Fall is festival time. Whether it’s a harvest festival, an Oktoberfest, a mushroom celebration or even one last summer picnic. September and early October are full of fun ways to spend your weekend.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes a press release comes our way and it is so magnificent that it must be printed in its entirety. Click on for dirndls, 82-year-old schuhplatters and accordion player requests…
Read the rest of this entry »

We don’t think food reviewers should only cover restaurants that have coat checks and good stemware but why cover a place that doesn’t seem to be into the food they serve? But that’s where City Paper heads this week in their review of Festivals in West Philadelphia.

It’s clear that the space, with its sunny yellow- and orange-striped walls, list of tropical-flavored cocktails and busy calendar of soca and dance-hall DJ nights, is — at least for now — more geared toward the party crowd than the dining one. In fact, the servers all seemed a bit surprised that we’d shown up expecting to be fed.

Party Hearty [City Paper]

It seems everyone is talking about Caribbean food. Yesterday Craig LaBan was talking about Brown Sugar at 52nd Street in his online chat yesterday. He follows that up today with a Caribbean feast he prepares and today in Feeding Frenzy we get word that Festivals is now serving Jamaican food at 52nd and Walnut. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Tomorrow is the official grand opening of the area’s first Jimmy John’s sandwich spot at 44 S 17th Street. Jimmy John’s is the latest midwest sandwich chain to come to town following on the heels of Potbelly Sandwich Works.

Look for Arbol Café to bring Paraguayan food to Northern Liberties in the former Ground Floor Coffee, opening expected for September. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

The Wasabi House at 627 South Street has become Gaja Gaja. According to our tipster Gaja Gaja offers Japanese and Korean food as including sushi and “a decent lunch menu.”

Sonam is coming to the defunct Table at 223 South Street. The BYOB “is taking all sorts of influences — American, African, Asian — and crafting fusion-y portions, 24 in all.” [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]