Despite its prime location and the Isaiah Zagar mosaic crawling its walls, the storefront on the corner of Cross Street and East Passyunk Avenue has sat vacant since 2024. But this week, passersby might catch the smells of buttermilk and grease wafting out of the colorful building.

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Love & Honey Fried Chicken is taking over the space, the local chain's first in South Philly, this week. Franchisee owner Nafee Hossain soft-launched the fast-casual restaurant at 1523 East Passyunk Ave. over the weekend, but will host a grand opening event Friday. Part of the festivities include a sweepstakes to win free chicken tenders for a year — or 52 orders at the new shop.

Like the flagship Northern Liberties location, the latest Love & Honey will be a standing-room-only space where customers can order takeout and pick up online orders. Delivery will also be available. 

The shop is the fifth location for Love & Honey, which was founded in 2017 by married chefs Laura and Todd Lyons. The couple began franchising in 2023 with aims to expand into University City and across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. On top of its two Philadelphia locations, Love & Honey currently has storefronts in Newtown, Bryn Mawr and Cranston, Rhode Island. 

The East Passyunk space is notable for the Zagar mosaic that wraps around the building's exterior. (The artist, who covered over 50,000 square feet of public Philly space in artfully arranged ceramic and glass shards, died in February.) It was last occupied by Black & Brew, a BYOB cafe that operated on the commercial corridor for 17 years. The coffee shop exited in early 2024 after its landlord, Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp., did not renew the lease. An investigation by the Inquirer revealed the owners owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid state taxes.

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