Bars, Restaurants & Dining
The Monkey and the Elephant is a unique setup for coffee, with foster youth partly responsible for running the shop as part of a holistic life-skills program, selling homemade baked goods, paninis and locally made artisan goods. Lucky Goat Coffeehouse, to the east, focuses on nailing the full array of coffee and espresso drinks: breves, cafe au laits, lattes and more. Philly Sunnyside Diner scratches the itch for an all-American breakfast platter of eggs, sausage, French toast and endless coffee, and is packed to the gills on just about any morning of the week.
iMunch Cafe is billed as a healthier option for breakfast or lunch, cooking up omelets stuffed with spinach and goat cheese, pressing veggie-heavy paninis and tossing a variety of salads - plus, fruit smoothies. Rybrew is a standout in the neighborhood, with specialty sandwiches served on thick-cut homemade breads, seasonal salads and 300 beers to choose from for those “business” lunches. Originally a popular food cart, Spot Gourmet Burgers on Girard Avenue grills a signature burger with hickory smoked bacon, as well as award-winning half-pound ribeye cheesesteaks - at reasonable prices, to boot.
Chez Novaks, for dinner, serves Caribbean-inspired foods, ranging from escargot cooked in rum to slow-cooked duck in a mango sauce. Bordering Brewerytown and Fairmount is Era Bar, with its well-regarded Ethiopian bar food - namely, the yesiga tibs, a beef stir fry with jalapeno, onions, garlic and Ethiopian sauces. Deborah’s Kitchen is the destination for a hearty takeout soul-food dinner: meatloaf, collard greens, hot wings and, for dessert, sweet potato pie and pudding.
American-fare bar food and craft brews are the old-reliables at newly reopened Brewerytown Taproom, formerly Flying Fish Crafthouse. Crime and Punishment Brewery, it’s worth noting, is the only operating brewery in Brewerytown, doubling as a brewpub with a rotation of about seven seasonal microbrews.