James Beard Award Winner Brings New Cafe to West Philly

A James Beard Award-winning restaurateur has brought a new business venture to West Philadelphia. 

Muhammad Abdul-Hadi opened the new Out West Cafe, a sister establishment to his popular Down North Pizza establishment, on Saturday, July 12. The 2,500-square-foot space at 5127 Walnut St. features a workspace upstairs, a back patio, and a community library.

For Abdul-Hadi, opening the new cafe is an opportunity to give back to the community where he grew up. He's tapped Chef Michael Carter to head up the kitchen at Out West Cafe. 

"I'm bringing back breakfast classics. I've got a lamb scrapple sandwich, a Korean fried chicken sausage. We're trying to provide a premium breakfast menu so you don't have to go all the way downtown to get it," Carter told Action News.

In addition to Carter's creative breakfast sandwiches, Out West Cafe's menu will feature a selection of brewed coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos.

A distinctive feature of Out West Cafe is Abdul-Hadi's commitment to giving individuals who were formerly incarcerated a second chance at pursuing meaningful employment. The James Beard Award committee recognized Abdul-Hadi with a leadership award for this human resources mission.

"You're missing out on so much talent around people who just made mistakes some 20, 30, 40 years ago. That should not follow them for the rest of their life," he told Action News.