Philadelphia Eagles fans flock to the bar that brings the City of Brotherly Love to London

C. Nathan Cohron/Tremont Photography

Close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and think to yourself there’s no place like home.

These were the instructions given to Dorothy as she left the Land of Oz before waking up at home in Kansas. It all seems rather straightforward, but it could have been very different if she happened to be from the City of Brotherly Love.

For an NFL fan from Philadelphia wearing the ruby slippers, if they weren’t careful, they may have unexpectedly ended up right in the middle of London, and even then, it might have taken them a bit longer than you’d think to work that out.

Over the past week, the English capital has played host to tens of thousands of Philadelphians and, in Passyunk Avenue, they certainly have a home away from home.

When JP Teti moved to London from South Philadelphia, he noticed there was a couple of things his new home was missing.

His idea was to kill these two birds with one stone.

“I loved living in London. I noted how diverse it was, how you get people from all over the world, and how you could get food from everywhere. But I noticed you couldn’t get, like, this unique regional Philadelphia cuisine,” Teti explained to CNN Sports .

The thought that he may never be able to get a hoagie, a cheesesteak or good buffalo wings started weighing heavily on his mind.

And it wasn’t just the food that was missing an American touch.

After spending much of his late 20s and early 30s in traditional English pubs, Teti also noticed the lack of a real dive bar in the city – a staple in the US.

“Philly has great examples of dive bars, and I noted that while the pub is great, the dive bar is great too – in a different way – and that whole idea doesn’t really exist here. And I thought it might be cool if that idea existed.”

It could have been easy for Teti to simply dream about this elaborate scheme, but as his career at his “overpaid, underworked corporate job” began to progress, he realized he may never have a better time to bring this idea to life.

“For many months now, I’m shooting off my mouth: ‘We need a place that sells cheesesteaks, we need a dive bar, we need a place we can watch football and eat buffalo wings,’” Teti said.

“I was thinking, if I don’t act on this, people are going to think I’m all talk and no action.”

The next step was selling the idea to his wife, who was also seven months pregnant with their first child.

“She looked at me very seriously, but she’s from the Philly area, so she gets it. She gets exactly what I was talking about. She was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”

The following Monday, Teti quit his job and started working on the project that would become Passyunk Avenue.

After years of perfecting recipes, working on markets and selling Philadelphian cuisine out of a food truck, Teti reached another crucial juncture on his journey.

“I’m either going to stop doing this, or I’m going to bring to fruition what I imagined I wanted this business and brand to be from the very beginning,” Teti outlined to CNN Sports. “These culturally immersive, experiential American-style dive bars that served really authentic American regional cuisine, but more importantly, provided a really interesting cultural exchange for people who were interested in Americana.”

The first Passyunk Avenue opened in Fitzrovia in 2018, a year that Philadelphians are particularly fond of.

“The Eagles came in October of that year. They brought the Lombardi Trophy – because they just won the Super Bowl – to the original Passyunk, and the rest is history.

“It’s like the legend started from there, and we’ve grown to five sites in London now.”

Passyunk Avenue fills the market for what Teti calls “Americana-curious Europeans.”

“Despite how difficult we make it for people to like us, there’s still a big attraction among large segments of the population of Europe to be attracted to Americana,” he said. “Whether it’s the aspirational nature of it, the enthusiastic nature of it, or the positive nature of the culture.”

While the cost of living continues to surge, political tensions rise and times are challenging in both the United Kingdom and the US, Teti hopes that his bars can provide people with an escape.

“Passyunk is keeping the light on,” he said. “For all those people who for their own personal reasons have been attracted to the lifestyle and the culture, we’re trying to keep that real. We’re trying to keep that available, and we’re trying to be a bit of an outpost of hope for people.”

Alongside the food and the atmosphere, sport is also a key piece of the Passyunk puzzle.

“Since sports is such an important part of the Philadelphia culture, right? It is such a great vehicle to tell the story of the culture,” Teti said.

“You can’t talk about the culture of Philadelphia and what it is to be a Philadelphian and experience life in Philadelphia without talking about the narrative of sports.”

This past week and a half proved that folks from Philly do really show up for sport.

London had become home to Philadelphia Eagles fans from all around the world and they flocked to Passyunk Avenue.

The bars put on various events throughout the week, including turning the Leake Street Arches in Waterloo into its own version of Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market and hosting a tailgate party outside Passyunk Avenue before the Eagles took on the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 11.

“It’s awesome, it feels like we’re in Philly,” one fan told CNN Sports at the tailgate. “This entire week, I’ve been saying ‘Go Birds!’ on the street.”

Tailgates aren’t something that London is used to putting on, but you wouldn’t have known that if you happened to stumble across Cleveland Street that day.

The smell of freshly made cheesesteaks wafted through the waves of retro jerseys, pints flowed freely and constant chants of “E-A-G-L-E-S!” filled the air as resident DJ Adam Lovelock got the crowd hyped for the big game.

Multiple fans mentioned it was just like being at home. But just like in sport, good things take time.

Teti still remembers a day where he thought the dream could be over before it even started.

“I was down in my railway arch after a particularly sh***y day of street trading, all alone, and thinking maybe no one’s ever going to know that this existed and this might just peter out, and that’ll be that.”

Fast forward to February 2025 and Passyunk Avenue hosted a Super Bowl tailgate as thousands saw the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

“To think back about how lonely I was and how much doubt I had in my head about whether anyone would ever care that I was doing this, and then to think forward to the experience of looking over a crowd that you can’t even see the end of, and be like, ‘Wow, Passyunk put these people here, and Passyunk has brought these people together and made these people care about this.’ That’s when you know it’s all been worth it.”

So, as it turns out, maybe Glinda the Good Witch was wrong. Maybe, there are places just like home after all.

C. Nathan Cohron/Tremont 摄影

闭上眼睛，用脚后跟轻轻敲击三下，心里想着：没有比家更好的地方了。

这是多萝西离开奥兹国时得到的指示，之后她便在堪萨斯州的家中醒来。一切看起来都很简单明了，但如果她恰好来自费城，情况可能就大不相同了。

对于一位来自费城的 NFL 球迷来说，如果他穿着红宝石鞋，如果不小心，可能会意外地来到伦敦市中心，即使到了那里，他可能需要比你想象中更长的时间才能意识到这一点。

过去一周，数万名费城人涌入英国首都，在帕斯扬克大道，他们无疑找到了第二个家。

JP Teti 从费城南部搬到伦敦后，他发现他的新家缺少一些东西。

他的想法是一石二鸟。

“我喜欢住在伦敦。我注意到那里非常多元化，汇聚了来自世界各地的人，也能品尝到世界各地的美食。但我发现，你却找不到像费城那种独特的地区美食，”泰蒂向CNN体育频道解释道。

想到自己可能永远都吃不到三明治、芝士牛排或美味的布法罗鸡翅，这种想法开始让他感到压力巨大。

不仅仅是食物缺少美国风味。

Teti 在 20 多岁到 30 岁出头的大部分时间里都泡在传统的英式酒吧里，他也注意到这座城市缺少真正的“潜水酒吧”——这在美国是一种常见的现象。

“费城有很多很棒的酒吧，我注意到，虽然酒吧很棒，但那种氛围独特的酒吧也很棒——只是风格不同——而这种酒吧的概念在这里并不常见。我想，如果这里也有这种酒吧，那应该会很酷。”

泰蒂原本可以很容易地只是幻想出这个精心设计的计划，但随着他在“高薪低能的公司工作”中的事业开始发展，他意识到自己可能再也没有比现在更好的时机来实现这个想法了。

“几个月来，我一直在说：‘我们需要一家卖芝士牛排的地方，我们需要一家小酒吧，我们需要一个可以看足球比赛和吃布法罗鸡翅的地方，’”泰蒂说道。

“我在想，如果我不采取行动，人们会认为我只会空谈而不会行动。”

下一步是将这个想法推销给他的妻子，当时她也怀着他们的第一个孩子，已经怀孕七个月了。

“她很认真地看着我，但她来自费城地区，所以她明白我的意思。她完全理解我在说什么。她当时说，‘好啊，那就这么办吧。’”

接下来的星期一，泰蒂辞去了工作，开始参与后来成为帕斯扬克大道的项目。

经过多年对食谱的完善、在市场上奔波以及用餐车售卖费城美食，泰蒂的旅程又迎来了一个关键的转折点。

“我要么就此放弃，要么就实现我从一开始就设想的这个企业和品牌的愿景，”泰蒂向CNN体育频道阐述道。“这些充满文化沉浸感、体验式的美式小酒吧，不仅提供地道的美国地方美食，更重要的是，为对美国文化感兴趣的人们提供了一个非常有趣的文化交流平台。”

第一条 Passyunk Avenue 于 2018 年在菲茨罗维亚开业，而 2018 年正是费城人特别钟爱的一年。

“那年十月，老鹰队来了。他们带着隆巴迪奖杯——因为他们刚刚赢得了超级碗——来到了最初的帕斯扬克，剩下的故事就众所周知了。”

“感觉就像传奇从那里开始，现在我们在伦敦已经发展到五个分店了。”

帕斯扬克大道满足了泰蒂所说的“对美国文化感兴趣的欧洲人”的市场需求。

“尽管我们总是让别人难以喜欢我们，但欧洲很大一部分人仍然对美国文化有着强烈的向往，”他说。“无论是它所蕴含的理想、热情，还是积极向上的文化特质。”

尽管生活成本持续飙升，政治紧张局势加剧，英国和美国都面临着严峻的挑战，但泰蒂希望他的酒吧能为人们提供一个逃离现实的场所。

“帕斯扬克社区仍在努力保持活力，”他说。“对于所有那些出于个人原因被这种生活方式和文化所吸引的人来说，我们努力让这一切真实存在。我们努力让这一切触手可及，并努力成为人们的希望之地。”

除了美食和氛围，体育运动也是帕斯扬克的重要组成部分。

“体育运动是费城文化的重要组成部分，对吧？它是讲述费城文化故事的绝佳载体，”泰蒂说道。

“如果不谈论体育的故事，就无法谈论费城的文化，无法谈论成为费城人意味着什么，无法体验在费城的生活。”

过去一周半的时间证明，费城人对体育赛事确实非常热情。

伦敦成了来自世界各地的费城老鹰队球迷的聚集地，他们纷纷涌向帕斯扬克大道。

酒吧在一周内举办了各种活动，包括将滑铁卢的利克街拱门变成费城雷丁车站市场，以及在 10 月 11 日老鹰队与杰克逊维尔美洲虎队比赛前在帕斯扬克大道外举办尾门派对。

“太棒了，感觉就像身处费城一样，”一位球迷在赛前聚会上告诉CNN体育频道。“这整个星期，我一直在街上喊‘加油，老鹰队！’”

伦敦人并不习惯举办尾门派对，但如果你那天碰巧路过克利夫兰街，你肯定不会知道这一点。

新鲜出炉的芝士牛排的香味飘散在复古球衣的海洋中，啤酒畅饮无阻，驻场 DJ Adam Lovelock 不断高喊着“老鹰队！”的口号，让现场观众为这场大赛兴奋不已。

许多球迷都说感觉就像在家里一样。但就像体育比赛一样，好事需要时间。

泰蒂至今仍记得，有一天他以为梦想还没开始就要结束了。

“那天街头摆摊生意特别惨淡，我一个人待在铁路拱桥下，心想也许永远不会有人知道这个地方的存在，它可能就此消失，一切就此结束。”

时间快进到 2025 年 2 月，帕斯扬克大道举办了一场超级碗赛前派对，数千人见证了费城老鹰队击败堪萨斯城酋长队。

“回想当初我有多么孤独，多么怀疑是否有人会关心我所做的事，再想想未来，当你站在一眼望不到头的人群面前，你会想，‘哇，帕斯扬克把这些人聚集到这里，帕斯扬克把这些人凝聚在一起，让他们关心这件事。’那一刻，你就知道一切都是值得的。”

所以，事实证明，善良女巫格琳达或许错了。或许，世上真的存在像家一样的地方。