Frankford Ave. Stroll

In the last few years, the stretch of Frankford Ave. in Fishtown has a become a major commercial center filled with unique restaurants, bars, and shops.

The easiest way to get there from Center City is to take the el and get off at the Girard station. Make a left at Girard and then a left at Frankford. A note for suburbanites who don’t get into cities much. The foot of the station is a bit gritty, and you might think I sent you some place to get killed. It’s fine, just keep walking. It quickly becomes very nice.

I could fill lots of blog posts with spots to check out, but on this walk I hit a few worth mentioning.

If you like antiques, collectibles, and miscellaneous odd stuff, check out Jinxed at 1331 Frankford.

I found a Kodak Brownie camera for $15, and decided to add it to my small collection of antiques. If I were taking photos in 1924 when this model was introduced, here’s what it would look like.

Continuing my walk, I saw this mural, which I think is new.

I had heard of Franklin & Poe at 1817 Frankford, but hadn’t been there before. They sell men’s clothes (lots of high quality denim) and accessories from independent brands made in the US.

I had a nice chat with one of the owners, and bought a card wallet.

I thought I’d sit at the bar at Suraya for lunch, but it’s so popular that at 1:00 Saturday afternoon there was a half hour wait for a bar seat.

I had no patience for that (been there before, and yes it is good and I’d recommend), and instead went across the street to the outdoor Heffe Tacos at 1431 Frankford.

As they proudly state they have “tacos that don’t suck!” That does not seem an extraordinarily high bar to me, and I’d say these are far better than simply not sucking.

My last stop on the way back to the el was around the corner on Girard. Weckerly’s Ice Cream is made in Philly and recently opened there first shop at 9 W. Girard.

The shop is small with not many places to sit, but I was able to get a stool at the window counter to enjoy a chocolate ice cream with caramel chunks.

This is just a small fraction of what Frankford Ave. has to offer. For visitors to the city and locals who haven’t been there, or just went straight to a restaurant, I’d say hop on the el and explore.