PHLReview
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Middle Child Clubhouse
Included In
You know how kids demand “again, again!” after listening to their favorite song on a loop? Or when they play with the same toy for the 100th time? Somehow, they get boundless excitement from tapping life’s repeat button nonstop. We haven’t had that feeling since watching Shrek for the first time—until we walked into Middle Child Clubhouse. The casual Fishtown restaurant is an all-day hangout with unforgettable food, creative cocktails, and if we spend any more time there, they may start charging us rent.
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
It’s the larger offshoot of the cozy Midtown Village sandwich shop, but this one is full of cafeteria-style counter seating, tables, and booths big enough for you and a few friends. In the morning, it’s a good place to crank out emails over Kendrick Lamar, people watch over fluffy pancakes, or savor a pastrami burrito while staring at pictures of Princess Diana in Eagles gear. Until 2pm you can grab lunch—the menu is stacked with deli and club sandwiches—and there’s nothing they put on bread that doesn’t deserve its own highlight reel.
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
After 5pm it switches from counter-service to sit down ordering. It feels like a place to just grab a burger and fries (which, by the way, are great), but there’s nothing low-key about the menu or how memorable your experience will be. The music gets cranked, the dining room gets packed with friends playing pool, and the stellar cocktails and natural wine starts flowing. It can get like a rowdy scene from The Hangover (but with way better food and without the face tattoos).
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Tables are topped with a maze of shareables like the peppery shrimp cocktail, earthy housemade fava bean agnolotti, and a brick chicken that we love so much, one of our friends yelled “get a room” as we lovingly bit into it. Each dish displays an impressive range of deep flavors—especially the tomato sauce in the crab spaghetti, which has a mildly sweet seafood flavor from being brined with whole crabs.
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Middle Child Clubhouse is a unicorn. That rare fun place that works for everything from Slacking your boss over lattes before noon to juicy ribeyes and Chilean wine during an exciting night out. And a magical spot like that? It’s worth going to again and again.
Food Rundown
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Classic Breakfast Sandwich
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Olivia’s Big Pancake
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Pastrami Breakfast Burrito
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Surfer 2.0
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Phoagie
photo credit: EMILY SCHINDLER
Cheeseburger
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
Crab Spaghetti
photo credit: GAB BONGHI