southphillyreview . c o m
12 SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW I march 15, 2012
Readers’ Choice 2012
Birra employee Paul Gigante, from left, owner Gordon Dinerman and employee Adam Garbinski, a South Philadelphia Tap Room bartender, shows off one of the establishment’s prized craft beers. Brian Regan proudly boast Birra as the favorite newbie to satisfy hunger. a property at 1700 E. Passyunk Ave., and opted for a pizza and craft beer haven instead. With not even five months having passed since Birra arrived on the avenue, readers’ have named it their favorite new restaurant. “I definitely didn’t,” Fox said of his expectation of such quick success, “because there’s so many restaurants down here. I think people just figured out we’re good at what we do.” Fox arrives at work at 6:30 a.m. six days a week (Birra is closed Mondays) to prepare the dough and sauce, cut the vegetables and take care of any other prep work. “Everything is fresh, fresh, fresh ingredients,” Fox, who resides at Fifth and Tasker streets, said. He deems his menu as simple with an epic beer list that wife, Jessica, a Birra bar-
tender, creates. The East Passyunk Crossing spot offers more than just pizza though with mussels being a top-seller, along with three little pigs — a red pie topped with pancetta, porchetta, gabagool, mozzarella and fresh herbs — and mac & cheese — a white pizza that features elbow macaroni, pecorino, fontina, mozzarella, bread crumbs and fresh herbs. “Nothing’s new in the culinary world anymore,” Fox said. “Everyone’s already done it. You just try to put your own spin on it.” A classic margherita pie is also a fanfavorite, or a starter dish for those less adventurous. “As people come back, they figure if we can make the margherita, we can make other food as well,” Fox said. Stateside served up second place while Kris premiered in third.
Night on the town Superior suds
A
s it enters its ninth year of serving up cold beers, readers have solidified the South Philadelphia Tap Room, 1509 Mifflin St., as the top local spot for craft beer selection. Owner John Longacre attributes its success to his employees, who receive training on beer flavor profiles in order to be able to provide customers with suggestions based on their preferences. “We have the best staff in the city,” Longacre said. “We have a bunch of people that are truly passionate about beer working for us, particularly Kathryn [Wiggins] does a fantastic job for us.” Wiggins, a native of 13th Street and Snyder Avenue, is the beer manager at the bar, in addition to Brew, 1901 S. 15th St., a take-out beer shop.
“We try to run a selection of America’s best craft beer,” Longacre said of the rotating 14 beers on tap and 75 to 100 bottles. “We’re not a Belgian bar. We’re not an import-type place. … Kathryn is very in tuned with the better breweries in the country and who has the best beers.” While Philadelphia Brewing Co.’s Kenzinger is always on tap, the draft list usually also contains other Philadelphia Brewing Co. favorites, as well as Michigan’s Founders, Hershey-based Troegs, and Russian River and Firestone Walker brewing companies, both from California. The Newbold bar offers a variety of ways to taste new kinds of craft beers with an annual wheat beer festival in May, participation in June’s Philly Beer Week and a monthly tasting at Brew, which will feature Sierra Nevada 5 to 7 p.m. tomorrow. “I think it’s a great honor,” Longacre said. “There’s a lot of great craft beer plac-
es in South Philly now. It’s an honor that the readers would have chosen us.” Chickie’s & Pete’s brewed at second while Stogie Joe’s Tavern hopped in third.
Expansion worthy
W
hen Popi’s Italian Restaurant opened its doors in 1993, it quickly established itself as a popular neighborhood spot. One loyal patron enjoyed the food so much that he asked then owner Nicholas Rucci, “Can we have a party here?” Being a builder by trade, Rucci satisfied the customer’s request by building an additional room off of the main dinning space. “It took off from there,” co-owner Gina Rucci said of the establishment at 3120 S. 20th St. More than 18 years later, Popi’s continues to please its customers as the best place to celebrate a special occasion. Gina and her family continue to keep the creation of her father, who lost his life to cancer at age 70, going strong. The Packer Park establishment opens its banquet doors for a wide-range of occasions, with christenings, communions and graduations being a few of the more popular events. Gina said business dinners also tend to be popular. The banquet space can hold between 40 and 200 guests depending on the event. “The ambience of the place makes you feel comfortable, and everyone is so nice. You just want to keep coming back,” Marie Ciafre, of the 1700 block of South 12th Street, said. The 2011 Readers’ Choice pick for best crab cakes, Popi’s follows many recipes that have been passed down and are hallmarks in the Rucci family. “Everything is homemade and delicious,” Ciafre said. “There’s something for the kids and the adults to eat, so you don’t have to worry about bringing the whole family and someone not eating.”
The banquet hall at Popi’s Italian Restaurant awaits celebrants of special occasions. Gina was pleased by the positive praise. “[The readers] giving us the award lets us know we are doing our job well,” she said. Swan Waterfall Caterers arranged second, with Cantina Los Caballitos gathering in third.
A triple-threat serving
T
his year’s winners’ list wouldn’t be complete without at least one mention of Chickie’s & Pete’s, 1526 Packer Ave. This growing empire, with ESPN deeming the Packer Park location the Best Sports Bar in North America, has set the gold standard of what it takes to capture votes and hearts of the South Philly Review’s readership. This year, owner Pete Ciarrocchi and his staff locked up top honors for best french fries, happy hour and bar menu. Ciarrocchi might be the mastermind behind the brand that includes multiple locations across Pennsylvania and New Jersey,