Café Lift, the Philadelphia café known for serving brunch all day long, is expanding into a larger space on Spring Garden Street after spending 20 years in its original location.
Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello, the husband-and-wife duo who co-own Café Lift and the 13th Street Kitchens restaurant group, relocated the well-known breakfast spot to 1124 Spring Garden St. — or the three-way intersection between 12th and Spring Garden streets and Ridge Avenue. It is just a five-minute walk from the original location on North 13th Street, which the couple opened in 2003.
This is the second expansion for Café Lift over the last year, after the Pasquarellos opened their Café Lift outpost in Haddonfield with a revamped menu and some New Jersey delicacies like disco fries. A previous location, which opened in Narberth in 2018, closed in early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After seeing how successful our Haddonfield operation became with a proper fit-out, a smart kitchen design and more space, we realized that we wanted to pay respect to the original location and improve everything,” said Michael Pasquarello. “We’ve experienced a lot of growth as a restaurant group since opening the original location in 2003, and we’re very excited to make these updates to the Café Lift brand, which will provide us with more space to execute, more space to provide and serve the best products possible, and the ability to offer more menu items and really do all that we want to do without many limitations.”
Provided Image/Mike Prince
Cafe Lift’s menu is nearly identical to that of its Haddonfield location, which opened last fall. It will include sweet and savory breakfast items, salads, sandwiches and specialty coffee drinks.
The reimagined café has seating for up to 100 people and will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. A revamped menu will be nearly identical to that of its Haddonfield location, with a combination of sweet and savory breakfast options like huevos rancheros, breakfast poutine, street corn frittatas, lemon ricotta pancakes, cannoli French toast and yogurt bowls. There will also be lunch items, gluten-free and vegan options and specialty coffee drinks with beans roasted by Asbury Park’s Maiden Coffee Roasters. The café uses local ingredients sourced from sustainable growers.
The Pasquarellos founded 13th Street Kitchens shortly after opening Café Lift inside of a refurbished factory. The couple has expanded the restaurant group to include Café Lift in Haddonfield, Prohibition Taproom, Kensington Quarters and La Chinesca. Merchandise for each restaurant is sold online, as is Carter Sauce, a hot sauce made at Café Lift with a cult following, according to Eater Philly.
Construction of the new space began last July, with Mass Architecture Studio and Riverwards General responsible for the layout and design.
Café Lift does not accept reservations and is BYOB. Check out the 13th Street Kitchens website for information about private group dining, catering and special events.