The Termini family will replace Mr. Joe’s Café, which closed down during the pandemic, with a new café dedicated to their senior family members. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Nonna and Pop’s, a pastry shop and café at 1514 S. 8th. in Philly, will open in early 2022 with Termini grandsons Vincent Jr. and Joseph at the helm.
Mr. Joe’s Café was opened in 2006 by Vincent Termini Sr. as a tribute to his father Giuseppe Termini, who opened Termini Brothers Bakery with his brother Gaetano in 1921. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the two brothers emigrated from Enna, Sicily. The brothers came to the U.S. with one suitcase between them and saved money from working at Stetson Hat Company to open their storefront where they slept on the floor of their during their early years. They ended up growing their business to buy a delivery truck and a bigger building across the street at 1523 S. 8th St., which is where the bakery’s flagship storefront stands today. They ended up buying back the original property, which is where Nonna and Pop’s will be located. According to their website, Termini Brothers Bakery now has five Philadelphia locations and ships their baked goods across the U.S.
Giuseppe Termini, who also went by Joseph, worked at the bakery seven days a week until he passed away in 1994 at the age of about 95. Vincent Termini Sr., who is now 83 and took a backseat to the business during the pandemic, is now the inspiration for the new Nonna and Pop’s, which his sons will open in the former location as Mr. Joe’s café. He’s Pop, and his wife, Barbara Termini, is nonna.
Nonna and Pop’s will serve all your favorite traditional Italian pastries like sfogliatelle, pizzelle, pignoli cookies, and, obviously, cannolis. There will also be a few tables and chairs so you can sit down and mangia a nice hot Sicilian meal like tripe, as well as braciole and gnocchi. Just like at your nonna’s house! You’ll also be able to try some La Colombe coffee and Bassett’s ice cream. The Terminis are working with the ice cream company to come up with their own signature spumoni flavor.
“This is special to us because my grandfather and his brother served spumoni in this very location 100 years ago,” Vinny Termini told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It was a true passion of theirs. What better way to celebrate them?”
