On 1126 S. 9th St., Teri’s bar was the place to be.
A lit cigarette in a trash bin sparked a fire two weeks ago at Teri’s Bar, a local fixture on the Italian Market. The fire caused damages to the building until it was controlled by firefighters after 5 a.m. The bar has been closed since.
Teri’s Bar was inherited by Kathy Eller after her father Frederick Eller passed away from stomach cancer in 2012. The store was named after her mother, who passed before the store was open.
Since Frederick Eller passed, Kathy Eller made a few changes. Among them is a newly hired chef.
“Fred would be rolling in his grave with the things going on over there,” Ortiz said. “If something went wrong he knew how to fix it.”
New Philly resident Jeff Peltz, bartender at Connie’s, feels that the stretch of the Italian Market is an indispensable fixture of Philadelphia, and together, Teri’s and Connie’s have an amusing dynamic.
“Since it’s been closed, now you come out and have a cigarette and there’s not a crowd of people outside,” said Peltz. “They had a good community over there. I talked to a guy who works there and they’re not sure what’s going to happen. I hope it works out for them.”
