The Factory at Reach Climbing
This 20,000-square-foot center is stacked with resistance equipment, a kids’ “Boulder Island” with slide and tunnels, rock-climbing walls, and tension, kilter and campus boards. Really looking to prove your skills? Don’t skip the 4,000-square-foot obstacle room. 401 East 4th Street, Bridgeport, PA 19405, thefactoryatreach.com.
North By Texas
Sometimes it’s an onion-stuffed porchetta. Sometimes it’s brisket with a bark so thick, you’d think it doesn’t want to be eaten. Whatever it is, you can rest easy knowing NXTX’s barbecue only uses meat that’s sourced ethically and is smoked by a homesick dude from Austin — which can only mean damn-excellent BBQ. The pop-up operates out of Cadence. 161 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19123, instagram.com/northbytexas.
The Modern Republic
Sometimes it can feel like there’s too much art, both vintage and new, with which to decorate your house. How to decide? The Modern Republic, a mid-century modern retailer in Fairmount, is a great place to start: With vintage Alexander Calder and Herman Miller prints at reasonable prices, there’s something for every kind of house (plus great vintage furniture, to boot). If your walls could talk, they’d be thanking you. 1600 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130, etsy.com/shop/TheModernRepublic.
El Techo
Philly doesn’t do rooftop bars well. We have so few of them, and many are owned by the hotels, so they’re kinda lame. El Techo? With its perfect pitchers of margaritas? And its retractable roof? And its squid and long hot pepper tacos? Not lame. Not lame at all. 1826 Ludlow Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, instagram.com/eltechophilly.
Cloud 9 Clay
Peyton Flynn is something of a ceramics legend in Philly, making vibrant home and kitchen wares for brands like Madewell. Add her extra-shiny vases with squiggly handles to your collection to give your house an instant mood boost. cloud9clay.com.
D'Iyanu
Life’s too short for boring clothes, and Philly’s own D’Iyanu is here to help you live it up again. African-inspired prints of all kinds complement crop tops and high-waisted shorts, with ruffles and puff sleeves galore. diyanu.com.
The Dogfish Head Experience in Lewes
Lewes, Delaware — a.k.a. “that town on the other end of the Cape May ferry” — is actually a charming beach resort that boasts the beer-centric Dogfish Inn. From there, you can pedal (on free Dogfish Head loaner bikes) to the Dogfish Head Brewery, where you’ll try exclusive Dogfish Head beers, and to Dogfish Head’s nearby restaurant, Chesapeake & Maine. Be sure to head home with Dogfish Head’s Compelling Gin, which has become an essential bottle in our bar. 105 Savannah Road, Lewes, DE 19958, dogfish.com/inn.
The Neon Museum of Philadelphia
Len Davidson has been finding and restoring neon signs since the 1970s, and his massive collection finally has a proper and permanent home. You’ll find original neon from places like Pat’s King of Steaks, the Horn & Hardart’s 30th Street Station shop (talk about a throwback!), McGillin’s Olde Ale House and Levis Hot Dogs. 1800 North American Street unit E, Philadelphia, PA 19122, neonmuseumofphiladelphia.com.
DB Cleaning Services
Just admit to yourself that you’re never going to get around to cleaning everything — and hire this team, you cheapskate. They’ll scour your home, from the cabinet tops to the baseboards, and leave you wondering what took you so long. mydbcleaning.com.
Cam Anthony
Jubilation over the Philly phenom winning season 20 of The Voice was tempered by the show’s confounding inability to convert winners into stars. But Anthony — a 19-year-old with the smooth tenor of someone decades older, the boyish good looks of the Jackson 5, and the style of vintage Al Green — had even jaded Voice coach Blake Shelton predicting he’ll reverse that trend.
Ray's Reusables
From East Falls to Clark Park, across the bridge to Wenonah and down I-95 to Wilmington, Ray Daly brings her van stocked with soaps, shampoos and other cleaning goods anywhere the people are; the people can then bring their reusable jars and fill ’em up, again and again and again. raysreusables.com.
El Secreto
The pandemic-born pop-up peddles Argentine-style empanadas with flaky, delicious dough and fun fillings like buffalo chicken, Big Mac, pork banh mi and pop tart. It’s business on the outside, party on the inside, which maybe makes them the mullets of empanadas? instagram.com/elsecretosnacksphilly.
Randy Rucker
There’s an ease about Rucker’s cooking, and a generosity, as if there’s nobody else eating at River Twice except you. His commitment to locality, to foraging, to pickling and fermenting everything so as not to waste anything — it all adds up to a singular experience. Every element of every dish, down to the house-made coffee vinegar in the beef tartare or the à la minute ricotta on the toast, is deeply considered, smartly placed, and creatively conceived, but in a way that still feels like food, not art. 1601 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19148, rivertwicerestaurant.com.
Al Schmidt
There are 43 different animals on the World Wildlife Fund’s endangered species list. Really, it should be 44, when you count Al Schmidt (Republicanus noncorruptis), who faced death threats as he oversaw the vote count and refused to go the way of his Republican election-board colleagues in other cities who cried fraud. Unfortunately, no conservation effort can stave off this extinction: Schmidt says he won’t run for reelection in 2023.
The Street Art Uprising Against Minor Figures Oat Milk
The latest installment in Philly’s ongoing fuck-around-and-find-out chronicles pitted London oat milk purveyor Minor Figures against the city’s legion of street-art lovers. When posters promoting the plant-based coffee lightener went up over existing works, the backlash — on social media and IRL — was swift. As the company clumsily backpedaled, Philly street-art legend Kid Hazo weighed in with posters of his own: “Major Failures Clown M*lk.”