The Neon’s Back on at Bomb Bomb Bar

Via Bomb Bomb Bar’s Instagram

Walk down Wolf Street and you can’t miss the Bomb Bomb neon buzzing like it never left. Inside, it’s the South Philadelphia time warp you want, with bartenders who actually look you in the eye, couples sharing plates, a little sports-bar hum up front, and in the back, a seafood spread that feels like a family feast.

After a brief goodbye last year, chef Joey Baldino took the keys and reopened the place with a tweak: keep the corner bar soul, sharpen the menu, and let seafood be the headliner. It works. 

Here’s the move. Grab a walk-in seat at the bar if you’re keeping it easy. If you want the full show, book the back room on Resy. It’s about thirty seats, family-style, and very South Philly in the best way: clams casino, clams white, crab cakes, stuffed calamari, mussels fra diavolo, lobster Francese, even a steamed lobster making cameos..

What to order up front. Fried calamari with hot peppers is the bar snack you crush, ribs are the wildcard that somehow belong, and there’s always a Martini or a simple highball that lands just right. If someone in your crew wants to nosh while you wait on a table, this is the sweet spot.

Why it’s called Bomb Bomb (the two-sentence version). Decades ago, the corner survived two 1930s firebombings; the nickname stuck, and eventually became the name. The new team nods to the history without turning the room into a museum.

The neon’s back on for a reason. Bomb Bomb isn’t pretending to be anything it’s not, it’s a South Philly corner bar that discovered its best self. Book the room for the full spread or post up at the bar and let the night find you. Either way, you’re in good hands.