PHLReview
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If you’re anything like us, you rely on corner stores. Maybe it’s because of their convenience or because there are only three grapes in your fridge right now. West Philly’s Honeysuckle Provisions checks all the boxes of a neighborhood counter spot selling breakfast, sandwiches, and beef patties. But this is no typical corner store. Honeysuckle is a destination—the only place in Philly where you can eat your favorite hoagie at noon and come back for a tasting menu experience that'll have you arguing about Young Jeezy over truffle and egg toast.
The Afro-centric cafe and grocer stands out because of its emphasis on sourcing ingredients from Black producers and highlighting Black foodways. A chalkboard on the sidewalk advertises dishes like South Carolina grits and eggs. Inside, pictures from the owners' farm, soul food books, and black-eyed peas line the walls. We want to buy everything in sight, from the earth-toned “F.A.M.” shirts to the moist plantain snack cakes and loaves of “yamz” bread. Even when we narrow our choices down to the maple sage sausage sandwich or the turkey “dolla hoagie,” the smell of buttery grits always leads us to find an extra closet in our stomachs.
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
Decisions go out the window at dinner, though. The chefs at Honeysuckle Provisions offer a $95 five-course tasting menu right in the shop. Every detail is considered, down to the menu written out as a poem and the ceramic cups molded after one of the owner’s hands. The meal might start in the kitchen with homemade wine and a casual history lesson about trifoliate oranges growing in West Philly. Each course comes with a story, like a nod to grocery store roots via "yamz" bread toast with soft scrambled eggs, smoky pork jam, pear, and truffle. But this isn't just high-concept food without any taste payoff. A plate of fried chicken with biscuity breading stuck with us the whole meal, even during our second dessert—a not-sweet Ghanaian double chocolate cake with plantain foam, jam, and dust.
Honeysuckle maintains a consistency of excellence in everything they do. There’s no drop-off in quality between the daytime snacks and sandwiches, the curated grocery staples, or the intimate dinners inspired by Black history and art. So you could spend $7 or $95 and still get everything you need (and more).
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
Food Rundown
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
Plantain Snack Cake
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich
photo credit: Honeysuckle Provisions
Hot Pocket
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
“Dolla” Hoagie
photo credit: Nicole Guglielmo
Kreyol Limeade
Tasting Menu