Look Who's Popping Up

Cheu Noodle Dudes Take Their Pop-Up Party to Mémé

Now with booze!
Now with booze!

Best buds, Ben Puchowitz and Shawn Darragh, better known as the dudes behind the ramen and Asian street food start-up Cheu Noodle Bar, have another pop-up scheduled for Sunday, August 5, and this time it’s taking place at David Katz’s Mémé restaurant. The reason for the change of venue is twofold, Darragh tells us. One reason is, Matyson, Puchowitz’s Center City BYOB where Cheu’s popped up in the past, now serves dinners on Sundays. The other reason is, Mémé has a liquor license, which means the noodle bar will finally have booze to offer. “We’ve been wanting to try it at a different location, just to change it up a little,” Darragh told Grub. “And we’ve wanted to try to incorporate some beer and liquor into it.”

The menu for this latest pop-up will have mostly new dishes. New snacks include corn with togarashi, pickled shishito peppers, and ricotta; and cheeseburger steamed buns with miso truffle sauce. Noodle options will have hot noodles with lamb neck, black garlic, and pickled mustard greens; and a cold peanut sambal, cucumber, sprouts and king oyster. The broccoli with Vietnamese sausages dish served at the other three pop-ups will make a triumphant return this time, because to date it’s been one of their most popular dishes. And in addition to fresh, housemade juices, cans of PBR, an IPA and sake will be available as drinking options.

Though he didn’t get too deep into the specifics, Darragh alluded to the possibility that this might be he and Puchowitz’s last Cheu Noodle pop-up. It’s no secret that all along the two have been using the guerrilla noodle bar to test the waters for a permanent, fixed location venture. And he said they are getting close to realizing that dream.

He wouldn’t say exactly where Cheu Noodle will finally settle in, but told us that a property is lined up, as is financial backing, and that an official announcement will come very soon.

“We were pretty close once before,” Darragh explained. “But we had issues with some investors, and it kind of fell through. So we had to start over from scratch again.”

The reservation lines for the August 5 pop-up open tomorrow (Saturday, July 28) at noon. Those interested in securing a seat should call (215) 287-2533, and if it’s busy, they should keep on calling until they get through.

Earlier: What to Eat at Cheu Noodle Bar, Popping Up April 1

Cheu Noodle Dudes Take Their Pop-Up Party to Mémé