Hop Sing Laundromat Marks 13 Years With a Summer Special

Photograph courtesy of Hop Sing Laundromat

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. With the Memorial Day weekend now in the rearview, Philly is officially gearing up for summer. With that in mind, we’ve got just a few quick things to get through this week — including (but not limited to) a new location for Amma’s, more wine for Rittenhouse, an update from Lacroix, and an anniversary celebration in Chinatown. So before we all head out to get some sun, let’s kick things off this week with …

Happy Birthday, Hop Sing Laundromat!

I know this might be hard for some of y’all to believe, but Hop Sing Laundromat, the Chinatown cocktail bar that (ostensibly) reignited this city’s love affair with smartly conceived, artfully constructed, and unabashedly ego-driven custom cocktails, is 13 years old now.

I was there at the beginning — on a night that actually happened before the “official” grand opening on Memorial Day weekend in 2012. Back when Lê, the owner, was such a complete mystery that I didn’t even know how to properly spell his name. The place knocked me out on that very first night — the beauty of it, the attention to detail, the balls that it took to “look at a room full of food writers, booze writers, cocktail freaks, and weirdoes — some of whom were no doubt there just to root for Hop Sing’s failure — and to choose as the very first drink … a screwdriver.”

That still stands as one of the simplest, best, and most confident cocktails I have ever had in my life. And I’ve spent years now writing about Lê and his obsessions — from his fixation on rules to his epic ban list (and recent amnesty program) to this profile, which grappled with the question of how someone can become a celebrity when no one (not even their friends) know who they actually are.

So now, Hop Sing is turning 13, and Lê has decided to celebrate with a summer rollback.

Starting June 5th, and continuing on the first Thursday of the month for the entire summer (at least), Hop Sing will be offering 13 different cocktails for just $10. Some of them will be classics from that opening night menu. Some of them will be drinks that have become famous over the last decade of being pushed across his nickel-topped bar. But all of them will be handmade with the same carefully chosen, generally super-high-end spirits that he’s been pouring since day one.

A couple important notes: First, Lê is tacking an automatic 20 percent tip on every tab during these throwback Thursday services because he wants to make sure his staff gets taken care of and isn’t hurt by the drop in prices. But this 20 percent only applies on Thursdays. You wanna be a dick and screw your servers out of a tip on any other night, that’s on you. Karma will get you in the end.

Second, this is Lê, so the exact length of this promotion is still somewhat up in the air. He tells me that it’s going to be running for the entire summer, but maybe longer if it’s successful and if people actually show up and like it, or maybe shorter of something goes wrong or it’s all some kind of disaster. But for sure, it’s starting on Thursday, June 5th. When it ends is really anyone’s guess.

Third, all the normal Hop Sing rules still apply.

And finally, he is insisting that I say that Hop Sing is now “the oldest independently-owned cocktail bar in the city.” We argued a lot about what he meant by this. There was more than a little bit of shouting. And while I’m not 100 percent sure that I agree with his assessment (even considering his narrow definition of “independently-owned cocktail bar”), what I know he actually means here is simply that he outlived — by a lot — the original incarnation of Franklin Mortgage, which was always his arch-nemesis (in bar form). Which is absolutely true.

So anyway, happy 13th to Hop Sing. $10 cocktails for everyone. And if I were you, I’d maybe think about just getting in line now, because Hop Sing has a lot of fans in this town, and the opportunity to do a little alcoholic time-traveling with Lê is going to be a hard thing for a lot of folks to pass up.

Getting Tipsy in Rittenhouse

Partners Heather Annechiarico, Chris Fetfatzes, and Susan Freeman will be bringing WineDive to Rittenhouse this summer. / Photograph by Mike Prince

Word came down last week that Heather Annechiarico and Chris Fetfatzes of Happy Monday Hospitality, along with “long-time sidekick” and new partner Susan Freeman, are bringing their WineDive (formerly Wine Dive, with a space) concept to Rittenhouse this summer.

First, a little history …

Annechiarico and Fetfatzes were, once upon a time, the operators of Hawthorne’s Restaurant Group — a conglomeration of restaurants that included the beer-and-brunch spot Hawthorne’s, Grace & Proper, Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, the original WineDive on South Street, and the short-lived Rabbit. In 2022, an apartment fire closed the O.G. WineDive, Sonny’s, and Rabbit all at once — something that was supposed to be temporary but turned into a years-long reorganization of the entire group.

At the very beginning of 2025, Annechiarico and Fetfatzes announced that they were closing Hawthorne’s, their namesake restaurant, after 15 years in South Philly and, in the process, were forming an all-new hospitality company, Happy Monday, with the promise of new projects, resurrections of old concepts, and “some other dope shit,” according to Fetfatzes. A couple weeks later, they came through with the soft launch of Sonny’s back in its original location. And now, it looks like they’re getting ready to bring back WineDive, too — only in a brand new location: a former nail salon at 1534 Sansom Street in Rittenhouse.

The new WineDive will be small — just 30 seats, 14 of them at the bar — and modeled after a retro ’70s/’80s Hollywood hideaway (which sounds pretty cool, actually). We’re talking plush banquettes, amber glass-block design features, dark paneling, and an overall dim and moody vibe. According to the descriptions I’ve seen, it’s one of those places that’s supposed to feel like it’s been there for half a century already without anyone noticing. A classic just waiting to be (re)discovered.

And sure, maybe that sounds a little bit contrived, but I’ve always been a sucker for that kind of manufactured drama, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do. There’ll be 20 by-the-glass wines on the list in constant rotation. “Think grower Champagne, alpine whites, juicy chillables, and skin-contact oranges. Alongside the wild and the funky, you’ll always find beautiful pours from old-world legends such as Burgundy, Barolo, Bordeaux, and beyond, and even the occasional boxed wine worth bragging about,” according to the team. Add to that a bottle list, canned beers, and a cocktail list that plays around with retro classics like the rusty nail and the bay breeze, and a menu that leans hard on easy, affordable comfort foods like chicken nuggets, brûléed pimento cheese dip with Cheez-Its, a “sexy grilled cheese” with burnt ends, and a stacked roast beef sandwich.

“We want to be a place where we can pass savings onto the consumer, where 20 bucks gets you a bite to eat and a fantastic drink,” says Freeman. WineDive is about quality without the pretension and value without compromise. Great wine and great vibes will be accessible to everyone, as we want to be fun and approachable. Whether you’re popping in for a quick glass or settling in for the night, we want everyone to feel welcome.”

All of that sounds great — and a welcome shift from the escalating price wars and luxury tasting menus that have been such a huge part of the restaurant conversation for the past few months. Plus, they’re going no-reservations, with walk-in-only service seven days a week from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. to start, and plans for earlier opening hours on the weekends in the future.

Oh, but wait. That’s not all …

In announcing the new WineDive location (which has a planned opening later this summer), Happy Monday also let slip that there’ll be a full second concept going into the space upstairs. Liquorette will be a “high-end, technique-driven cocktail bar that’s inspired by luxury European cocktail bars,” and plans are already in place for it to open later in the year, once WineDive settles in to its new home. What’s more, the original WineDive still might have some life in it, too. According to Fetfatzes, there are “still aspirations of reopening. We firmly believe in the WineDive brand, as we love our original South Street location, which Philadelphians have so much affinity for, and we’re certain that this is a brand that will grow to multiple locations.”

So I guess this really is just the beginning. Keep your eye on this space. You’ll know more when I know more.

In the meantime, what else is happening this week …

Amma’s Expands (Again)

Dishes from Amma’s / Photograph by Mike Prince

In completely non-cocktail-bar news, Amma’s South Indian Cuisine is just days away from officially opening its fifth location — this one at 7000 Midlantic Drive in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

The new spot will be a BYO, seating upwards of 125 people inside (split between a 55-seat dining room and an additional 70 seats in a private room), plus a massive patio with room for nearly 100 more. The new spot will have its own tandoori oven on-site (which means fresh naan, among other things), a menu that rejects fusion or “Americanized” Indian food in favor of authentic South Indian cuisine, and two different buffet services (one for weekday lunches, another on the weekends).

The new location has been operating in soft-open mode for the past couple weeks, but the grand opening is scheduled for May 29th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Amma’s will be offering complimentary service but also collecting donations from all guests, which they’ll match and then donate to the Food Bank of South Jersey.

And while all of this is undeniably good news, the real reason I’m talking about this expansion here is because the new Mount Laurel location isn’t the only thing the team behind Amma’s has in the works right now. For starters, it looks like partners Sathish Varadhan and Balakrishnan Duraisamy are looking at packing up their original 1518 Chestnut Street location (which I reviewed — and loved — when it first opened back in 2019) and moving the whole thing down to 1500 Walnut Street, the former home of Max Brenner. That’s supposed to happen sometime next month. Then, later this summer, they’ve got a sixth location getting ready to open in Newtown, Bucks County, to be followed by more locations “in the pipeline” with openings scheduled in 2025 and beyond.

Now, who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Eric Leveillee in Lacroix’s kitchen. / Photograph by Mike Prince

Since 1994, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse has been a benchmark for the kind of old-school, French-inflected, Philly-specific luxury that defined the top end of this city’s restaurant scene for decades. When we lost Le Bec-Fin in 2013, Lacroix carried the torch. During the gastropub revolution, in those days when all anyone cared about was pizza or Italian rusticism or weird ’80s retro dining, Lacroix held firm to its white tablecloth roots.

But over time, the gloss kind of … faded. For a while, it still hosted a famously luxurious brunch, but in the restaurant industry, being really well known for doing a very fancy brunch is basically one step shy of becoming a permanent footnote.

But over the past couple years, Lacroix has been working hard to bring itself back into relevancy. Slowly, quietly, through menu changes and a series of surprising collab dinners (most notably one that centered his sous chefs), chef Eric Leveillee has begun reframing the narrative of a dinner at Lacroix. And now, he’s doing even more.

“[Lacroix is] reintroducing itself to Philadelphia as a modern fine dining destination — one that embraces the finer things in life, without the formality of its past,” according to the description attached to Leveillee’s newest menu. “[He] has created rustic, approachable luxury through French-inspired fare that pays homage to the restaurant’s fine dining roots, whilst curating a fresh experience that is equally as approachable as it is indulgent.”

The new menu is pared-down, modernized, and arranged by raw bar, snacks and small plates, mains, and sides. There’s hiramasa crudo and chilled Spanish prawns, a seasonal white asparagus velouté, ramp Caesar salad, pork trotter croquettes with morels, Parisian gnocchi, a roasted half-chicken with pommes purée, and a bone marrow burger with aged Comté and frites on the dinner menu.

Plus, the kitchen is getting a helping hand from James Beard winner (and founder of the Slow Drinks movement), Danny Childs, who has reimagined the entire cocktail program to focus on recognizable, approachable, local classics like the clover club and Fish House Punch.

I am absolutely thrilled that Lacroix, Leveillee, and Childs are doing all this. If ever there was a restaurant in this town ripe for a Hollywood-style remake, it’s Lacroix, and I’m excited to see how this all works out for them. If you’re interested, the new menu is up and running now, and you can get more info (or reservations) right here.

Levain Bakery is collaborating with Milk Jawn for a special cookie and ice cream deal. / Photograph by Mark Weinberg

Meanwhile, also in Rittenhouse, the new Levain Bakery (which we have talked about before) is kicking off a new summer collab with Philly-based small-batch ice cream company Milk Jawn on Friday, May 30th. We’re talking one of Levain’s seven different kinds of heavyweight cookies, paired with a scoop of Milk Jawn’s double-fold vanilla ice cream, all for $10.50, available every day, all summer long. Get two, and you’ve got yourself a massive $21 ice cream sandwich. Just a thought …

And finally this week, just to bring everything full circle with some more booze news, it looks like Phoenixville’s own Bluebird Distilling is getting ready to drop $2 million on an overhaul of their entire space on Bridge Street. Earlier this month, Phoenixville Borough Council voted (unanimously) to approve a plan for the “Bluebird Distilling Project,” which will involve a rebuilt patio, a second floor with an outdoor porch, a new bar area inside, plus a rebuilt open kitchen made for slinging Neapolitan-style pizzas. According to the Inky, Bluebird will remain open during construction — which owners hope will wrap up by the end of this year — and, upon completion, will be reborn, Phoenix-like (ha!), as Bluebird Social: Cocktails & Kitchen by Bluebird Distilling.

I’m pretty sure I’ll just call it Bluebird Social, though. That whole name? It’s kind of a mouthful.