Let’s explore Spring Garden, one of my favorite Center City neighborhoods. It’s rich with history and art, and has plenty of great restaurants. Shout out to HEY Philly reader Jamie W. for this suggestion!
From the archives: The corner row home on Mount Vernon and 16th street once belonged to famous abolitionist Robert Purvis. It became a key stop on the Underground Railroad and Purvis is thought to have hosted 9,000 enslaved people in his home before the end of the Civil War.
In 2019, the Spring Garden Community Development Corporation saved the site from destruction due to years of neglect.
Where to eat: Mangia Macaroni is a delightful Italian street-food inspired restaurant on 1543 Spring Garden St. The restaurant’s name comes from a nickname given to the people of Lazzaroni street in Naples, Italy in the late 1700s, who would eat pasta by the fistful with their bare heads. It translates to “pasta eaters.”
Mangia boasts a delicious menu filled with signature or make-your-own pasta dishes, fish, seafood, salads, and desserts like tiramisu and cannolis 🤤
Customers are encouraged to use a fork…or not! (Brittany Valentine/City Cast Philly)
