Wonder Food Hall's big rollout in the Philadelphia region is making its way to Fishtown on Thursday for the grand opening of a new location on Girard Avenue.
Described as a "new school" food hall, Wonder has generated buzz for its takeout and delivery platform that allows people to choose meals from different cuisines in a single order. The company aims to get its mix-and-match orders out to customers within 30 minutes and announced last week that it no longer will charge delivery fees.
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In Fishtown, the location at 23 W. Girard Ave. offers food from 20 restaurants. The lineup of menus from celebrity chefs includes Marcus Samuelson's sandwich shop Streetbird, Bobby Flay Steaks and Jonathan Waxman's California-inspired Walnut Lane. Other options include Tejas Barbecue, Thai restaurant SriPraPhai, Mexican restaurant Limesalt and several pizza options.
The Fishtown food hall is one of 10 that Wonder is opening in the Philadelphia region. The company already has debuted locations in King of Prussia, Ardmore, West Chester and Northeast Philly. Additional food halls are opening in August in South Philly and Newtown Square, followed by a Rittenhouse food hall in September. In South Jersey, Wonder also is opening a Cherry Hill food hall Thursday, and another is opening in Mount Laurel in June.
Founded by billionaire entrepreneur Marc Lore, Wonder opened its first brick-and-mortar locations in New York City two years ago. The company has since expanded to more than 40 food halls in the Northeast and has plans to open 90 by the end of the year.
The concept is tailored for ordering on the Wonder app, but food halls also have kiosks to place orders and tables available for people to eat in-store.
Last year, Lore told the New York Times he aspires to grow Wonder into the "Amazon of food and beverage" by using a model that streamlines kitchen operations. Most of Wonder's offerings are made off-site at industrial kitchens and then sent to the company's food halls to be prepared by staff. The company also acquired GrubHub last year, allowing it to increase delivery operations and compete with the likes of DoorDash and UberEats.
The grand opening in Fishtown includes a series of events running through the weekend. On Thursday, the food hall is holding a block party from 4:30-7 p.m. and unveiling an art exhibition curated by Fishtown's Paradigm Gallery. Friday features a happy hour from 5-7 p.m. in partnership with neighborhood bar Stateside, and on Saturday a pop-up event includes stations from local businesses. Orders placed on Sunday are 50% off for customers who use the "HIFISHTOWN" code on the Wonder app.
During the first week of operations, $1 from every order will support the Philabundance. Wonder says it will have an ongoing partnership with the food bank at all of its locations in the Philly region.
