For years, 2026 Fairmount Ave. was a source of blight, slowly collapsing next door to the Fairmount Pet Shoppe. Over a number of years, the owners slowly fixed up the building, with the property apparently changing hands in 2010, midway through the lengthy renovation. We last checked in on this place almost two years ago, when it was still a construction site.

In 2009

Current view

At that time, the property owner’s father indicated that a Chinese restaurant or a bakery might be taking over the space, which the owner was hoping to rent out for $3,600/mo. In the nearly two years since, construction has been completed and

As we told you about just last week, the newest OCF Cafe location is opening at 2100 Fairmount Avenue today, January 1st. The kitchen will be serving breakfast, brunch, and lunch until 4pm, to help you clear those post-party cobwebs. And some hair-of-the-dog (mixes) will be available, to boot, (if you byo stuff to put in them)

Outside

A peek within

So come on in and check it out. The place looks sweet, all that’s missing is you!

Full disclosure: OCF Realty is the parent company of Naked Philly and OCF Cafe

Members of the Fairmount Civic Association are focused on bringing traditional corner commercial spots back to the neighborhood streets both on and away from Fairmount Avenue, the main thoroughfare for the neighborhood.

And while this project, located at the corner of 26th and Poplar Streets, across from Lazo’s Pizza, should it matriculate, remains situated in the early discussion phases, it’s one such example.

The property

Closer look

That’s where we’ve heard the owner of 888 N. 26th St. has expressed interest in converting the site, last used for residential purposes, into a café of sorts. Might we have that long-desired local upscale Fairmount sandwich shop a coming? There’s also an abandoned lot across the street that might arouse some potential interest for activity, if new life comes to this corner. If anything maybe…

A piece of literary history is for sale. Again.

“You could smell the odor of urine, s**t and vomit of a half century as it came up through the floor into the bar from the restrooms below,” wrote Charles Bukowski, one of America’s most famous poets, about a corner bar at 17th and Fairmount, when he lived in the area in the 1940s. “It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Two men were fighting in the center of the bar.”

17th Spot today

Well, about a decade ago, that corner location was renovated. The interior Bukowski scene has gone the way of Bukowski, as in it’s gone. Operating as the 17th Spot for about twelve years, it’s currently on the market for $999K, through Nate Nannes, who says he’s gotten a few calls from interested parties. The property was listed for sale…

Two months ago The Flying Carpet Café and Bar, a new dig with a Mediterranean twist, opened at 1841 Poplar Street, the site that was once home to New Janie’s Lounge before it closed due to unpaid taxes. On a bright afternoon its calm vibe and green and purple walls could make you feel like you’re in a breezy beach café in some coastal town, not just one block from Girard Avenue. Owner Kevin Young says his eclectic menu caters to palettes colored by the flavors of the world. “The neighborhood desperately needed a friendly meeting spot that represented the diversity of the neighborhood,” says Young, an eight-year Francisville resident and the founder of Urban Realty Works. URW bought, designed and renovated the first-floor bar (the second floor remains vacant) during a slow three-year construction process. Because city records incorrectly list the building as three separate buildings,…