hamilton.
📍 101 Ford St., West Conshohocken., 📞 484-368-3529, 🌐 catch101.com, 🕒 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
Bill Mangan Jr. and his son Will have converted the landmark Brandywine Valley location of their McKenzie’s Brew House into a sprawling, energetic English pub with fireplaces, an enormous beer, wine, and spirits inventory, and the requisite taxidermy. Menu includes cod cakes, pies, curries and bowls, and chicken tikka masala.
📍 451 Wilmington West Chester Pike, Glen Mills, 📞 610-361-9800, 🌐 crowninconcord.com, 🕒 4 p.m.-midnight Tuesday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday, 3-11 p.m. Sunday.
Modern French American with seasonal ingredients, as local as possible (hence the name), is the culinary approach at this charming, upscale BYOB in the former Pat’s Pizza in Downingtown. Chef Andrew Hufnagel, a Starr Restaurant and Jean-Georges Philadelphia alum, and fiancée Kassie Fetzer worked together at his now-closed Zola Kitchen & Wine Bar in State College.
A menu of small and large plates is offered for lunch and at dinner (which starts with complimentary sparkling wine or spritzer): oysters in apple tarragon mignonette; beetroot salad with three kinds of beets, citrus, and goat cheese ice cream; croque madame; venison with a crust of espresso and cocoa nib; and an Elysian Fields Farm braised lamb shank with celeriac soubise, pomegranate, mint, and vadouvan-spiced lamb jus.
📍 47 W. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, 📞 610-269-2431, 🌐 delaterrebyob.com, 🕒 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
The South Street Philly sports bar has landed its second location in a big way: the 14,000-square-foot former Quaker Steak and Lube and Great American Pub in Bensalem. It seats 800 people (including banquet room), has a main bar and lounge plus two other bars, 30 TVs, and a sports-viewing suite. Similarly vast menu includes steaks, with the priciest option being a 29-ounce bone-in rib-eye for $45.
📍 2900 Street Rd., Bensalem, 📞 215-923-1100, 🌐 ffbensalem.com, 🕒 noon-2 a.m. daily.
Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby of Center City’s Vedge have ventured into the Brandywine Valley’s former Innkeeper’s Kitchen at Dilworthtown with this plant-based market and an elegant restaurant, which serves a five-course tasting menu for $75 (plus $35 for wine pairing).
📍 1388 Old Wilmington Pike, West Chester, 📞 610-355-4411, 🌐 groundprovisionspa.com, 🕒 market is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; restaurant serves by reservation only from 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.
Dave Magrogan’s upscale farm-to-table concept, which has built a following regionally and in Florida with a natural-wine list and seasonal dishes mainly under 500 calories, has transformed the former Champp’s in Collegeville’s Providence Town Center. Bright and roomy bar, plenty of plants, open kitchen.
Also, Magrogan is planning to move his North Wales location from the Shoppes at English Village across the road into much larger digs, the shuttered Greene Turtle sports bar across Route 309.
📍 Providence Town Center, 51 Town Center Drive, Collegeville, 📞 484-854-6365, 🌐 harvestseasonal.com/collegeville-restaurant, 🕒 4-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
The Malvern area has plenty of bar-restaurants on the order of Stove & Tap, as owners Justin Weather and Joe Monnich decided late last year. Leaving their locations in Lansdale and West Chester intact, they’ve converted the S&T in Lincoln Court into a stylish but family-friendly steak house open for lunch and dinner — separating the bar from the dining room and subbing a more concise menu.
Aside from the wood-fired steaks, there are steak house staples like oysters Rockefeller, wedge salad, and raw-bar selections. Monnich also has chef Fritz Blank’s vaunted she-crab soup recipe from Center City’s late, great Deux Cheminees.
📍 245 Lancaster Ave., Malvern, 📞 484-450-8890, 🌐 joeychops.com, 🕒 noon-3 p.m. weekdays for lunch, 5-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 5-8 p.m. Sunday for dinner.
Traditional Turkish breakfasts — simit cheese rolls, menemen, sujuk, Istanbul toast, gozleme (served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) — are the calling card at Zeferbek Nematov’s comfy, contemporary Bucks County edition of his restaurant, whose first location opened in Northeast Philadelphia in 2019.
Cut-to-order kebabs are the specialty for lunch and dinner.
📍 8630 New Falls Rd., Levittown, 📞 215-943-5000, 🌐 littleistanbul.net, 🕒 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The tastes of Jamaica — curries, escovitch fish, jerk chicken, jerk salmon, and oxtail empanadas plus cobblers and rum cake — are all that veteran chefs Dane Amos and Cory Cohen do at their takeout spot in a Warminster strip mall, an outgrowth of Cohen’s food truck.
📍 275 E. County Line Rd., Warminster, 📞 215-907-3919, 🌐 menagerie-foods.com/jerk-hut, 🕒 noon-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Takeout only.
Michael Suen’s Hawaiian upbringing informs the menu of the casual East Asian barbecue/ramen restaurants he owns with Don Cheng, which debuted in Willow Grove in 2021 and this month set up “II” in the former Natsumi and Crab du Jour spacein Havertown. There’s a full line of ramen, plus fried rice and noodle dishes, and Hawaiian-style grill platters — rib-eye, shrimp, short rib, Kalua pork, with shredded cabbage, macaroni salad, and white rice.
📍 2308 Darby Rd., Havertown, 📞 610-881-5300, 🌐 facebook.com/MomoyamaRamenHawaiianBBQ2, 🕒 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Perhaps the Main Line’s most ambitious newcomer in years, this romantic revamp of Tango at the Bryn Mawr train station by Roni and Jennifer Hammer rocks a retro rail theme and chef Corey Baver’s traditional menu. Live music plays in the lounge 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday.
📍 39 Morris Ave, Bryn Mawr, 📞 610-727-0777, 🌐 thepullmanrestaurant.com, 🕒 4-6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday (social hour), 5-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
Packed since its opening earlier this month, the enormous Marlton spin-off of the Long Beach Island mainstay boasts a happening bar, family-friendly vibes, and something-for-everyone menu. It’s also open at 8 a.m. daily for breakfast, which is served all day. Owner Rob LaScala is behind the LaScala’s Fire Italian restaurants scattered through the region.
📍 Renaissance Square (Route 70 and North Locust Avenue), Marlton, 📞 856-702-4344, 🌐 letschegg.com, 🕒 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
After a career creating innovative bar food at South Philly spots like American Sardine Bar and Second District Brewing, Dane DeMarco has gone to upscale but casual dining in Haddonfield with a seasonal menu. It’s a complement to their far-more-casual BurgerTime NJ, which opened last year in Audubon.
📍 7 King’s Court, Haddonfield, 📞 973-721-3179, 🌐 gassandmain.com, 🕒 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday for lunch, 4:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday for dinner, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for brunch, 5-9 p.m. for Sunday dinner.
Cousins Carlos and Kiko Cervantes are turning out Peruvian dishes such as chaufa de pollo and lomo saltado at their snug (as in 16-seat) BYOB, a few doors down from Zeppoli and across the street from Li Beirut. This was a longtime dream, said Carlos Cervantes, who is keeping his day job as a bus repair supervisor for NJ Transit. “When we want great Peruvian food, we’d have to go to North Jersey,” he said. They take pride in the scratch preparations, even making their own chicha morada, the purple drink.
📍 624 Collings Ave., Collingswood, 📞 856-854-6888, 🌐 kikosperuviankitchen.com, 🕒 noon-8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday, 1-9 p.m. Saturday, 1-7 p.m. Sunday.
The New York City-rooted specialist in the soup dumplings known as xiao long bao has set up a contemporary BYOB at Towne Place at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, where you can watch the cooks at the front window. Your dumplings will come out via robot.
📍 901 Haddonfield Rd, Cherry Hill, 📞 856-977-0588, 🌐 instagram.com/nanxiangsoupdumpling, 🕒 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday.
They’re selling Old World vibes at this Burlington County Italian steak house and piano bar — and that applies not only to the swellegant digs but to the patrons, too.
From the detailed dress code and house rules, be advised that it’s business casual at lunch but that men must wear jackets at dinner (they have loaners) and that for women, “business suits, dress pants, skirt ensembles, and dresses are all acceptable. Not permitted at any time: jeans or denim, spandex, open midriffs, leggings, extremely short hemlines, T-shirts, shorts, sneakers, or flip-flops.”
That said, there’s lots of pampering, tableside prep, easy-to-read iPad menus, 90-plus-graded wines, fresh fish in a case, a dedicated vegan menu. Dinner first courses start at $18 and head north, while entrees run from $42 for chicken breast Padovana style to $68 for an 8-ounce center-cut prime beef filet with mascarpone and Modena balsamic I.G.P.
A 22% gratuity is added to each tab.
📍 144 U.S. 130, Bordentown, 📞 609-262-0110, 🌐 ristorantelucca.com, 🕒 noon-3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday for lunch, as well as 5-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday for dinner; lounge open 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Tuesday-Sunday.,
Vince Tacconelli Jr., the 30-year-old fifth generation of the pizza family, is running this handsome Westmont BYOB pizzeria with his wife, Jessica. It’s an offshoot of his father’s shop in Maple Shade (and unrelated, business-wise, to the Port Richmond original), with thin-crust pizzas, a few pastas and salads, and a couple of desserts.
📍 164 Haddon Ave., Westmont, 📞856-858-7278, 🌐tacconellipizza.com, 🕒 4-9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 4-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3-8:30 p.m. Sunday. Cash only.
China Sourcing Stay tuned for a bunch of newcomers, including branches of Amada in Radnor, Ardana Food & Drink in Newtown in Bucks County, White Dog Cafe in Exton, Rosalie in Glen Mills, and LaScala’s Fire in Upper Dublin; plus Blue Point Grill, also in Newtown; The Stables in Chester Springs; Reunion Hall in Haddon Township; Radin’s Deli in Cherry Hill; and the just-announced Cafe Le Jardin from June BYOB in Audubon.