A Guide to Fishtown, Philadelphia’s Coolest Neighborhood

It is no secret amongst Philadelphia locals that Fishtown is without doubt one of the metropolis’s buzziest neighborhoods as of late. What began as a small fishing village within the 1700s — therefore the identify — turned a working-class hub of the business shad-fishing trade over the subsequent two centuries.

However the neighborhood, which is about 20 minutes north of Middle Metropolis by prepare, fell on laborious instances by the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. About 10 years in the past, nevertheless, issues started to vary with the opening of a well-liked beer corridor, just a few yoga studios and even the flagship location of La Colombe, a high-end Philadelphia-based espresso model.

Since then, Fishtown has drawn locals to North Philly with its thriving reside music scene together with venues like The Fillmore and Johnny Brenda’s, award-winning eating places like Thai spot Kalaya (whose chef, Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, received a James Beard Award in 2023) and progressive culinary entrepreneurs: Philly’s first cheese vending machine and urban winery each opened in Fishtown in 2024.

Even Beyoncé thinks Fishtown is cool: She’s ordered her birthday cake from Cake Life Bake Shop a number of instances over time.

The August 2024 opening of the stylish 50-room Hotel Anna & Bel within the former Penn Asylum for Indigent Widows and Single Ladies cemented the neighborhood as a vacation spot in its personal proper. With an in-house Mediterranean restaurant and a vibrant cocktail bar, this new boutique lodge welcomes locals in but additionally gives a serene haven for company with a heated outside pool in its middle courtyard.

I just lately spent a weekend in Fishtown: Listed below are the perfect locations to eat and drink and issues to do in 48 hours on this up-and-coming Philadelphia neighborhood. (Plus, learn how to get there on factors!)

get to Fishtown, Philadelphia

Since I reside in New York Metropolis and do not personal a automotive, the simplest manner for me to get to Fishtown was by way of Amtrak prepare. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get from New York’s Moynihan Practice Corridor at Penn Station to Philadelphia’s William H. Grey III thirtieth Road Station on the Northeast Regional prepare. (Sooner Acela trains make the journey in a bit over an hour.)

With dozens of exits a day, it is easy to snag last-minute tickets, however you may lower your expenses by reserving upfront. I paid about $200 for round-trip coach class fares a few days earlier than my journey. Nevertheless fares begin from $10 or 375 Amtrak Guest Rewards factors every manner when you ebook a month or so out. It is also attainable to get business-class tickets on an Acela prepare beginning round $58 or 2,175 Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors every manner when you plan forward.

I do not journey on Amtrak continuously sufficient to warrant getting an Amtrak credit card, however when you do, the Amtrak Visitor Rewards® Mastercard® presents 2 factors per greenback spent on Amtrak journey, together with onboard purchases, and the Amtrak Visitor Rewards® Most popular Mastercard® presents 3 factors per greenback spent on Amtrak journey. Each playing cards provide perks like a 5% rebate when redeeming Amtrak Visitor Rewards factors for journey and rebates as an announcement credit score on onboard meals and beverage purchases.

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From the thirtieth Road Station it’s a straightforward switch to Philly’s SEPTA metro system for the 20-minute journey to Fishtown. Uber and Lyft each function in Philadelphia and take about quarter-hour, relying on visitors.

When you’re coming from farther away, Philadelphia Worldwide Airport (PHL) is only a 20-minute drive south of Fishtown and is the first hub for American Airways within the Northeast.

For these making it a highway journey, it is pretty easy to seek out road parking in Fishtown, since it is a residential neighborhood.

Whereas there are many factors resorts in Middle Metropolis, just like the W Philadelphia and the Motto by Hilton Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square, I skipped the redemption alternatives to remain on the new boutique Resort Anna & Bel to immerse myself on this charming neighborhood for the weekend as a substitute.

Simply keep in mind to maximise your factors earnings by utilizing a travel credit card just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to earn 5 factors per greenback on lodge bookings bought by way of Chase Journey℠.

Resort Anna & Bel

Named after its location on the nook of East Susquehanna Avenue and Belgrade Road, Resort Anna & Bel is a snug and stylish place to remain. The impartial boutique lodge, which simply opened in August 2024, is operated by Foyer Project, a domestically based mostly hospitality and actual property growth agency.

Every of the 50 rooms and suites has a novel format that preserves the 18th-century crimson brick constructing’s authentic options and historic character. They’re embellished with custom-made furnishings from Bali and distinctive items of artwork from principally native feminine artists. Some have shared balconies that look out over the lodge’s heated pool in its central courtyard. Rooms additionally include kitchenettes — the house owners are a married couple and fogeys to 3 boys, so that they wished to offer households with services to maintain snacks and lend the lodge a residential really feel.

The vibe throughout my keep was typically relaxed, with teams of girlfriends lounging by the pool to reconnect for just a few days or {couples} sneaking away for a quiet weekend. Locals and company alike mingled at Bastia, the lodge’s restaurant serving a mixture of Corsican and Sardinian fare, and Caletta, its intimate cocktail bar and piano lounge.

Room charges at Resort Anna & Bel begin at $217 per evening.

There are dozens of bars and eating places to select from in Fishtown, so you may simply spend a whole week consuming and ingesting your manner by way of the neighborhood. However, when you simply have 48 hours like I did, these are the highlights. An added bonus? I used to be capable of earn 4 factors per greenback on eating at eating places (on as much as $50,000 in purchases per calendar yr, then 1 level per greenback thereafter) in any respect these locations utilizing my American Express® Gold Card.

Kalaya

Following her James Beard Award win in 2023, Kalaya’s chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon was just lately featured within the seventh season of Netflix’s “Chef’s Desk.”

Her southern Thai specialties are served in a big warehouselike house on West Palmer Road. My buddies and I opted for the $75-per-person “Style of Phuket” prix-fixe menu that featured 13 dishes together with standouts like the brilliant purple shaw muang flower-shaped dumplings, hearty poh taek seafood soup and two flavors of shaved ice (coconut pineapple and occasional caramel). I left so full I might barely stroll, but it surely was a cheerful sort of discomfort.

Center Baby Clubhouse

Middle Child Clubhouse, situated underneath the elevated prepare on North Entrance Road, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily of the week besides Monday. After we arrived round 8 p.m. on a Friday evening, the eating room was buzzy and packed to the brim.

Of all of the inventive remixes of traditional consolation meals, my favourite dishes included the latkes served “okonomiyaki-style” with unagi, kewpie, pickled ginger and scallion ($3 per piece) and the pepperoni ragu rigatoni served with blush sauce, Sicilian oregano and parmesan ($22). I additionally loved the “Philly Chilly,” a rotating seasonal frozen drink — once I was there in late September they had been serving a pumpkin spice painkiller ($14), which was a festive mix of spiced rum, pineapple, coconut and orange juice.

Fiore

For breakfast or lunch, take a brief stroll from Resort Anna & Bel to Fiore, a conventional Italian bakery simply over the Fishtown border in East Kensington on Frankford Avenue. We ordered a bunch of issues and break up them, together with the saltie sandwich with tender scrambled eggs and whipped ricotta on house-made focaccia ($11), a maritozzi bun stuffed with contemporary whipped cream ($5), a pistachio cornetti ($6), a savory tomato pastry ($5) and a pile of hash browns ($7).

Perrystead Dairy Cheese Merchandising Machine

Perrystead Dairy is technically situated just some blocks west of Fishtown correct within the Olde Kensington neighborhood, however this award-winning cheesemaker is value strolling the additional few blocks to top off on picnic provides and even souvenirs to deliver residence. The store itself is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, however don’t be concerned — shopping for cheese from its 24/7 cheese merchandising machine out entrance is half the enjoyable.

I selected Perrystead’s signature Intergalactic cheese ($17), a barely pungent tender cow’s milk cheese made with Iberian cardoon thistle flowers as a substitute of animal rennet. In addition they promote crackers, jams and cured meats within the merchandising machine if you’re planning a picnic.

Cake Life Bake Store

Cake Life Bake Store is greatest recognized for making Beyoncé’s birthday cake a number of instances, however I used to be simply on the lookout for a bit candy deal with on the Saturday afternoon that I ended into this neighborhood bakery on Frankford Avenue.

Many of the cupcake flavors are seasonal, so the strawberry shake cupcake ($5) I had might not be out there whenever you cease by, however you may all the time discover classics like Funfetti and crimson velvet on the menu.

Mural Metropolis Cellars

Mural City Cellars, the primary city vineyard in Philadelphia, moved to its new digs on the northern finish of Fishtown in March 2024. The previous auto physique store is now residence to a wine-making facility, bottle store and wine bar. Mural Metropolis Cellars is thought for making only a handful of wines annually from grapes sourced from growers inside a 300-mile radius of Philadelphia.

My buddies and I cherished Mural Metropolis Cellars’ relaxed and unpretentious vibe a lot we stopped by twice in a single weekend — as soon as on Friday evening to take pleasure in a bottle of skin-contact pinot gris ($55) within the wine backyard throughout the road the place a reside band performed, and once more on Saturday afternoon for glasses of chambourcin ($14), a jammy chilled crimson, on the bar indoors to interrupt up our stroll again to the lodge from lunch.

There are a number of classic and vintage shops situated alongside Frankford Avenue, the primary business hall of Fishtown, however I cherished the eclectic mix of furnishings, homewares, jewellery and miscellaneous tchotchkes I discovered at Jinxed Vintage. Opened about 10 years in the past on this location, Jinxed additionally has two different space shops in South Philly and in Manayunk.

Penn Treaty Park

The far japanese boundary of Fishtown is the Delaware River, which is greatest considered from Penn Treaty Park, a small city park with views of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The park will get its identify from being the place the place, based on legend, William Penn signed a peace treaty with the Lenape tribe within the seventeenth century.

You may take your picnic provides right here on a heat afternoon for lunch or discover it on a espresso stroll like I did whereas my buddies slept in on Sunday morning earlier than we departed.

Johnny Brenda’s

Although I did not get an opportunity to catch a reside present at Johnny Brenda’s, this native music venue on the nook of Frankford Avenue and East Girard Avenue has been a neighborhood stalwart since opening in 2003. Downstairs, you may discover a gastropub serving smashburgers and native beer. Upstairs, yow will discover indie rock artists and bands like Kurt Vile and Matt Pond PA enjoying within the upcoming months.