Where to Eat and Drink in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and Germantown
June 3, 2021
In addition to the many shops and boutiques, Germantown Avenue is also home to a number of eateries serving a range of cuisines. Start the day with a coffee and a freshly prepared pastry or a crepe from one of High Point Café’s two Mt. Airy locations. Cherish infuses Caribbean flavors into their menu of breakfast and lunch staples made with halal and kosher meats. Mimi’s Market & Café in Chestnut Hill serves breakfast, brunch and lunch with live music on the weekends in an outdoor garden and patio space.
The Market at the Fareway in Chestnut Hill is modern farmers market, home to over a dozen local vendors that offer a variety of items including fresh produce, sushi, Vietnamese cuisine, cinnamon buns, coffee, and more. One of the Market’s vendors, local micro-brewery Chestnut Hill Brewing, serves Neapolitan-style pizza alongside a rotating tap list of craft beer brewed on premises, available in 16-ounce pours or to-go in growlers.
Savor Central American dishes at El Poquito, whose Baja-inspired menu includes tacos, nachos, fajitas, enchiladas, and margaritas, all of which can be enjoyed at their indoor cantina-style dining room or outside in their spacious garden. Don’t leave Chestnut Hill without visiting the storied McNally’s Tavern and trying their signature sandwich “the Schmitter” — a worthy alternative to the traditional cheesesteak, featuring grilled steak and salami, onions, melted cheese, grilled tomatoes and a delicious special sauce on a round roll.
At Jansen in Mt. Airy, Chef David Jansen strikes a perfect balance between contemporary American dishes classical French techniques, with seasonal dishes served in an elegant setting inside a quaint, 18th-century cottage along Germantown Avenue. Mi Puebla serves authentic dishes influenced by Mexico’s Puebla region in a colorful, family-friendly setting complete with a a bakery counter featuring pies, cakes, cookies and more. Earth Bread + Brewery serves wood-fired flatbread pizzas alongside a tap list of small batches of craft beer brewed in house and with a focus on sustainability and locally sourced ingredients. Pizzeria Nonna serves pizza, calzones, hoagies, cheesesteaks and more inside of an 80s-inspired pizza parlor with pool tables. Enjoy local craft beer, snacks and sandwiches at popular neighborhood hangouts Mt. Airy Taproom or McMenamin’s Tavern.
In Germantown, grab a coffee and pastry — including vegan options from Crust Vegan Bakery — at Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books and check out the café’s curated collection of literature. Find more coffee nearby at the Germantown location of Philadelphia-based roaster, Ultimo Coffee. Later, enjoy slow-cooked meats alongside soul food classics like collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread, peach cobbler and more at Deke’s Bar-B-Que. Food from Deke’s can also be enjoyed while sipping on a pint of craft beer at neighboring Attic Brewing Company, either inside their spacious taproom or outside in their beer garden. The brewery also regularly hosts a rotating collection of food trucks, live musical acts, and special events throughout the year, including a Germantown Outdoor Market each Sunday featuring local vendors.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with cookies, pies, pastries, and ice cream from Brendenbeck’s Bakery & Ice Cream Parlor, which has been serving treats in the same building since 1889, or with locally-made chocolates from Zipf’s Candies. Zsa’s Ice Cream in Mt. Airy is known for their interesting ice cream flavors and ice cream sandwiches featuring generous scoops between freshly baked cookies. Visit nearby Frosted Fox Cake Shop — winners of Netflix’s Sugar Rush — for cakes, custom cookies, cupcakes and other treats.
Cover photo: Market at the Fareway. Photo courtesy of En Route Marketing.
