Ian W.
Yelp
Been coming here since it was La Va, and my wife has been coming here since it first opened as La Va. Needless to say Graduate Hospital has changed since then, and changed a lot. The local population first got younger with more students, then older, more established and professional. the neighborhood changed. In came Starbucks and Wawa, out went Sowe and The Strip Joint. La Va plodded along, getting slightly more tatty and slightly more dated each year.
When Rory took over and renamed/rebranded to Social House we held our breath. Would it be the same, would it be different in a good or bad way? Would we end up walking down to (gulp) Starbucks?
On the good side, gone are the dated laminated menus, replaced by clean blackboard, simplified menus. Gone the old, broken, stained sofas. Gone the misfit broken chairs. Gone the 1990's glass table tops. Gone the psycho bird art painted on an old repurposed door.
With a bright lick of paint and new chairs and table tops, a new sofa and cleaned up decor Social House is now a brighter, more welcoming place. The menu is cleaner and simpler yet retains all the favorites like Burekas, the La Va Panini and my weekend go to bacon egg and cheese. The excellent La Colombe coffee has stayed, as has the gym membership discount. The pastries/deserts game has definitely improved, and displayed in cleaner, more`organized cabinets. There are some pricier items but, lets be honest, graduate hospital can afford it. It also feels cleaner.
The staff seem happier, and change less often than the La Va days, many are still heavily tattooed and have a little South Philly Sass. The clientele is a little different, you see more moms with kids and fewer hipsters clogging up the place (and stringing power cords across the aisles because they need to charge every device in their bag over the 3 hours they spend drinking their one small drip coffee).
Overall, Social House is an excellent and much needed revamp of a neighborhood favorite, an update that keeps pace with the neighborhood itself. From slightly run down and infested with hipsters to brighter, fresher, cleaner, more comfortable and family friendly, much like its surroundings.
Is it for everyone, no. Some prefer the predictability and sameness of Starbucks or Wawa. Some wish Graduate Hospital had not changed and for those folks there is always Point Breeze. Some miss the days of sitting all day with one coffee at a table for 4 charging their phone, laptop and iPad and for those folks there is a shower, a job and growing up. Or just some deodorant, at least some deodorant. That's not to say those folks are not welcome, at Social House everyone is welcome and greeted with a smile. They just may be less comfortable than they were in a slightly broken, slightly soiled, slightly neglected La Va sitting on a broken, coffee (I hope it was coffee) stained sofa from 1972.
But for the younger, smarter, livelier, fitter, well educated, cosmopolitan, diverse and let's be honest attractive people who live in the melting pot that is GH? This is a place that now reflects them, and is a great place to meet friends for breakfast, coffee, a light lunch or an afternoon treat.
PS They also do catering and recently set up breakfast for a series of corporate meetings, putting on a fantastic spread at an insanely reasonable price.
