Bob & Barbara’s Opens a Restaurant Next Door
Comforting, booze-absorbing sandwiches are the thing at The Window.
New South Street restaurant The Window sits one door down from Bob & Barbara’s and is operated by the same team. (Photo courtesy The Window/Bob & Barbara’s)
You’re a few Specials in at Bob & Barbara’s. You forgot to eat lunch. And your stomach is growling. What do you do? Katrina and Oskar Duva, the sister-and-brother team behind Bob & Barbara’s, have solved this dilemma for you with their aptly named takeout restaurant, The Window. They just opened it over the weekend next door to the iconic South Street dive bar.
Oskar and Katrina Duva in the, er, window at The Window next to South Street dive bar Bob & Barbara’s (photo courtesy The Window/Bob & Barbara’s)
In the space previously occupied by the pierogi-forward Mom-Mom’s Kitchen, The Window serves up comfort foods good for soaking up that booze in your belly. The cheapest item on the menu is the $10 breakfast sandwich. Without add-ons, the offerings top out at $13 for a smashburger patty melt. You can make that a double for an extra $3. Or, if it was a particularly long night, you could turn that patty melt into a double patty melt with bacon, a fried egg, and pickled jalapeños for $20.
And, c’mon, who doesn’t love a foot-long hot dog:
(photo courtesy The Window/Bob & Barbara’s)
While you can certainly grab these hangover helpers from The Window on your way home, Katrina says it’s more intended as an option for customers who want something to eat while they are at the bar.
A patty melt and a Special share the bar at Bob & Barbara’s. (photo courtesy The Window/Bob & Barbara’s)
Bartop QR codes allow you to place an order from your stool, and when you get a text that the order is ready, you just have to walk outside a few steps to pick up your food. A cash discount is available if you want to order at the window of The Window.
Here’s the full menu:
(photo courtesy The Window/Bob & Barbara’s)
You’ll note, if you read the fine print, that potato chips and a pickle spear come with every sandwich. And, in keeping with the prevailing restaurant trends of 2024, the cheese is Cooper Sharp. Because of course. All sauces are made in-house, and Katrina says that the hot-pepper jelly and The Window sauce (their spin on a Big Mac sauce) are early customer favorites.
But what’s a new sandwich shop doing opening in Philadelphia and not offering a cheesesteak? Has cheesesteak fatigue finally set in?
“We wanted to mirror the simplicity of the bar and not try to tackle such a saturated market,” explains Katrina. “But ultimately, the idea of The Window is that the food we want to come out will come out. So we’re not limiting ourselves in the future.”
The Window is open from 6 p.m. until midnight from Thursday through Sunday. Now if they can just get Bill Murray to sling some sandwiches.
