It's Hipster at Honey's Sit 'N Eat

Honey's Sit 'N Eat

South Street has become the eclectic hipster spot in Philadelphia where locals are popularly known to be 20- to 30-something years old and value anything that isn’t mainstream. This is the place where visitors can find Tattooed Mom, a graffiti-clad hipster bar offering Pop Rocks candy cocktails or spend the day thrifting at one of the many South Street thrift stores. Nestled on the corner of its 21st and South Street location (the other is in Northern Liberties), Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat reflects the personality and cultural norms of its surrounding neighborhood. Its story begins with husband-and-wife team Jeb and Ellen Woody, who sought to combine their backgrounds to create a spot that offers a culturally diverse menu of Tex-Mex and traditional Jewish foods. It’s one of the only places in Philly where you will find both a breakfast quesadilla and lox on the same menu.

The beauty of Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat is reflected through its owners’ understanding of the people who live in the neighborhood. It portrays an organic, rustic persona that brings people together from ethnically diverse backgrounds in one central location. Here, you’ll find someone sitting at a bar saying to a total stranger, “I saved a seat for you!” while patting the chair next to him. It’s a different kind of place where people can feel free to be themselves. Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat landed its spot on Beauty on a Budget for its plentiful breakfast, offering a short stack of pancakes, choice of meat, and coffee or tea at a bargain breakfast price of only $4.95. The fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon, and fresh-brewed coffee were sure worth the five bucks! I had the opportunity to chat with general manager, AJ Allen, while sitting at the bar, and he shared with me Honey’s roots to uncover what makes it a beautiful experience.

“We try to locally source everything. Most of our meats are imported from Lancaster County farms, we get our tortillas from a tortilla factory in South Philly… Everything is fresh,” he said. When asked about the restaurant’s inspiration for the décor, AJ told me that they purchased all the knickknacks like the old-fashioned irons and kettles displayed across a wooden shelf on the wall as well as the hanging banner signs reading “DuPont Paint” and “Housewares-Plumbing Supplies” from a hardware store in Northeast Philly during the 1950-60s. The bar we chatted over was hand-built and repurposed, as were the wooden tables and chairs. “The culture here is really organic,” he said. It’s the organic, honest spirit and sense of belonging you get when you walk through the doors that makes this vintage spot a success.