The Regulars

Images by
Brian Finke

Regulars at Royal Sushi & Izakaya in Queen Village, Will Yip, Christina Lyv, Asa Akira, and Sean Maroney tuck into dinner together. In 2019, Yip returned to Philly after spending time in Japan and went in search of a way to continue his Japanese diet at home. A friend recommended Royal, and he’s been going back ever since. Through the restaurant he became friends with Akira, another regular. “Will always brings a crew,” owner Jesse Ito says. “He’s a good friend of mine now, and a crazy busy music producer. I put together large nigiri platters for the bands he works with. He’s brought a lot of industry people through.”

Consider the regular. A stranger who enters the restaurant, sits down at the bar or in a booth, orders a meal, pays and leaves. And then returns. And keeps returning. Maybe it’s a single person, a long-married couple, or a tight group of friends. Maybe, over time, they share something of their life with a favorite server, gossip with the bartender, or maybe they share nothing at all. Either way the stranger has turned into something else. Something less like a customer and more like a friend.

These pages offer a snapshot of the unique role regulars play in the ecosystem of a restaurant. Taken over the course of one evening in three varying Philadelphia establishments, they capture the singular and reciprocal relationship between a regular and a restaurant. It is an exchange of more than money for food, but of small moments that add up to something larger: company, even companionship.

Yip, Lyv, Akira, and Maroney opted for Royal Izakaya, though all of them are regulars on the omakase side as well. “As an omakase chef, I’m feeding and directly interacting with my customers every night over the course of two hours,” Ito says. “I would say ninety percent of my omakase customers are regulars. I have a family that flies in from San Francisco for their reservation every three months.”

Yip, Lyv, Akira, and Maroney opted for Royal Izakaya, though all of them are regulars on the omakase side as well. “As an omakase chef, I’m feeding and directly interacting with my customers every night over the course of two hours,” Ito says. “I would say ninety percent of my omakase customers are regulars. I have a family that flies in from San Francisco for their reservation every three months.”

Nakhiya Blue seated at the downstairs bar at Tattooed Mom during happy hour. She first walked into the rollicking South Street institution three years ago, shortly after turning 21, and now stops by once or twice a week. “The bartenders quickly became more than people who work there, but real parts of my life,” she says. “I’ve grown so close to them that last year I went to their staff Christmas party. Any time I have a crappy day I can sit there and talk to them about movies and shows and feel better. And it goes both ways: I’ve also been there for them as well when they’re going through something.”

Adrian Mowry bringing Blue her usual order, the Beyond Mom’s Vegan Burger and a side of Cheesy Tots.

Mowry has bartended at Tattooed Mom for 26 years, since the day it opened, and relishes his relationships with regulars like Blue. “It’s like seeing a good friend when she comes in,” he says. “I don’t know much about her life, and she doesn’t know much about mine, but we have a common space for us to be ourselves.”

After he drops off her order, another bartender, Serena Quiñones, comes by to give Blue a hug.

Mary Pao enjoying a solo meal at High Street, a restaurant and bakery in the historic Franklin Building. In addition to regular dinners like this, Pao often takes baking classes at the restaurant and last year celebrated her 52nd birthday in a back room. “I come so much that sometimes I’ll secretly put my name up on the board of people who are working and see if they notice,” she says.

One person who has noticed is High Street’s owner Ellen Yin, winner of the 2023 James Beard Award for Best Restaurateur. “Before the new location of High Street opened, Mary came to our After-Hours Dinner Party—typically reserved for staff and industry colleagues—and began spreading the word of the new restaurant on the horizon,” says Yin. “One of our biggest cheerleaders, Mary is known to the whole team as a food lover, tastemaker, and an appreciator of all things High Street Hospitality Group.”

Christina McKeough, High Street’s executive chef, puts the finishing touches on a dish of crudité, labne, and green goddess before sending it out to Pao.

Pao cuts into a lemon curd cake topped with blood orange granita and basil and served alongside a burnt honey meringue. “What I like about the Philly food scene is there’s no wall between you and the staff,” says Pao. “At High Street you feel like you’re part of this gang of people.”

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