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Taste With Tori: Booker's Restaurant And Bar Serves Up American Comfort Food

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If you like comfort food with a southern flair, you'll probably enjoy this week's Taste with Tori. She takes us to a cozy, yet refined, restaurant right in the heart of West Philadelphia.

Exuding from the wooden exterior is a cozy light that pulls you in. But once inside, it's the warmth in the food and hospitality that will surely make you stay.

Welcome to Booker's Restaurant and Bar, a West Philly spot, owner Saba Tedla says, surprises diners in the best way, because good things come from unexpected places.

Booker's calamari
Credit: CBS3

While the name "Booker's" pays tribute to famous waiter Booker Wright, who worked in a whites-only restaurant in the 1960s, the comfort food they serve pays tribute to the neighborhood.

"People gave us the top-five places that they wanted, but the consistent theme that we've kept here is an American comfort restaurant," Tedla said. "America is a melting pot but American comfort food has so much range, I love the idea that we can have a range in our comfort food as well.

"We are here to serve the immediate neighborhood. It's great to have people coming from other areas, but we're a neighborhood restaurant, and we acknowledge that, we love that and that's what makes us comfortable for what we provide here."

And their range goes from fun starters, like homemade chips and dip, to crispy fried calamari, mussels and luscious lamb chops.

lamb chops
Credit: CBS3
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