Wonder Food Hall, the delivery platform that combines multiple restaurants in one kitchen, has plans to open locations later this year in Fishtown and South Philadelphia.
The $3.5 billion startup, founded by entrepreneur and investor Marc Lore, bills itself as a "super app" that lets customers pick and choose meals from different cuisines for one order. Some of the menus — ranging from burritos and burgers to pizza and barbecue — were crafted by celebrity chefs including Bobby Flay and José Andrés.
Since opening its first brick-and-mortar storefronts in New York City two years ago, the company has expanded to 35 locations in five states in the Northeast. Most shops have small dining rooms where people can eat, but the business is driven primarily by delivery and pick-up orders from the Wonder app. The company has been disruptive in the food delivery space in recent years, acquiring competitors like GruhHub and the meal kit service Blue Apron.
In December, the Inquirer reported that Wonder will open on the ground floor of an apartment building that's under construction in Fishtown. The food hall will be part of the mixed-use project replacing a former 7-Eleven store at 23 West Girard Ave. Another space in that building will be occupied by Haraz Coffee House, the Yemeni coffee shop chain that also has plans to open in University City.
Wonder Food Hall now has plans to open a second location at a large development project in South Philadelphia. The company has signed a lease for a 4,084-square-foot space at 1001 South Broad St., a mixed-use project led by Post Brothers and Tower Investments, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. The storefront will be along Washington Avenue, where the developers opened an apartment complex last year with 630 units and a Giant grocery store. Two additional phases of the project will bring the total number of apartments to 1,400 in the coming years.
Both Wonder locations are expected to open during the second half of the year.
Although Wonder has described itself as "fast fine" dining that emphasizes quality ingredients, its reviews have been mixed. Restaurant critic Matthew Schneier, who writes for New York Magazine's Grub Street, argued that the company's kitchens are "gobbling up retail space" and crowding out local restaurants.
"Though the aim of Wonder is to expand the reach of real, individual places … it's hard not to think about the real, individual places that won't ever open at all as a better-funded emporium competitor hoovers up available retail space," Schneier wrote.
The company's expansion and focus on fast delivery has been a shift from its initial strategy of cooking out of a fleet of vans that could be summoned to make meals in customers' driveways. The idea was that the pandemic-era boom in food delivery apps could be broadened out of cities to reach more suburban customers. The company's more recent plans have aimed to increase the efficiency and volume of food delivery.
The New York Times examined how Wonder's new model of commissary kitchens has allowed the business to scale up at a fast pace. Most of Wonder's food is prepped at a few central kitchens before being shipped to the company's food halls. To get meals ready for customers, Wonder employees use rapid-cook ovens, fryers and hot water baths instead of cooking with gas-powered stoves.
Lore told the New York Times the business model only requires "lightly trained labor" and that he envisions Wonder becoming "the Amazon of food and beverage."
Lore's past businesses ventures have included the former e-commerce platform Jet.com, which was acquired by Walmart in 2016 to build out the retailer's online ordering platform. Lore led Walmart's e-commerce division for several years before the Jet.com brand was phased out of the company. For Wonder's first Pennsylvania food hall, the company opened last year inside a Walmart in Quakertown, Bucks County.
When Wonder acquired GrubHub in November, Lore said the Wonder app would begin including a curated selection of GrubHub's restaurant partners in addition to its own concepts.
With variety and customization as its big pitches to hungry customers, the food has gotten average reviews. When Eater New York critic Robert Sietsema tried a range of dishes from one of Wonder's food halls, most of them got "B" grades.
"Wonder seems to be about as good as any food hall, which is to say, hit or miss," Eater said in an explainer about the company.
