Four restaurant projects are in the works on East Passyunk Avenue this fall, and each one is moving into a room that was built for something else. One is a former accountant's office. One is a pizzeria that served the Avenue for generations. One is a dim sum spot with its dining room in the basement. The fourth room hasn't been publicly identified. Meanwhile, one of the Avenue's best-known kitchens has been dark since June, waiting on a new hood and a repaired roof.
Each project has a first announced opening date, and each one has missed it. The pattern says more about how this street changes than any single opening does. Converting a room is the slow part, and right now the most interesting cooking on the Avenue is happening in courtyards, at off-site classes and at street events.
| Address | What it was | What's coming | Latest reported timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1515 E. Passyunk Ave. | Accountant's office | Habibi Supper Club | "Possibly by the end of year" |
| 1520 E. Passyunk Ave. | Ember & Ash | Ember & Ash, after fire repairs | No reopening date |
| 1546 E. Passyunk Ave. | Not reported | Santé Social | No new date since a fall target |
| 1648 E. Passyunk Ave. | Bing Bing Dim Sum | Tako Taco | "Months away" |
| 1734 E. Passyunk Ave. | Marra's | EMei | "Late fall" |
| 1637 and 1639 E. Passyunk Ave., 1632 S. Jessup St. | Mamma Maria's | For sale | Listed in August 2026 |
The 1500 Block Is Gaining Two Small Rooms While Its Hearth Sits Cold
The 1500 block shows the shift most clearly. Miled Finianos started Habibi Supper Club in December 2023 as a series of Lebanese dinners in borrowed spaces around the city. In May he signed a lease at 1515 E. Passyunk Ave., across from Ember & Ash and down the block from Love & Honey Fried Chicken. The plan is a BYOB with about 25 seats. It will serve late breakfast and lunch from roughly 10 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m., then host ticketed supper clubs Thursday through Saturday nights. Daytime dishes will include fatteh, which is chickpeas layered with tahini yogurt and fried pita, and awarma, a confit lamb served with eggs, labneh or hummus.
"I feel like Habibi is very tied to the identity of South Philadelphia, East Passyunk and the Italian Market," Finianos told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
A few doors down at 1546, across from the Singing Fountain, sommelier Daniel Solway is giving his roving dinner series Santé a permanent home called Santé Social. The Inquirer described it as a flexible space of about 30 seats rather than a conventional restaurant. It will host wine dinners, tastings, classes, collaborations and private events, with some walk-in service. Danny Childs of Slow Drinks and Field Day is developing the cocktails. Solway said the chance to get a liquor license, in a neighborhood he loved, is what made the timing right.
Across the street at 1520, Ember & Ash has been closed since a late-night fire on June 24 traveled through its ventilation system to the roof. Owners Lulu and Scott Calhoun told the Inquirer the restaurant needed professional water cleanup throughout the building plus repairs to the hood and roof. The kitchen is built around a custom wood-burning grill from Grills by Demant, and it has been the restaurant's centerpiece since it opened in late 2020. About 16 people work there. Its website still says it is temporarily closed. Gift card sales go toward repairs and the reopening, and a staff-organized relief fund supports the team.
Put together, one block is adding two rooms of 25 and 30 seats that run on tickets and scheduled events, while waiting for a full-service hearth restaurant to come back. Love & Honey at 1523 adds a quicker meal to the mix. Franchisee Nafee Hossain opened it in May, and the brand's founders are chefs Laura and Todd Lyons.
Why Every Date on the Avenue Has Slipped
Each project's delay comes back to building out the room.
Habibi's opening was first targeted for October or November, "if construction and permitting cooperate." The plan calls for a full build-out: outdoor seating, a restored front window, flower boxes, and a garage bay turned into a glass-fronted facade. By September, the Inquirer's fall forecast had moved it to "possibly by the end of year."
EMei's timeline has moved the furthest. When Dan Tsao announced in December 2025 that the Chinatown Sichuan restaurant would take over the former Marra's at 1734, he planned to start takeout and delivery in February and open full dine-in service by summer 2026. Eater Philly's September preview listed it as "late fall" and explained the reason in one line: "pizza and mapo tofu require a pretty different kitchen."
Tako Taco is a Japanese-Mexican project from chefs Biff Gottehrer and Kenjiro Omori in the former Bing Bing Dim Sum at 1648. Plans put the main dining room and bar in the basement, with seating at street level and possibly a small sushi bar. The first reported target was fall 2026. In September, the Inquirer said it was still "months away."
Ember & Ash is a repair rather than a conversion, but the same issue applies. The Inquirer noted that fires that travel through ventilation can keep a restaurant closed for months, because the damage isn't always visible and insurance claims can take a long time. Its example was Kampar in Bella Vista, closed since a February 2025 fire. About two weeks after the fire, the restaurant posted that "the honest answer is that we don't know yet."
Why Operators Keep Choosing Old Rooms
If converting a room is this slow, why do operators keep doing it? Tsao offered one answer in the Inquirer's August report on older Philadelphia restaurants closing or selling. Over about a year, he acquired or leased four landmark restaurant properties: the former John Henry's Pub in Ardmore, Marra's, the former Irish Pub in Rittenhouse, and the Old Original Bookbinder's and Olde Bar property in Old City. He plans to keep all four in hospitality use.
"With an existing restaurant space, especially a legacy restaurant, it already has a place in the neighborhood, and a place in the memories and hearts of generations of customers," Tsao said.
The same article notes that these properties may already have much of the expensive infrastructure a restaurant needs. Marra's had a pizza kitchen that EMei now has to rework. The 1600 block may offer the next test. Mamma Maria's opened in 1992, expanded next door the following year, and closed in 2020. Its three buildings at 1637 and 1639 E. Passyunk Ave. and 1632 S. Jessup St. went up for sale in August, all with apartments above. 1637 Passyunk, which holds one dining room, is offered together with the Jessup Street building, which holds the kitchen, for $1.5 million. 1639 Passyunk, with the other dining room, is listed at $2 million. Those were the asking prices as of August 2026. The listing agent told the Inquirer the kitchen is "still set up."
"We want to give somebody the chance to have what we had, but with their vision," said Paola Chiavatti, Mamma Maria's daughter.
That puts three of the 1600 block's best-known restaurant addresses in limbo at once. Bing Bing is being rebuilt as Tako Taco, the Mamma Maria's buildings are looking for a buyer, and Cantina Los Caballitos at 1651 is still open and busy with October programming.
Where the Cooking Is Happening in the Meantime
While the dining rooms wait, the operators have moved outdoors and off-site, and the Avenue's own calendar is full. Here's what's left this month:
- Today, Oct. 4, noon to 5 p.m.: The Philadelphia Dating Annex opens at 1910 Passyunk Ave. It's a participatory installation where visitors add notes, missed connections, mementos and books to the collection.
- Every Tuesday in October, 4 to 6 p.m.: Creepy Crawly Crafts at Cantina Los Caballitos, 1651 E. Passyunk Ave., with seasonal crafts and happy hour specials. There are four Tuesdays left, starting Oct. 6.
- Thursday, Oct. 15: A Santé Wine & Cheese class. It's part of Santé's October lineup, which is still held at outside venues while 1546 is built out.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 to 10 p.m.: The 17th Annual Witch Craft Crawl, with specials and activities at more than 30 businesses on the Avenue.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: East Passyunk Fall Fest between Morris and Dickinson, with a market of 80+ vendors, food and drink, pumpkin carving, costume contests, live music and Creepy Crawl trick-or-treating.
Ember & Ash showed how this can work in August. Scott Calhoun brought yakitori grills from home to the Cartesian Brewing courtyard at 1326 E. Passyunk Ave. for a Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. The menu included octopus dogs, Filet-o'-skate and 'nduja-stuffed piquillos, with no tickets or reservations. Afterward the restaurant posted, "We missed cooking for you," and signed off with "Until the next one." Santé previewed its permanent space the same way, with an Aug. 22 event at Post Haste billed as a look at the work in progress.
Many of the Avenue's buildings are built for restaurant use, and some, like the Mamma Maria's buildings, have apartments above the dining rooms. When one of those buildings changes hands, the kitchen inside shapes the price and how long it takes to reopen. If you own a building on East Passyunk with a working kitchen, or you're weighing what one is worth to the next operator, Michael Prince handles restaurant and mixed-use sales and can talk through what buyers are looking for. List with Michael.
