Get to know
the Warbler

What’s the concept?
The Blue Warbler will be a hybrid that bridges and updates the cafe, diner and neighborhood pub. It will be a place to get creative, unfussy food and drink in a setting where people of all ages and backgrounds can unwind, catch up with those they're close to or haven't seen in a while, share stories and make new friends.

What will you be serving?
During the day, the Warbler will feature sandwiches, bowls and homemade quick-grabs, with expanded options on weekends. For dinner, we'll offer sliders, skewers, spreads, breads and shareable platters. There'll be both decadent and healthy offerings, lots of protein as well as carbs, and plenty to please vegetarians, vegans, gluten-avoiders, and teetotalers, not to mention omnivores and those who like good coffee and cocktails. Our goal is to have as much flavor in our food as friendliness in our service, all in a warm space that’s both historic and modern. 

When will you open?
Too many things are beyond our control to say right now. When we have permit approvals and a construction schedule, we’ll be on firmer ground to make projections. Please subscribe to our Newsletter to stay abreast of developments, as we build our nest!

Why “The Blue Warbler”?
We're big fans of the flora, fauna and cultural history of Chestnut Hill, and when the black-throated blue warbler figuratively flew into our path, he seemed to hit all the right notes. We like this local songbird’s color scheme and his gumption. Birders say his call sounds like "zur-zur-zur-zreee!" or "please, please, please squeeeeze!" Pretty festive, no? For some warblings you might hear at our place, up the hill from the birds’ Wissahickon habitat, here’s a preview of our Opening Day playlist.

Are the food pictures what you’ll be serving?
No, but they’re roughly what we’re aiming for. Closer to opening we'll show what we're serving in our actual setting.

The orange placard in the window says the liquor license applicant is "Junto Foods." What's that?
That's our company's business name. We were inspired by the weekly salon that Ben Franklin and other up-and-comers established "for mutual improvement," shortly after young Ben moved to Philly. They called it the Junto Club, from the Spanish root for "joined," "connected" and "together." We're not the only ones inspired by this -- there used to be junto clubs all around the country. This speaks to The Blue Warbler’s highest goal, higher even than providing great food, drink and service: we want to create a space for people to get together, talk and listen to each other, and build community, in these increasingly fractured times.