In July, Discover Haverford asked 601 residents what they wanted to see open in Haverford Township. Nearly 80% said an indoor farmers market. Sixty-five percent said a movie theater. Seventy-one percent said a bakery. Those three requests sit at the top of the list, and none of them matches any of the year's new names in Havertown.
The middle of the list did better. Since spring, the categories residents rated in the 50s and low 60s have each picked up a named address: ice cream, breakfast, Greek and, by accident, BYOB. What these businesses share is size. Each fits in one storefront on a commercial block. The requests that need a bigger room are still waiting.
The wish list, set against the year's addresses
The Inquirer's report on the 2026 Discover Haverford consumer survey published the shares of respondents who were interested or very interested in each kind of business. Set beside the names that came to Havertown this year, the list looks like this:
| What residents asked for, July 2026 survey | Share interested | 2026 Havertown name in that category |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor farmers market | Nearly 80% | None among this year's new names |
| Bakery | 71% | None among this year's new names |
| Movie theater | 65% | None among this year's new names |
| Mediterranean / Greek | 63% | Koutouki, 24 E. Eagle Road |
| Multi-vendor marketplace | Nearly 60% | Holiday marketplace at the upcoming Dec. 5 festival |
| BYOB | 57% | Sophie's BBQ, 1901 Darby Road, for now |
| Ice cream / frozen yogurt | 53% | Handel's Homemade Ice Cream, 13 W. Benedict Ave. |
| Breakfast / luncheonette | 52% | Havertown Cafe, 1254 West Chester Pike |
The table also sorts by floor plan. An ice cream counter or a breakfast-and-lunch cafe can open in a space that has already held a restaurant. A market hall or a theater can't.
The answers that fit in one storefront
Handel's Homemade Ice Cream is the clearest example. The chain was founded in 1945 and has more than 200 locations across 20 states. Its Havertown shop held its grand opening at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 13 W. Benedict Ave. The Buchanan family, who own the Handel's in Berwyn, also run the Havertown store, according to Patch.
The address has a history. Handel's took over from Al Pastor, a Mexican restaurant that ran for nearly two years before closing in January. SAVVY Main Line reported in March that Town Tap was in the space before Al Pastor. That makes three food concepts at one Benedict Avenue address. Handel's was announced in March, months before the July survey, so the survey didn't bring it here. It does show a practical way a wish-list item gets filled in Havertown, with an operator who has a proven format moving into a kitchen-ready storefront. The Havertown store page lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, subject to change.
Havertown Cafe at 1254 West Chester Pike covers the breakfast request. Patch reported in July that the cafe set a 7 a.m. Monday grand opening with free coffee all day. Its menu covers omelets, pancakes, French toast and waffles in the morning, and burgers, cheesesteaks, salads and wraps at lunch, along with cold brew, tea and juices. Announced hours were 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with evening hours to follow.
Koutouki is the township's Greek entry, at 24 E. Eagle Road. It took its name from the cozy, often underground taverns of Greece known for an informal, welcoming feel. On its Facebook page, the restaurant said it wanted "to create a place where people feel welcome from the moment they walk through the door." Patch quoted that line in its July coverage. Greek ranked third among restaurant types in the survey at 63%, after bakery at 71% and family restaurant at 67%.
The BYOB answer came from a change no one planned
BYOB had 57% interest in the survey. Havertown got one this fall at a restaurant that was never meant to be BYOB.
Sophie's BBQ moved from Ardmore to 1901 Darby Road and brought in Four Birds Distilling to run its bar. That three-year partnership ended on Monday, Oct. 12. Chef and owner Greg Herman told Patch that a "massive new partnership" will take over the bar within a couple of months. "People are definitely going to be excited for a much more popular and diverse beer selection than what we've had," he said, adding that craft cocktails will stay.
Until then, Sophie's isn't serving alcohol. In mid-October, Herman estimated six to eight weeks as a BYOB, which runs through roughly late November into early December. BBQ was near the bottom of the survey at 35%, yet the township's best-known barbecue spot is temporarily filling one of the more popular requests.
The top of the list needs a bigger room
The survey's top requests are a different kind of project. Jeanne Angell, executive director of Discover Haverford, told the Inquirer that she has long heard residents ask for a multi-vendor market. She called it "a very difficult thing to recruit for" because it needs a large space and considerable funding. She said a local movie theater is hard to pull off for the same reason, space constraints.
The bakery is the odd one out. At 71% it is the most-requested restaurant type, and it is the kind of business that goes into a single storefront, the same way this year's new names did.
There is precedent for a single survey answer turning into a business. Discover Haverford runs its consumer survey twice a year. An earlier round found that residents' top wish was a local bookstore. When Lorianne Moore came to Angell with plans for a storefront in Havertown, Angell pointed her to that data. Moore Books opened in September 2024. Joe Singer, Moore's husband and the store's manager and events coordinator, told the Inquirer, "I don't know if we would have landed on bookstore without Discover Haverford, but once [Moore] started talking with them, it just made sense." Like this year's new names, the bookstore is one operator in one storefront.
Where the market-hall wish shows up this season
The indoor farmers market and the multi-vendor marketplace exist in Havertown only as single days on the calendar. Two of those days come up in the next few weeks.
- Shop Small Saturday, Nov. 28. Discover Haverford's calendar lists it across Haverford Township. Lot parking and metered street parking are free that day and again on 12/5, 12/12 and 12/19.
- The 5th Anniversary Havertown Holiday Festival, Saturday, Dec. 5. It runs noon to 7 p.m. on Brookline Boulevard, with a rain date of Dec. 6. Admission is $5 per person or $20 per household, and children 3 and under get in free. The festival page lists a holiday marketplace, food trucks and vendors, beer, wine and hot adult beverages, an ice sculpture demonstration, costumed characters, live holiday music, face painting and crafts, a lit menorah and a tree lighting with caroling. Visit Delco sponsors the event, and admission fees help fund Discover Haverford's work in the township.
The Dec. 5 festival will be the closest Havertown comes to the multi-vendor marketplace that nearly 60% of survey respondents asked for, with vendors, food and drink on one stretch of Brookline Boulevard for seven hours. Parking is free that day too, which makes it easy to add a stop at Handel's on Benedict Avenue.
In Havertown, a survey result becomes a storefront when an owner finds a space that fits a category residents have already asked for. If you own a commercial or mixed-use property in Haverford Township and want to know how it could be positioned for the businesses residents keep requesting, Societe Select can walk you through it. Book an Appointment.
