Fishtown has been Philadelphia’s “It” neighborhood for the past ten years. If there’s a cool, hip new place opening in Philadelphia, chances are it’s in Fishtown. Axe throwing? Fishtown. Double Dare recreation with Marc Summers? Fishtown. Best pizza in the U.S.? Fishtown. For all the hype along Frankford Avenue, I think what’s lost is that the residential area east of Frankford Avenue and west of Girard is a really nice area. There’s nice brick homes (at two stories they are a little small) and clean sidewalks (at least where there’s not any construction). The downside to the hype is that places like Philadelphia Bagelry have their salmon, cream cheese, and bagel sandwich named as one of the top sandwiches in America, then you feel obligated to show up, and you’re like, um this is just a salmon, cream cheese, and bagel sandwich. At least parking is not as bad as it could be.
That’s a close up of a pie from Pizzeria Beddia, voted the best pizza in the U.S. (it’s not bad, it’s very, very good, I just have a general rule with pizza and that is you shouldn’t need to drive more than five minutes for great pizza and if you do, move…so, driving across the city for pizza seems a bit…crazy; but still it’s very, very good). Near the El is an eagle mural, one of Philadelphia’s best murals.
Pizzeria Beddia isn’t the only pizza place to visit in Fishtown. Pizza Brain with its pizza museum is also worth a visit. I was curious what artifacts a pizza museum would hold and there’s Home Alone and Ninja Turtle references. Those are the big two in my pizza Hollywood rankings.
Suraya shows that Fishtown can handle upscale and fancy dining. This Syrian cuisine restaurant is ambitious in its setup, there’s a quasi-café in the front and a large courtyard in the back and serves food to match the opuluent setting. Some consider Suraya to be the best restaurant in the city…I would just call it one of the best and leave no room for argument.
Port Richmond is the next neighborhood northeast from Fishtown. The intersection around Richmond Street and Allegheny Avenue has a concentration of Polish restaurants including a Polish supermarket, although if you want meat, Czerw’s is the Bourdain approved butcher. South on Richmond Street is River Wards Café, a good neighborhood coffee shop. Allegheny Avenue is a major East/West thoroughfare through Philadelphia and this status means there’s impressive old buildings and churches that dot the street. If you park near Richmond Street you can walk up one side of Allegheny to Campbell Square and back down the other side of the street.
I need to revisit Tacconelli’s Pizza and update the Port Richmond section.
I need to revisit Tacconelli’s Pizza and update the Port Richmond section.
When I think of the opioid epidemic, I think of Kensington. This area of Philadelphia is known for its high quality heroin and people come from around the region and in some cases across the country to try some of the heroin available in this neighborhood. If you’ve ever want to take a bit of a gonzo tour through Philadelphia, Kensington is the neighborhood for a self-guided tour through the madness.
Every visitor to Philadelphia wants to see the Rocky Statue—what about visiting Rocky’s house at 1818 East Tusculum Street, in the heart of Kensington? Drive up Frankford Avenue then start a Kensington self-guided tour here. Then continue up Kensington Avenue and make a left on E Street. One block up is McPherson Square which has a branch of the Philadelphia Library in its center. The librarians here are trained to use Narcan because of all the people overdosing in the park. On the return, drive along Tulip Street and through the tunnel that connects Somerset and Lehigh—the tracks above were the site of major heroin encampment.
Every visitor to Philadelphia wants to see the Rocky Statue—what about visiting Rocky’s house at 1818 East Tusculum Street, in the heart of Kensington? Drive up Frankford Avenue then start a Kensington self-guided tour here. Then continue up Kensington Avenue and make a left on E Street. One block up is McPherson Square which has a branch of the Philadelphia Library in its center. The librarians here are trained to use Narcan because of all the people overdosing in the park. On the return, drive along Tulip Street and through the tunnel that connects Somerset and Lehigh—the tracks above were the site of major heroin encampment.
I am under the impression that as of 2019, Graffiti Pier is closed to visitors, however, it’s not as though this abandoned pier was ever open to visitors to begin with. My understanding is that police will now ticket your car (why deal with the heroin addicts when you can write parking tickets) while you wander through this public art project. Graffiti Pier is an incredibly photogenic site with new images around ever turn. The changing sunlight and angles means I wound up take the same photo over and over again because the views kept changing, kept getting better. When I visited, I parked on Beach Street and the entrance to the Graffiti Pier is a two minute walk from this street. I also think that if you were familiar with the trails in this area you could park in Port Richmond and walk over. I came alone and thought the place was relatively safe although who knows if any heroin addicts could wander over from Kensington.
The Lillian Marrero Library at 6th and Lehigh shows that sometimes Philadelphia can deliver on good public works. If I lived in Fishtown, I’d be skipping the coffee shops and hanging out at this library’s glass annex to get my work completed. The interior has also been renovated with stylish and comfortable couches and chairs.