There’s a new food hall in Philadelphia and it’s at The Bourse in Old City’s Historic District across from Independence Mall and Liberty Bell Pavilion and next to the Hotel Monaco Philadelphia on 5th Street. The newest entry in the Philadelphia dining scene is hitting on all cylinders to satisfy the food cravings of locals and tourists. I visited The Bourse Food Hall after lunch on a Saturday and it was better that way because otherwise I would have been paralyzed with too many food decisions because I wanted to eat everything! The curation of the food vendors and international food offerings is quite good in my opinion. Plus there a new chocolate shop, Chocodiem, for me to indulge in (the owner is from Antwerp) authentic Belgian Chocolate goodness which is sorely needed in the city.
The History of the Bourse Building
The Bourse building, like so many in Old City, began its life serving a different purpose, in this case as a commodities exchange. Old City was closer to the water in the early days and ships would arrive with products that found their way to the many exchange buildings in the neighborhood. The building was designed and modeled after The Bourse in Hamburg, Germany. The terra cotta coloring outside is what you will notice first, in my opinion, at the Victorian building then the columns and the carving of Philadelphia Bourse name above the entrance.
The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has housed offices for years and the lobby level at one point had some luxury shopping vendors before the souvenir shops moved in to serve the tourists visiting across the street. I’ve not been inside The Bourse in over twenty years if not longer. For years, it fell out of favor until the new owner (from D.C.) poured money into the building to upgrade the offices, add co-working space and add this food hall to serve more than tourists.
The Philly Food Hall at the Bourse
As we entered the food hall, I looked up and remembered visiting in my youth and appreciating the interior design and architecture. Look up to see the architectural detail and the railings on the stairs are lovely. It’s a building that was in need of love and through food, it’s found it.
I entered from 4th Street (the more popular entrance is on 5th street across from Independence Hall Park) and was met with the directory pointing to Bourse food vendors right and left. With the various food vendors in the food hall at the Bourse, I think you can satisfy your fast casual food needs and those of your family, including the picky ones!
**Note that Caviar is the delivery service so you can order from your hotel room or house to satisfy food cravings. If you order with the link below I may earn an affiliate commission**
Desserts at the Bourse Food Hall Philadelphia
Of course, dessert is my favorite in any food hall around the world. At the Bourse Food Hall Philadelphia, there are three dessert options – chocolate, bakery and ice cream – all ready to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Chocodiem at the Bourse – Luxury Belgian Chocolate in Philly
We started walking on the right and didn’t get too far when I saw the Chocodiem shop with displays full of chocolate truffles which looked (almost) too good to eat. On the other side were the colorful French macarons that are from a French vendor in New York City.
Next to the counters, I saw the bar serving chocolate martinis with a liquid chocolate wall display in the center. I already knew I was going to like it here. I met the owner, Jean-Paul Hepp, who was happy to talk about his background (PhD in Science who left the Pharma industry) and how he opened his chocolate shop and in four years had won acclaim (Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America list in Dessert Professional Magazine) and my recent chocolate trip to Bruges where he and I agreed that Pierre Marcolini Chocolates are fantastic.
Jean-Paul uses locally sourced ingredients (where applicable) from Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms. The chocolates are gorgeous – really pretty and my favorites included sea salt caramel and wine truffle (wine + chocolate = LOVE). The stall has two walls filled with chocolates in small packages which are easy to buy and quick to consume (so buy a few extra). Chocodiem has an online store for chocolate gifts, business gifts and offers special event chocolates to order. If you can’t visit their Philly location, online is the next best thing.
Barry’s Buns – Bakery at The Bourse
This all natural from scratch bakery got our attention with the gourmet sticky buns (my friends favorite), cinnamon rolls and my favorite, coffee cake (seriously could you walk past this display and not stop to at least look?). The cakes on display were a sugar fantasy and I didn’t even have time to peruse the other display filled with cookies. This is the only bakery in the Bourse Food Hall and in the neighborhood so find your favorite cake or cookie and indulge.
Scoop DeVille – Ice Cream near the Liberty Bell
Scoop DeVille has been a local Philly favorite for over twenty years (they have a store on Chestnut Street). When I worked in the city, my co-workers and I would visit a few times a week for sweet treats – they enjoyed the ice cream and I would often find a chocolate covered something to enjoy. This location is easy to find when entering from the Liberty Bell/Independence side of the Bourse (5th Street), it’s the first stall on the left. So if you have kids with you and they are screaming for ice cream or milkshakes, Scoop De Ville is the place to go. The brownie bowl ice cream is out of this world.
Food at The Bourse Food Hall Philadelphia
As we wandered about we marveled at the specificity of the vendors, they have limited menu options and focus on pretty much one theme (similar to a food truck concept)– there is a chicken soup shop called Prescription Chicken (from Washington, D.C.) and they only sell chicken soup in a variety of options.
There’s #GetFried Fry Cafe that focuses on fries (four types – hand cut, coated straight cut, waffle and sweet potato) and fried foods like the Mac N Cheese Crunch rolls. I will take issue with the Cheesesteak bowl (Rocky Balboa) as cheesesteaks DO NOT have peppers and mushrooms (see my Philly Cheesesteak post). Another family friendly option is Mighty Melt Shop which specializes in Grilled Cheese. Think you know grilled cheese? Think again as they assemble a plethora of flavor on sourdough (note: the beef fat fries with parmesean, garlic and sea salt sound fantastic, sorry GetFried).
As for the other vendors? Travel the world with your taste buds and choice.
- Italian at Bronze Table and Rustica Rosticceria
- Tacos at – Rebel Taco and the Korean Taco shop
- Indian Street Food – Hawaiian Poke – Egyptian Food (kiosk ordering) – Filipino Comfort Food
- Ramen – Chinese Dumplings – Fried Chicken
- Grubhouse (All Day Breakfast in Old City)
- Cheesesteak shop to taste the iconic Philly sandwich (but why oh why are there green peppers and mushrooms?)
Drinks at The Bourse Food Hall
There are three bars inside the Bourse Food Hall – a small bar at Chocodiem (chocolate martinis anyone?), the Bar by Bluebird Distilling with craft cocktails and full bar and the Taps Fill Station which has kegs full of beer, cider, wine and other (bring your own growler or buy one here).
There is a specialty tea bar, coffee shop and juicer for your non-alcoholic drink needs.
Specialty Gifts at the Bourse Food Hall
When you enter the Bourse Food Hall from 4th street, you will be welcomed by the floral displays of Bonatsos for fresh flowers and plants. If you fancy olive oils and vinegars then Olive with a Twist is the place to go for specialty cheese and charcuterie as well as the signature olive oils (I did an Olive Oil tasting in Barcelona and it was quite interesting). Now that you have flowers to set the table and charcuterie and olive oils for the appetizers, your next stop should be Penzey’s Spices to add some flavor to your cooking.
Final Thoughts – Bourse Food Hall Philadelphia
My friend remarked that she didn’t see a salad only place. Don’t worry, you can get your lettuce on at a number of spots as many vendors offer their own salad options. We also didn’t see soft pretzels which are a fantastic Philly snack staple (for those go to Philly Pretzel Factory on 7th & Chestnut). Other than those two items, the Bourse Food Hall has pretty much everything you can want to enjoy a fast casual meal with friends and family in Philadelphia.
The only concern I have is that it opened in late fall/winter (slow season) and the tourists won’t really arrive en masse until May so its quiet now as local residents and workers in the area continue to learn about it. I’ve seen so many other iterations of the space fail over the years so hopefully this will be the successful venture the building and neighborhood needed. Fingers crossed.
There was a bit of local grumblings about the lack of Philly vendors (and rent pricing) but honestly, it was nice to learn about other vendors from D.C., Baltimore and elsewhere (I think Reading Terminal covers the Philly only scene quite nicely). Philly has so much food to taste, enjoy and experience that we have room to welcome everyone to the city. That’s kind of our thing anyway right? City of Brotherly Love.
Visiting:
Building Hours (individual vendor hours may differ)
Monday-Thursday 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday/Saturday 7 a.m. – midnight
Sunday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Parking – On Street Meters (meterUP app) or Bourse Parking Garage (enter on 4th street)
Delivery Service – Caviar delivers from a few (six) of the 30 vendors at the Bourse Food Hall