Sonny’s Cocktail Joint Reopens … Again!

Photograph courtesy of Sonny’s Cocktail Joint

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. After all of last week’s action, Restaurant World feels kinda quiet this week. We’ve just got a few quick things to get through — including (but not limited to) Sonny’s second attempt at reopening, a horsey restaurant in Radnor, bagels in Manayunk, and movie nights in Chester. So let’s get right into it and kick things off this week with …

Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, Take 3

Then, in January of this year, Sonny’s came back. It was brand new. The cocktails and menu looked great. And things were going really well for a few months.

But then this happened: An epic flood. Water pouring in through the ceiling. And Sonny’s was forced to close for a second time days before we gave them a Best of Philly for being the Best Comeback.

Thing is, Fetfatzes and Annechiarico (now doing business as Happy Monday Hospitality) and their team must be getting really good at recovering from disasters, because this time around the space was only dark for a few weeks. And starting Friday, August 15th, they’ll be back open again to the public starting at 5 p.m.

Couple things we should all keep in mind:

First, I heard that Fetfatzes personally made sure the entire staff at Sonny’s got paid their full, tipped wages during the closure. Bussers, dishwashers, line cooks, bartenders — everyone. And that’s a solid move.

Second, Sonny’s is coming back with new happy hour deals, and a bunch of specials, including $1 hot dogs during Phillies games, half off frozen slushies during happy hour, new menu items, and a whole late-night spread. Plus, they’re opening up the backyard for private parties after things get up and running again. “Now is finally time to celebrate full tilt,” according to Fetfatzes. “So we’re going to give the people what they want.”

Which brings me to my third point: If you’re planning on hitting up Sonny’s any time soon, let’s all just be careful, okay? Walk softly, no open flames, that kind of thing. We all want Sonny’s to stick around for a while this time, and I’m honestly not sure how many times a single bar can bounce back. So if you’re one of those people who bad luck just seems to follow, I don’t know … Maybe drink somewhere else for a little while? Just until Sonny’s gets its karmic legs under it. If you’re interested, I got a whole list of places I could suggest.

Speaking of Reopenings …

The newly renovated bar at Amada / Photograph courtesy of Amada

There was no flood here. No fire. But after 20 years of service, Jose Garces’s original Philly Amada closed down on July 7th and has spent the past four weeks undergoing some serious renovations. It got new floors, a marble-topped bar, new banquette seating, and hand-painted murals for the walls. Even the bathrooms got an overhaul. It was an extensive project to give the place a “refined, modern atmosphere” after two decades of more or less continuous service.

And while the place was getting a new look physically, the menu was also being overhauled. When Amada reopened last week, the kitchen debuted a menu that’d been buffed out considerably. From small things like the addition of an aged goat cheese soaked in red wine to the charcuterie board, to some heavyweights like lomo and filete steaks served for the table, racks of lamb chops, braised short ribs, and a Wagyu entrecôte with a chervil chimichurri. It’s essentially an entirely new “A La Plancha” section of the menu, focused heavily on large-format meats and seafoods, set up against the traditional tapas and paellas that Amada has been doing for years.

None of these changes are particularly surprising. Because let’s remember that while Amada may still be spiritually a Jose Garces restaurant (and while he remains the face of it, and has a hand in the culinary and creative development), the brand was sold to Houston-based SPB Hospitality in 2024. SPB operates hundreds of restaurants nationwide, and the plan when it picked up Amada (and Garces’s Village Whiskey) was to open new locations all across the country.

Anyway, the new-and-improved Amada is open now, just in time for the annual “Pig Out” suckling pig feast happening this Sunday, August 17th. $70 gets you a seat at the table, endless suckling pig, sides, and dessert. The party is happening at both the Old City Amada, and the Radnor location, and if you’re interested, reservations are available right here.

Also, that reminds me …

Horsin’ Around in Radnor

Photograph courtesy of Triple Crown

Since we’re already talking about Radnor, there’s also this: a new restaurant at the Radnor Hotel, opened by Fearless Restaurants, that’s all about that horsey life.

Triple Crown is the name of the new spot that took the hotel space formerly occupied by the Glenmorgan Bar & Grill. And just like the five dog-themed White Dog Cafes run by Fearless, this place is fully committed to the glorification of its equestrian inspirations. There are paintings of horses, polo equipment hung on the walls, carved steaks served on beds of hay. Like so many of Fearless’s brands, they pick a theme and lean heavily into it. Which is not necessarily a bad thing — provided you’re really into horses. Or pretending that you’re living in a Ralph Lauren commercial.

The menu is steakhouse-adjacent in a way that I kinda like, though. It’s a kind of classic American board that you don’t see much anymore, done without a hint of ironic detachment. We’re talking shrimp cocktails and broiled oysters. French dips, beef Wellington, and corned beef sandwiches. Caesar salads, steak tartare, chilled martinis, NY strips with Béarnaise, and a loaded baked potato. There was a time when almost all upscale American restaurants had a menu that looked exactly like this — country club food made for country club crowds, washed down with juleps and gin cocktails. And though this style was largely supplanted by the New American revolt of the late 20th century (and the dozen other culinary revolutions that followed), I still think it has its place. And right now, Triple Crown might be it.

The new spot opened for dinner service on July 24th. I’ll let you know how well their particular time machine works just as soon as my white linen suit and ascot come back from the cleaners.

In the meantime, who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Famous 4th Street Delicatessen is teaming up with Franklin Fountain to offer a new menu of desserts. / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

Famous 4th Street Delicatessen isn’t ready for summer to end. They’re teaming up with Franklin Fountain for a collab menu that started over the weekend and includes a chipwich using Famous 4th chocolate chip cookies sandwiching Franklin Fountain vanilla or chocolate ice cream. There’s also pints of Franklin Fountain’s ice cream for sale at the deli (vanilla, chocolate, sea salt caramel, and caramelized banana), and three kinds of floats made with the same — most notably the “Chocolate Cherry Bomb” with Franklin chocolate ice cream and Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda.

The new menu debuted over the weekend and will be available “for the foreseeable future.”

We’ve been talking about Tesiny — the new oyster bar promised by Lauren Biederman — since late last year, and now it looks like the restaurant at 719 Dickinson Street is getting ready to open next month. Chloé Pantazi-Wolber stopped by recently and came back with this in-depth look at how the new place is shaping up, and what to expect once the doors finally open. The highlights? A “Mad Men-esque” quatzite bar, black velvet seating, Eastern European wines, lots of Champagne, pink Gibsons and, of course, oysters.

As things stand right now, Tesiny is aiming for a September opening. Check out Chloe’s inside scoop right here.

Down in Delco, Everybody Eats (the Chester-based group of Black chefs fighting hunger and food insecurity) recently opened their first for-profit cafe. It’s called Everybody Eats Cafe, and they’ve been using the money raised through film and corporate catering and during busy breakfast and lunch services to fund a lot of their charitable projects in the area — most notably the 120 meals they give away in the community every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in partnership with Chester Eastside.

But also, they’ve been using some of the proceeds from the cafe to set up in a space next door which, starting at the end of this month, will be used for overflow cafe seating (which has become necessary since food influencer JL Jupiter hyped them up on YouTube, talking about the salmon cheesesteak and cornbread French toast), karaoke, movie nights and more.

“We’ve been working on it for a while,” Everybody Eats partner Stephanie Willis told me. But after the whole JL Jupiter thing, “we had to pull the trigger.”

Conveniently, Stephanie’s birthday was coming up, so they’re using that as an excuse to throw an opening party. August 24th is the date they’ve got on the books right now. Keep an eye on the Everybody Eats Cafe Instagram for more details.

And finally this week, it looks like Kismet Bagels is coming to Manayunk. After adding locations in Collingswood and Ventnor City, they’re now moving on the space at 4330 Main Street formerly known as Pizza Jawn. No hard date for the opening yet, but Kismet is hoping to be up and running by early next month.