We were zipping up Frankford Avenue last week to grab a slice and a scoop at Pizza Brain and Little Baby’s Ice Cream, respectively, when we noticed some new-looking signage next to Palmer Park. Truth be told, we’d wondered about 1619 Frankford Ave. in the past, admiring its unique appearance and wondering why it didn’t have a business operating out of the first floor. But it seems our wondering has come to an end, as Steap and Grind will apparently be doing business out of this triangle-shaped structure in the very near future.

In the past

Current view

According to a thread on Fishtown.us, this new cafe will offer coffee, loose tea, and “delicious breakfast treats.” Apparently, the space was very nearly a gourmet cheese shop operated by…

We were on the 1800 block of Frankford Ave. last week and spotted some new construction that we hadn’t previously heard about. So clearly, we decided to do some sniffing around to see what we could learn.

From the north

1849 Frankford Ave. was purchased by M2cr2 LLC in September, apparently from the City. We’ve never heard of this particular developer, but we’re pretty sure at least one of the principals is involved in BMK Properties, a developer we’ve covered a couple of times for projects in the general area. According to permit information we found on the L&I website, this property is on its way to becoming a single family home, and KJO Architecture has done the design work.

In the past

In the future

The home is…

Over the summer, we wondered about two liquor license application in the window of 1306-12 Frankford Ave., a renovated and subdivided commercial building that we originally featured months before. And now, in the next couple of days, a business utilizing one of those applications will be opening its doors.

Bottle Bar East

According to their Facebook page, Bottle Bar East should be arriving on the Frankford Ave. scene in a matter of days. Foobooz tells us that this establishment will both function as a craft beer store as well as a bar, allowing customers to stock up their homes with their favorite microbrews, or hang out and shoot some pool while sipping obscure imports from Belgium. Food won’t be offered right out of the chute, but it could arrive at some point in the future.…

We snuck up to grab a slice of Charlie Mayfer from Pizza Brain the other day, and a Frankford Avenue property we’ve passed by dozens of times caught our eye whilst on our way. Once we finished devouring the deliciousness, we trekked back to 1431-35 Frankford Ave. to take a look-see.

A beaut

The property has been vacant for at least the last couple of years, and probably longer. We took a peek at the sale records, and determined that it was previously a hot dog/sandwich place in the 1990s, and a breakfast/luncheonette in the early part of the 2000s. It was purchased by Old Towne Properties Inc back in 2005, and was put back on the market in 2009 for $125K. It’s been on and off the market over the last couple of years, but its currently actively…

Little Baby’s Ice Cream is a week or two away from opening its first permanent location at 2311 Frankford Ave., according to owner Pete Angevine.

The space

“We are really a few details away from being finished,” said Angevine, who launched the gourmet ice cream business in May of 2011. Little Baby’s currently serves up creative flavors such as Earl Grey Sriracha and Birch Beer Vanilla Bean from a fleet of four pedal-powered carts around town.

Angevine told us that the company has been building out inside the 19th century storefront since late March. The general contractor wrapped up work on the space just last week and the health department has already signed off on their kitchen.

Closer look, a few days ago

Once the Little Baby’s crew, which includes partners Martin Brown and Jeffrey Ziga, make…

Poring over the zoning dockets as we often do, we noticed a complicated list of variance requests for 2313 Frankford Ave., and quickly realized we were on to something huge. Pizza Brain, the planned concept for this space, has been getting quite a bit of buzz this year, and deservedly so. Who else, after all, is opening a pizza shop/pizza museum/neighborhood hangout/performance space these days? Who other than owner and pizza mastermind Brian Dwyer is calling Guinness World Records to award them with the record for Largest Pizza Memorabilia Collection? Who else has a pizza memorabilia collection, anyway?

This guy

Dwyer, along with a couple of partners, will be taking a former flower shop and turning it into Fishtown’s pizza nirvana. The property, which is 120′ deep and goes all the way…