Rittenhouse Changed Its Coffee and Bakery Tenants in 2026, Not Its Corners

The floral columns at 262 South 19th Street are still standing. For almost 33 years they framed the counter at Metropolitan Bakery. They now sit inside a room with a pink ceiling, floral wallpaper, mismatched frames and little yellow phones. That is Call Your Mother, the bagel deli from Washington, D.C. It kept the columns on purpose. Secret Philadelphia reported that cofounder Andrew Dana first spoke with Metropolitan cofounder Wendy Smith Born, who gave the team her blessing. "We know we have big shoes to fill in this space," Dana told the outlet.

That room shows what happened to Rittenhouse's mornings in 2026. This year's new coffee and bakery tenants moved into storefronts the neighborhood already knew. A former bakery, a former Starbucks, a closed bank and a storefront that sat empty for seven years all reopened this fall with new occupants. A second former Starbucks now has a signed lease. The bakery that left did not entirely leave, either. Its bread is still sold a block from where it was baked for the counter.

Five Rooms the Neighborhood Already Knew

Here are the addresses, what they were and what they hold now, as of late October 2026.

Four of the five came from outside Philadelphia: Call Your Mother from D.C., Blank Street and Somedays from New York, and PopUp Bagels from Connecticut. Haraz is the exception, a Yemeni café that turned a long-dark Chestnut Street storefront into a bi-level room. The table shows a pattern. Out-of-town brands arriving in Rittenhouse this year went into storefronts that already had a morning history, or at least a familiar facade. They did not open on new corners.

The Bakery That Closed Still Sells at 18th and Walnut

Metropolitan's ending was a sale. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in March that cofounders James Barrett and Wendy Smith Born sold the brand, recipes and equipment to Pete Merzbacher. He owns Merzbacher's, the Germantown bakery known for its "Philly muffin." Merzbacher's took over the wholesale and mail-order business. The Inquirer also reported that it would begin selling Metropolitan products at its Rittenhouse farmers' market stand.

Metropolitan's own site now says Merzbacher's bakes its breads, rolls and granola, and that those products are still sold at markets and specialty shops. Merzbacher's is on Farm to City's weekly vendor roster for the Rittenhouse Saturday Farmers' Market at 18th and Walnut.

So a sourdough boule from the 19th Street counter can still be found a block away on Saturdays, at the square's own corner. The market runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through November. From December through the end of March it opens an hour later, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Farm to City also runs a Tuesday market at the same spot.

The same Saturday roster lists Kismet Bagels. Put that next to Call Your Mother on 19th and the PopUp lease on Chestnut, and the blocks around the square will soon have three bagel sources. The Inquirer's Michael Klein opened his August survey of the trend with: "Philadelphia, apparently, needs more bagels." He counted nearly a dozen bagel shops that had opened or leased space in the city and suburbs since the start of 2025.

Call Your Mother's Rittenhouse shop is open 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. That makes it one of the earliest openings near the square. Secret Philadelphia highlights the Jetski sandwich, which stacks brisket, pastrami, sofrito, jalapeño, cheddar and American cheese on a cheddar bagel, and a seasonal pumpkin black-and-white cookie. It is the brand's second Philadelphia shop. The first opened in Fishtown in September.

A Bank Lobby and a Shoe Store, Now Serving Coffee

The two Walnut and Chestnut conversions both moved into rooms that never served food before.

Somedays Artisan Bakery & Café, 1601 Walnut Street. Republic Bank closed this corner in 2024. Rittenhouse Ramblings reported in early October that Somedays had opened there, roughly on the late-September schedule its window decals had promised in July. The Queens-born croissant brand now operates in three states. Philadelphia is its first location outside New York and New Jersey. The shop is run by franchisee Dino Porfyris, who lives in the city. His brother owns the Somedays in Montclair, New Jersey. Inside are a tan leather banquette, marble café tables, bentwood chairs and the brand's yellow neon croissant sign. Published hours vary by source. The Somedays store locator currently lists Wednesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., so it is worth checking before a Sunday or Monday visit.

Haraz Coffee House, 1822 Chestnut Street. This storefront next to Boyds had been closed for seven years. Rittenhouse Ramblings noted that the historic Valiant arch now frames the entrance to a bi-level Yemeni café. Inside are a long marble bar, caramel leather seating and pastry cases. The drinks list includes traditional Mofawar and Adeni tea next to espresso, and the pastry case runs from almond croissants to Dubai brownies. The café said it planned to extend its hours into the evening gradually.

Where the Starbucks Locations Went

Starbucks' national store closures did a lot to clear room for this year's arrivals. The September 2025 round closed four Rittenhouse-area stores: 1801 Spruce, 1709 Chestnut and two on Market Street.

At 18th and Spruce, the corner was without coffee for about a year. Then Blank Street opened in the former Starbucks, which had been there for 11 years. The New York company built a sit-down room with curved banquettes, terrazzo tables and a window bar facing 18th Street.

At 1709 Chestnut, PopUp Bagels has signed a lease as part of a broader regional expansion. Its first area shop opened in Ardmore this spring. No Rittenhouse opening date has been announced.

The Starbucks closures continued this fall. The store at 22nd and South Streets closed in late September 2026. The Philadelphia Business Journal reported it was one of three Philadelphia-area locations in the company's latest round of closures. No new tenant had been reported as of the end of September.

One renovated room came back with its old operator. Capital One Café at 135 South 17th Street reopened with a layout built around the café rather than the bank. It now has more communal seating, smaller tables, and the checkout counter moved to one side.

Two Small Counters With Their Own Hours

Not every new morning stop took over a big storefront. Two of the smaller ones share space with another business or switch roles during the day.

• Bar Cicci, 1620 Sansom Street. Bar Cicci soft-launched August 18 as an Italian all-day café. It serves espresso, cornetti and sandwiches in the morning, then turns into an aperitivo bar at 4 p.m.
• The Coffee Club, inside The Coloroom at 201 South 22nd Street. It is open Wednesday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., according to the August neighborhood roundup.

A November Saturday on the New Map

Taken together, the new map works best as a walking route, and Saturday, November 14 is a good day to try it. Friends of Rittenhouse Square has scheduled Love Your Park Day that morning, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers will plant spring bulbs in the square, at the 1800 Walnut Street address.

1. Start at 262 South 19th Street, which opens at 6:30 a.m., and look up at the floral columns.
2. Walk north to 18th and Walnut when the farmers' market opens at 9 a.m. Merzbacher's and Kismet Bagels are both on the Saturday roster.
3. Join the bulb planting in the square at 11 a.m.
4. Finish at Somedays on the corner of 16th and Walnut. Its Saturday hours are listed on the store locator.

One more name on this list is still a few months away, and it fits the pattern. Magnolia Bakery, the New York bakery known for cupcakes and banana pudding, plans to open at 204 South 17th Street in spring 2027. The Inquirer reported that the address was briefly Chip City Cookies and, for more than a decade before that, Miel Patisserie. Franchise partners Jake Klein and John Candela told the paper both of their locations will bake on site. That will make it the sixth new morning tenant in a storefront that already had a past.

For owners near 19th and Spruce, 16th and Walnut or the stretch of Chestnut by Boyds, this year's new tenants are now part of what your block looks like to a buyer. Douglas Pearson and the team at Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty include that kind of block-level detail in every valuation. Request a private valuation and consultation to see how your corner of Rittenhouse reads to buyers today.