Six months ago, if a neighbor asked where the new places were, you could wave vaguely at Frankford Avenue and call it a day. That answer no longer works. The openings that landed between January and April 2026 cluster on specific addresses, and the weekly programming lines up with specific streets. This summer, Fishtown is easier to plan around than it has been in years, as long as you know which block belongs to which night.
Here is what actually changed, and how to use it.
The Frankford Avenue dinner spine, from south to north
Walk north from Girard and the new arrivals start stacking within a few blocks of each other.
At the south end, Ricci's expanded into Fishtown, where you can grab a chicken salad hoagie, black pepper turkey hoagie, or the corned beef special. It is the century-old hoagie shop's first outpost this far north, and it fills a lunch gap on the stretch near Girard.
A few blocks up, at 1826 Frankford, brothers Sherif and Amro Nagud opened Liguria Pizzeria, a slice shop dispensing New York-style pies plus cheesesteaks and fries next to Ham & Bone pet supply, drawing on Amro's fourteen years running Stella's Pizza in Northeast Philadelphia and time at Verona Pizza in Maple Glen. The pie to know is the Broken Burrata, with spooned stracciatella, arugula and six-year-aged balsamic. Slices around four dollars, whole pies around twenty-five.
Then there is the Vernick project. In January, one of Philadelphia's most celebrated chefs, Greg Vernick, opened Emilia, his first restaurant in a new neighborhood and the first without his name on the door. The location came together when longtime regulars Michael Dinan, Ryan Kalili, and Henry Siebert approached Greg and his wife Julie about opening an Italian restaurant in their new apartment development on Frankford Avenue. Chef Meri Medoway leads the kitchen, and they are turning out wood-fired dishes inspired by travels through Italy, including grilled cabbage, tortellini in brodo, and crispy veal. Vernick told Resy that it's not meant to be a special occasion spot, which is worth taking him at his word on. Treat it like a regular dinner, not a two-month-out reservation.
Keep walking, and at 2201 Frankford you hit LeoFigs, Justice and Shannon Figueras's long-delayed bar and restaurant serving what they call "comfort-leaning small plates" and wines from their basement winery at Frankford and Susquehanna. The 85-seat restaurant blends casual dining with small-batch wines from their family lineages in Spain and Italy. If you have been walking past that corner wondering when the paper would come off the windows, the answer is: it did, in April.
Four openings, four blocks. That is the spine.
Beach Street picks up the slack
Frankford Avenue took the food. Beach Street took the scale.
Ballers opened within The Battery, the century-old former Delaware Generating Station that was once the largest power plant in the PECO system. The concept is what happens when a sports bar decides to also be a court. With an estimated $10 million investment, the couple behind it created a bar and restaurant overlooking a 3,700-square-foot turf field on the first floor, with six pickleball courts and two squash courts on the second floor. Founder David Gutstadt framed the pitch this way: "We're about social sports. One way people come together around sport is actually watching sports, and another way is playing them. We wanted to create a place where you can do both, and eat well while you're at it."
The investor list reads like a fantasy roster. The pair got investments from nearly 40 athletes and sports figures, including Andre Agassi, Tyrese Maxey, Maarten Paes, and David Blitzer. Whether that means anything for your Saturday afternoon is a personal question. What it does mean, practically, is that the Beach Street corner of the neighborhood now has a daytime anchor that did not exist a year ago. If you have been trying to figure out what to do with visiting cousins who do not want another brewery, this is the answer.
The pattern to notice: the new arrivals are not scattered. They cluster on Frankford between Girard and Susquehanna, plus one large-format addition on Beach. The map is doing the work of the calendar.
Tuesdays belong to Fishtown Taps
The best standing deal in the neighborhood came back in June. Fishtown Taps has returned, inviting locals and visitors alike to enjoy specials every Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. now through September. Pricing is $5 beers, $6 wines, and $7 cocktails, plus appetizer specials, across a participating roster that is worth memorizing rather than looking up every week.
Participating locations this season include:
- Ballers, 1325 N Beach Street
- Barcade, 1114 Frankford Avenue
- Cormorant Corner Bar, 2301 Frankford Avenue
- Evil Genius Beer Company, 1727 N Front Street
- Fette Sau, 1208 Frankford Avenue
- Five Iron Golf, 27 E Allen Street
- Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Avenue
- Front Street Cafe, 1253 N Front Street
- Garage Fishtown, 100 E Girard Avenue
- International Bar, 100 E Girard Avenue
- Lloyd Whiskey Bar, 100 E Girard Avenue
- LMNO, 1739-49 N Front Street
- Mecha Noodle Bar, 1700 N Front Street
- Murph's Bar, on E Girard Avenue
- Other Half Brewing, 1002 Canal Street
- Stateside Vodka Bar, 1700 N Hancock Street
- Two Robbers Fishtown, 1221 Frankford Avenue
Seventeen options across four streets is a lot of choice. The useful move is to pick two you have never tried and rotate. Full list and any mid-summer changes are posted at fishtowndistrict.com.
Saturdays go under the El
The other reliable weekly draw is monthly, technically, but it anchors three summer Saturdays. The free "Chalk of the Town" event takes place from noon to 6 p.m. on the 1700 block of North Front Street beneath the Market-Frankford Line, and it kicked off the season on June 27. Saturday's event is the first of three Under the El Bazaars planned this summer. The series returns July 18 and Aug. 15 with new themes, vendors and entertainment.
The food and drink lineup at each is drawn from restaurants you can walk to any other day of the week. Several Fishtown restaurants and bars will join the event with outdoor food and drink offerings, including handmade crepes from International Bar, pizza from Percy Diner & Bar, a beer tent from Evil Genius Beer Company and walking tacos and margaritas at LMNO. That overlap with the Fishtown Taps roster is not coincidence. The same operators are running the summer, and the more you notice the repetition, the more the neighborhood starts to feel small in the good way.
What that looks like as a week
Put the pieces together and you get a rhythm that actually works without a Google Calendar full of RSVPs.
- Monday: Off. Rest the liver. Emilia and LeoFigs both take reservations you might want later in the week.
- Tuesday: Fishtown Taps window from 5 to 7 p.m. Pick a bar you have not been inside in a year.
- Wednesday: Slow night for a walk-in at Liguria. The counter turns over fast.
- Thursday: If you want a proper dinner out, this is Emilia night. Weekend reservations are harder.
- Friday: Ricci's for a hoagie lunch if you work from home. LeoFigs for wine after work.
- Saturday: Under the El Bazaar on July 18 and August 15. Off-weekends, Ballers for a court and a burger.
- Sunday: Recovery brunch on Frankford, or the daytime side of Ballers if you want to move first.
That schedule uses named places from within a fifteen-minute walk of each other. It does not require driving. It does not require a car service to Center City. That has been the promise of Fishtown for years. This summer is the version where the promise is easiest to keep.
The through-line
The thesis, if you want it stated plainly: the new arrivals are geographically concentrated in a way that changes how you use the neighborhood. Frankford Avenue between Girard and Susquehanna is now a coherent food block. Beach Street has a daytime anchor. Front Street under the El has three fixed Saturday dates. The map is doing more of the planning than it used to, which means you can spend less time deciding and more time actually being in the neighborhood you already chose.
If you are thinking about how any of this affects the value of the house you already own here, or if you have a friend eyeing a move and asking you the "is it still good" question, that is the kind of context a good local agent should be able to give you in five minutes. Reach out to Conchetta Park any time. Let's Connect.
