I count Queen Village among my favorite neighborhoods. The beauty of this neighborhood is that it is mostly residential, the commercial it has ranks among the city’s best, the homes are a better value because they are larger in size at a lower price, and it’s quiet and secluded. The secluded quality acts as a double-edge sword in that the primary reason I wouldn’t live here is because it is secluded. You could conceivable live here and have nearly as long of a commute to businesses on West Market Street as someone living in Manayunk. If you need to drive a car to work, you’d better have a place to park your car because there’s not many garages in this neighborhood and street parking is at a premium. South Street is Queen Village’s main commercial area, however, it’s the areas off this street, particularly the 4th Street corridor running south that make this a desirable area to live.
SOUTH STREET
South Street is an eclectic area of Philadelphia that transforms itself with the times. Post WWII it was Philadelphia's Fabric District where my Grandmother shopped for cloth. In the 1990s and early 2000s the street had a gritty (I'm being polite with that term) vibe. As of 2016 many of the early 2000s stores have turned over except for the major stalwarts: Jim's Steaks, Lorenzo's Pizza, and Jon's (which has since closed). The Theatre of Living Arts is still a great place to catch a new band on the rise. There's a Whole Foods now and several upscale restaurants that I would not have imagined occupy space in this corridor several years ago.
Left to right – Condom Nation, Jim’s Steaks, and Copacabana.
South Street is an eclectic area of Philadelphia that transforms itself with the times. Post WWII it was Philadelphia's Fabric District where my Grandmother shopped for cloth. In the 1990s and early 2000s the street had a gritty (I'm being polite with that term) vibe. As of 2016 many of the early 2000s stores have turned over except for the major stalwarts: Jim's Steaks, Lorenzo's Pizza, and Jon's (which has since closed). The Theatre of Living Arts is still a great place to catch a new band on the rise. There's a Whole Foods now and several upscale restaurants that I would not have imagined occupy space in this corridor several years ago.
Left to right – Condom Nation, Jim’s Steaks, and Copacabana.
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Left to right – Theatre of Living Arts, Jon’s, birthplace of Larry Fine, and Headhouse Square
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Left to right - a few COVID shots of TLA, South Street, and Jim's Steaks
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PHILADELPHIA MAGIC GARDENS - 1020 SOUTH STREET
I previously lived down the street from Philadelphia Magic Gardens and whenever I passed the site on the way to the subway I'd think about going in but then take a pass. From the outside and surrounding walls it's clear what Philadelphia Magic Gardens is...it's trash repurposed as art. Broken mirror glass is the most defining feature, bottles, wheels, tiles, and other discarded knick knacks combine for a distinct visual presentation. After visiting Philadelphia Magic Gardens in September 2016 my assessment is...it's trash. I'm in the minority with that assessment. There were a lot of college-aged visitors who were enthralled with the site.
From the brochure: PMG is an art environment and community arts center in Isaiah Zagar's largest public artwork. Zagar created the space using nontraditional materials such as folk art statues, found objects, bicycle wheels, colorful glass bottles, hand-made tiles, and thousands of glittering mirrors. Zagar is an award winning mural artist whose work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout the city of Philadelphia and around world. He started working at the South Street location in 1994 and after a legal battle on the future of the lot the site became the non-profit art center it is today.
Tickets are $10 and depending upon the time of the year should be purchased in advance at the PMG Website.
I previously lived down the street from Philadelphia Magic Gardens and whenever I passed the site on the way to the subway I'd think about going in but then take a pass. From the outside and surrounding walls it's clear what Philadelphia Magic Gardens is...it's trash repurposed as art. Broken mirror glass is the most defining feature, bottles, wheels, tiles, and other discarded knick knacks combine for a distinct visual presentation. After visiting Philadelphia Magic Gardens in September 2016 my assessment is...it's trash. I'm in the minority with that assessment. There were a lot of college-aged visitors who were enthralled with the site.
From the brochure: PMG is an art environment and community arts center in Isaiah Zagar's largest public artwork. Zagar created the space using nontraditional materials such as folk art statues, found objects, bicycle wheels, colorful glass bottles, hand-made tiles, and thousands of glittering mirrors. Zagar is an award winning mural artist whose work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout the city of Philadelphia and around world. He started working at the South Street location in 1994 and after a legal battle on the future of the lot the site became the non-profit art center it is today.
Tickets are $10 and depending upon the time of the year should be purchased in advance at the PMG Website.
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The 4th Street Corridor includes places such as Hungry Pigeon (not sure why I’m doing a plug as I think this place is highly overrated—cool a restaurant that stays open for three meal…that’s a diner, there’s nothing new about that concept), Brickbat Books (a used bookstore), and Kawaii Kitty Café (I came in out of curiosity but after drinking several coffees, their affogato was an amazing change of pace—I wish every coffee shop also had ice cream to make an affogato).
Royal Sushi & Izakaya is another new and popular restaurant specializing in Japanese street food, basically Japanese beyond sushi.
Beyond the hot spots, Queen’s Village has one of Philadelphia’s great “legacy” restaurants in The Saloon (I’m not sure why anyone would trip over themselves to visit Hungry Pigeon when The Saloon is a few blocks away) and one of the city’s great neighborhood bars in for Pete’s Sake. Beyond the Kitty Café, the neighborhood is also home to Philadelphia Java Company (which I only mention because it’s the coffee shop used as a backdrop in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) but I prefer Chapterhouse Café.
The Mummer Museum falls on the south side of Washington Avenue and technically is not part of Queen’s Village, however, I’m not going to create a separate page for the East Moyamensing area. The Mummer Museum has a donation-based admission and for $5 it’s worth taking a thirty minute pass through the museum to gain a better understanding of an only in Philadelphia musical group.
Sometimes I get caught up eating at the top new and popular restaurants in the city and overlook places like Saloon. Saloon is awesome. It's a great old-school Italian steakhouse. A good place to satisfy the occassional veal craving.
Royal Sushi & Izakaya is another new and popular restaurant specializing in Japanese street food, basically Japanese beyond sushi.
Beyond the hot spots, Queen’s Village has one of Philadelphia’s great “legacy” restaurants in The Saloon (I’m not sure why anyone would trip over themselves to visit Hungry Pigeon when The Saloon is a few blocks away) and one of the city’s great neighborhood bars in for Pete’s Sake. Beyond the Kitty Café, the neighborhood is also home to Philadelphia Java Company (which I only mention because it’s the coffee shop used as a backdrop in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) but I prefer Chapterhouse Café.
The Mummer Museum falls on the south side of Washington Avenue and technically is not part of Queen’s Village, however, I’m not going to create a separate page for the East Moyamensing area. The Mummer Museum has a donation-based admission and for $5 it’s worth taking a thirty minute pass through the museum to gain a better understanding of an only in Philadelphia musical group.
Sometimes I get caught up eating at the top new and popular restaurants in the city and overlook places like Saloon. Saloon is awesome. It's a great old-school Italian steakhouse. A good place to satisfy the occassional veal craving.
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You recognize the coffee shot at the bottom left? Philadelphia Java Company's storefront is the coffee shop from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For better coffee though, walk a half mile down Moyamensing to Herman's Coffee, one of the top coffee shops in the City. Herman's has a garage doors that open to create a great space to sit on a nice spring or fall day.
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