A new bar quietly taking shape on Frankford Avenue wants diners to eat rattlesnake small plates in a space with real skulls and taxidermy sealed under glass. Philly Curio, billed as a museum bar, is aiming for a soft opening in October at 2240 Frankford Ave. in Fishtown, bringing together tattoo-world showmanship and a menu built around unconventional proteins.
The bar is the brainchild of Troy Timpel, a Philadelphia tattoo artist and collector who has spent more than three decades in the industry, according to WhatNow. Timpel founded Villain Arts, which now hosts roughly 30 tattoo shows across the country, and the same outlet reports he transformed a single Philadelphia tattoo convention into one of the nation's largest tattoo festivals. His deeper roots in that world stretch back further: he began co-organizing the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention in 1998 alongside tattooer Philadelphia Eddie Funk, then took full control of the event in 2003 when Funk retired. Villain Arts later expanded into additional markets over 25 years, according to Connect Savannah.
Before Philly Curio, Timpel ran Hunter Gatherer Tattoo & Piercing in West Philadelphia's Spruce Hill neighborhood as well as the Philadelphia Eddies shop in South Philadelphia, a footprint Hoodline previously profiled when covering the city's tattoo scene.
A Museum Bar Built Around Bones and Taxidermy
Philly Curio will feature a large osteology collection owned by Timpel, alongside taxidermy, medical anomaly animals, and other objects gathered from around the world, per WhatNow's reporting. The bar's interior will pair framed tribal masks lining the walls with glass-enclosed dining tables containing preserved animal forms, including skeletal and taxidermy displays, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Timpel also created a hand-painted floor mural depicting animals including dragons and tigers, which he has said represents neo-traditional tattoo iconography, per the same WhatNow account. He has said the name Philly Curio comes from a Victorian curio cabinet, and that the menu and drinks are meant to surprise guests and push an edge. The venue describes itself as an intimate restaurant and bar designed to invite guests to dine among preserved artifacts and relics.
Cajun-Creole Menu Leans Into Rattlesnake and Smoky Flavors
The bar's food, still in development, will lean into smoky, spooky-themed dishes alongside Cajun-inspired plates built around exotic proteins, WhatNow reports. The Inquirer's more recent reporting fills in specifics: Philly Curio's Cajun-Creole menu, inspired in part by the Savannah restaurant Alligator Soul, will feature small plates incorporating unconventional proteins such as rattlesnake.
The bar's plans for sourcing exotic meats like rattlesnake remain to be seen as the opening approaches.
The Mütter Museum Connection
Philly Curio's homage isn't subtle. The Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia received Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter's bequest of 1,700 medical specimens before his death in 1859, and the first incarnation of the museum was created in 1863. It is famous for exhibits like its 139-piece Hyrtl skull collection, according to Visit Philadelphia. Leaning on that institution's aesthetic gives Philly Curio a ready-made local shorthand for its bone-and-specimen decor, even as it operates as a bar rather than a medical collection.
New Construction on Frankford Avenue
The building housing Philly Curio is itself a recent addition to the corridor. The commercial ground floor at 2240 Frankford Ave. sits inside a newly constructed, four-story, six-unit mixed-use building designed by Mt. Alto Design + Drafting, which replaced a prewar three-story structure, according to Philadelphia YIMBY. The redevelopment includes ground-floor commercial space beneath multi-family residential units.
That kind of walkable, mixed-use redevelopment fits the broader profile of the neighborhood Philly Curio is joining. Fishtown has roughly 13,406 residents with a median age of 36 and an average individual income of $69,117, according to data from the Emily Terpak Group. It's the kind of foot-traffic-heavy strip that has increasingly drawn experimental restaurant concepts to Fishtown in recent years.
With a soft opening targeted for October, Philly Curio's exact menu lineup, pricing, and hours have not yet been finalized. For now, Timpel's decades in tattoo culture and his personal collection of skulls and taxidermy are set to anchor one of Fishtown's more unusual dining debuts.
