It’s hard to talk about Byrne’s without discussing the wings. People generally love the way they are cooked- crisp skin, tender and juicy inside. But what about the atmosphere?

It’s an informal “Cheers” like place where you sit next to a stranger. You sample delicious foods and drink the domestic $2.25 beer draft. So unique, people are drawn to the fact that very little has changed over the years. It is not uncommon for people to drive to Byrne’s from all parts of the city just to experience it for themselves.

For Restaurant week they are offering their “Byrne’s Sampler” at half price! This sampler includes their famous Wings, Poppers, Mozzarella Sticks, Broccoli Bites, Chicken Fingers and Celery. Don’t forget the homemade sauces! Bleu Cheese, Red Sauce, and Honey Mustard.

Johnny Brenda’s has always gone above and beyond when choosing and preparing what they serve. The staff has always got an eye to the markets here, in Lancaster, and the Delaware Bay for the freshest regional offerings.  This year’s restaurant week is no different.

Because only foods that are fresh from the farm are being used, all menu items are subject to change. As new, fresh foods come in, the menu, written in chalk, is modified.

For their special during restaurant week they will be offering 3 courses for $25!
-seasonal roasted veggie salad appetizer
-a choice of entrée between  seafood (trout, scallops) or meat (pork, beef)
-deep dish apple pie a la mode

Though the ever changing fresh food menu is subject to change, the 3 courses for $25 set up will not.

Read about everything else Johnny Brenda’s has to offer your dining experiance including all-draft all-local beer!

(The above digital version of our postcard is clickable, just point at your favorite establishment and click for more info)

On this coolest day since last May its fitting to look ahead to even cooler temperatures.  This fall is is going to be a blast here in the River Wards of Kensington, Fishtown, and Port Richmond.  On October 1st we’ve got the venerable River City Festival in gorgeous Penn Treaty Park, a multifaceted community gathering featuring music, food, local vendors, and other local cultural and civic organizations.  Us NKCDC folks will be there, explaining our programs, helping take out the trash, and enjoying our beautiful riverfront park, but we will also be handing out our 2011 River Wards Restaurant & Cafe Week Postcards, to remind everyone about the great deals on dining out to be had in the week following River City Fest!

This year’s Restaurant & Cafe Week has a few new participants, some new to the ‘hood, some well established favorites.   Keep checking back to this site, of follow Frankford AveArts on Facebook for updates from each purveyor.

Now its time to get ready to do it all over again, and with the new establishments that have opened in that past year, its going to be another delicious first week in October in the River Wards!

The basic idea behind our restaurant week is that we encourage proprietors to offer special prices and special foods to get folks interested and in the door.  Then, in order to make sure everyone knows about these great deals and interesting foods, we all pitch in to a joint advertising budget so that each restaurant can get exposure to the public without having to pay for a multi-thousand dollar advertising campaign that would force them to raise prices, and defeat the whole darn purpose of restaurant week!  So – heres to working together and trying out new foods and new places to eat!

Are you the proprietor of one of our area’s fine eating establishments?  If so we’d like to hear from you.  Ideas on the table (pun intended) for this year’s promotion include the possibility of a theme (got any ideas?) or fixed price multi-course menus, or maybe a focus on lunch or breakfast?

If your interested in participating, or if you’d like to share some awesome ideas that could help make restaurant week even more fun, you can email hpyatt(at)nkcdc.org.

Heres what theyre saying in the media;

Uwishunu

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

City Paper

The venerable fishtown.us

foobooz.com

Around Philly

outside.in

all of these specials will be $5 from 2pm to 6pm at Thang Long!

Have you tried Pho? Its a Vietnamese noodle soup that became popular there in the 1950s.  River Wards Restaurant Week is a great oportunity to try Pho at Thang Long Noodle at 2536 Kensington Avenue.  Its a small, clean, well run family establishment, and this writer can vouch for the quality and value of the food there.  With $5 afternoon (2pm to 6pm) lunch specials during River Wards Restaurant Week, including a drink, this is a neighbrohood experience that is not to be missed.  Who knows, you might, like me, ad Thang Long to your regular dining spots!

While on the subject of places that might be new to you, weve updated our google map to reflect all of this year’s participants.  You can use it to see whos clossest to your house, or find exact google map directions for transit, cars, walking, or biking.

Oh, and a shout out to Foobooz, they posted about River Ward Restaurant Week on their blog.  Big Ups Guys!

We’d also like to send a shout out to our friends at FNA who are organizing the RiverCity Festival.  This annual event will take place in Penn Treaty Park on Saturday October 2nd.  Its a family friendly, never boring, celebration of Fishtown, community, history, music, art, food, children and running.  Click the link and check it out!

Pierogi at Green Rock

Following is the list of Restaurants that will be participating in River Ward Restaurant Week between October 3rd and October 10th.  Fixed Price Menus will be announced shortly.

The full list of menus will be posted VERY shortly, so stay tuned!

FYI Philly on 6 ABC

Phoodie

NBC Philadelphia

Next Great City

Keystone Edge

Meal Ticket

Metro