A Somerton Summer: Where To Eat, Shop, And Wander Along Bustleton Avenue

The most useful way to think about Bustleton Avenue is not as a restaurant row. It is a collection of small food districts connected by one familiar road.

One cluster brings together ramen, Hawaiian barbecue, Indian cooking, and Georgian bread. A few blocks farther north, grocery aisles become part of the outing. Continue toward Byberry Road and the avenue shifts again, this time toward established bakeries, patios, a historic crossroads, and Somerton Station. Near County Line Road, a local halal market that started in a converted Wawa now fills a former Big Lots.

That mix of old favorites, new arrivals, and serious food shopping is what sets the corridor apart. If you are looking for things to do in Somerton Philadelphia this summer, the best plan is simple: pick a few stops, leave time to browse, and treat the avenue as a series of short outings rather than one long walk.

First, plan Bustleton Avenue in clusters

The stops in this guide stretch from the Bustleton Library near Verree Road toward the northern edge of Somerton. They do not fit into one comfortable eight-block stroll.

A better approach is to drive, use SEPTA, or walk within individual shopping clusters. Bustleton Avenue carries steady traffic, so take your time at crossings and avoid rushing from one side of the road to the other.

A relaxed south-to-north plan

1. Start at Bustleton Library for a community program or a quiet break.
2. Choose lunch around Momoyama, Georgian Bread, or Rangoli.
3. Browse NetCost Market and Georgian Bakery & Cafe.
4. Settle in for outdoor dining at Uzbekistan Restaurant or Gamarjoba.
5. Pause near Byberry Road and Somerton Station for a little local history.
6. Finish near County Line Road with ASR Food Market and a short ice cream detour.

You do not need to fit everything into one day. In fact, Bustleton Avenue is more enjoyable when you give each cluster enough room to surprise you.

Start with a place that keeps neighborhood stories

Bustleton Library at 10199 Bustleton Avenue serves both Bustleton and Somerton. It offers parking, bicycle racks, public restrooms, Wi-Fi, meeting space, and the carved wood mural “Man’s Learning Preserved.”

The branch is also an easy starting point for a summer outing because its calendar goes well beyond books. As of July 15, the library has Builders Club scheduled for Thursday, July 16 at 12:30 p.m. Free family-friendly Summer Movie Matinees are scheduled for Friday, July 17 and Friday, July 24 at 2:30 p.m. The current branch calendar lists more family, craft, discussion, and book programs into August.

Its 2026 Hyperlocal Heritage programming also tells us something useful about the avenue. Through the “Stitching Legacy” project, community members helped create a visual record reflecting the library and surrounding neighborhood. Bustleton Avenue is still collecting stories even as its storefronts change.

Library programs and hours can shift, so check the calendar before leaving home.

The first food cluster shows how much the avenue has changed

Continue north and the corridor’s range becomes clear around the 10700 and 10800 blocks.

Momoyama Ramen & Hawaiian BBQ at 10763 Bustleton Avenue is one of the newer names on this stretch. Its menu brings together house ramen, spicy miso ramen, Hawaiian barbecue plates, chicken katsu curry rice, gyoza, and pork buns. That combination adds Japanese and Hawaiian cooking to a corridor already known for food from Georgia, India, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Nearby, Georgian Bread and Cuisine at 10865 Bustleton Avenue centers its menu on Georgian cooking. Khachapuri is the signature draw, with cheese-filled bread baked in a traditional Georgian oven. It is a good choice when you want to try one focused dish rather than commit to a long sit-down meal.

Rangoli at 10863 Bustleton Avenue brings Indian cooking into the same cluster. Its menu highlights butter chicken, dal makhani, and tandoori chicken.

These three businesses make a strong case for approaching Bustleton Avenue by cluster. You can compare menus, choose what suits the day, and save the other two for your next free afternoon.

Shopping is part of the meal here

A generic dining guide might move directly to the next restaurant. That would miss one of the best parts of a Somerton food outing.

NetCost Market at 11701 Bustleton Avenue turns grocery shopping into its own form of exploration. The store has an onsite bakery and deli, prepared and grab-and-go meals, kosher and halal products, caviar and seafood, smoked meats, imported sweets, spices, and produce.

This is the kind of stop where a quick errand can change dinner plans. You might arrive for bread or produce and leave with prepared food, unfamiliar candy, smoked fish, or ingredients for a meal you had not considered that morning.

The store currently posts hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. It also offers free parking, curbside pickup, and grocery delivery. Check the store’s site before visiting because hours can change.

Close by, Georgian Bakery & Cafe at 11749 Bustleton Avenue provides a deeper introduction to Georgian food. Its menu includes shoti bread, lobiani, several styles of khachapuri, khinkali, stews, grilled meats, and vegetable dishes prepared with walnuts. Philadelphia Inquirer coverage has documented the bakery’s traditional tone hearths and its place in the growth of Georgian cooking along Bustleton Avenue.

The distinction matters. NetCost offers broad international grocery shopping, while Georgian Bakery & Cafe lets you focus on one culinary tradition. Together, they show why shopping and eating belong in the same Somerton itinerary.

Let lunch turn into a summer evening

Around the 11900 and 12000 blocks, the avenue offers several ways to slow the pace.

Cafe Michelangelo at 11901 Bustleton Avenue is a sit-down Italian-American option. Its current schedule runs Tuesday through Sunday, with later closing times posted for Friday and Saturday.

For a meal that fits the summer theme especially well, continue to Uzbekistan Restaurant at 12012 Bustleton Avenue. The Philadelphia location opened in 2006, making it an established part of the corridor rather than a recent trend.

The menu includes plov, manti, kebabs, lagman, samsa, and other Uzbek and Central Asian dishes. A grapevine-screened front patio and rear garden courtyard give diners room to linger outside. Current outdoor-dining coverage continues to include the restaurant among Philadelphia’s patio options.

If the menu is unfamiliar, there is no need to overthink your first order. Start with a dish that already sounds approachable, ask questions, and share a few items if your group wants to compare flavors. A relaxed dinner works better than trying to sample the whole menu at once.

Byberry Road connects the food story to older Somerton

The Somerton Civic Association identifies Bustleton Avenue and Byberry Road as the neighborhood’s historic center. That makes this section a natural pause in the outing.

Hutchinson’s Classic Bakery at 13023 Bustleton Avenue can supply the pause. Current listings identify butter cake, cream-cheese pound cake, Danish pastries, cookies, doughnuts, and other traditional baked goods. Online hours vary, so call or check before making a special trip.

Just a few doors away, Gamarjoba at 13033 Bustleton Avenue offers Georgian cuisine with dine-in, takeout, and delivery. Its outdoor patio and veranda beer garden make it another good choice for a slower summer evening.

Farther north, Somerton Station at Bustleton and Philmont avenues gives the corridor a clear transit landmark. SEPTA identifies it as a West Trenton Line station. Near the station, planning research dates the former Washington House Hotel at approximately 14000 Bustleton Avenue to sometime between 1855 and 1887. It is best treated as a streetscape detail, not as a public attraction.

That short sequence reveals the avenue’s layers. A traditional bakery, a Georgian patio, regional rail, and a surviving nineteenth-century building all sit along the same commercial spine.

The northern end has Somerton’s clearest new chapter

Near the Philadelphia and Bucks County line, ASR Food Market provides the strongest example of a local business reshaping an established shopping center.

ASR began in a converted former Wawa and later expanded into the former Big Lots at 15501 Bustleton Avenue. Early reporting expected the move in fall 2025, while later retail coverage says the larger market opened in February 2026.

The new location occupies nearly 24,000 square feet, about four times the size of the earlier store, and includes a dine-in area. The expansion matters because a family-owned halal market took over space left by a national retailer. The Inquirer’s reporting on the project captures how quickly the original market became a neighborhood draw.

This northern stop completes the avenue’s larger story. New businesses are not replacing the corridor’s international identity. They are adding more room for it.

For a classic summer finish, Pop Pop’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 15002A Endicott Street is a short detour from the northern Bustleton Avenue stops. The shop serves small-batch Uncle Dave’s Homemade Ice Cream from Shady Brook Farm. Its current posted hours are 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. daily, but confirm before heading over.

Three easy ways to make the outing your own

The quick food run

Start with khachapuri at Georgian Bread, browse NetCost Market, and save room for a bakery item from Georgian Bakery & Cafe. This version works when you have a couple of hours and want plenty of choices without covering the full corridor.

The slow summer evening

Choose Uzbekistan Restaurant or Gamarjoba for outdoor dining, then head north for ice cream at Pop Pop’s. Check patio availability and business hours before leaving.

The community-and-history afternoon

Look for a program at Bustleton Library, continue toward the historic crossroads at Byberry Road, and pause near Somerton Station. Add Hutchinson’s Classic Bakery if its hours line up with your plans.

SEPTA Routes 58 and 84 serve parts of the Bustleton Avenue corridor. Route 58 connects Neshaminy Mall and Somerton with Frankford Transportation Center. Route 84 serves Bustleton-County Line and Philadelphia Mills to Frankford Transportation Center. Use the SEPTA trip planner for current schedules and detours.

The pleasure is in returning

No single afternoon can explain Bustleton Avenue, and that is part of its appeal. The corridor rewards repeat visits because each cluster serves a different purpose. One day might center on a library movie and ramen. Another might mean grocery shopping at NetCost, Georgian bread for the table, and a patio dinner. A later trip could lead north to ASR and Pop Pop’s.

Those ordinary routines are what give Somerton its local character. They also explain why neighborhood knowledge comes from paying attention to small changes, from a new restaurant sign to a growing local market taking over a much larger storefront.

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