Jezabel's first opened at 26th and Pine streets in Fitler Square in 2010, before a second University City location followed in 2017, and the original eventually closed in 2018. Now, after years of working to return, Careaga has secured a new space just around the corner from her own home, making this new chapter both a professional milestone and a deeply personal one. The new location will open seven days a week as a to-go bakery and sit-down lunch spot, with dinner hours planned to follow, and a community-facing design featuring large front windows where guests can watch dough being made by hand alongside an outdoor patio.
- The new Jezabel's at 617 S. 24th St. in Fitler Square will expand well beyond the empanadas the University City location is known for, adding salads, pastas, steaks, savory pascualina pies, and Argentine wines inspired by Careaga's family recipes and Argentina's bodegón and fonda-style dining traditions
- Careaga plans to open without investor funding by launching a Kickstarter campaign, making the restaurant partially community-supported from the start
- Pop-up events leading up to the opening begin Sunday, March 15, giving the neighborhood an early taste of what is to come before the full summer launch
- Careaga has described this as likely her last Philadelphia restaurant, envisioning it as a long-term community anchor where neighborhood families feel genuinely at home for years to come
Jezabel's return to Fitler Square is more than a restaurant opening, it is the fulfillment of a promise Careaga made to herself and to a neighborhood that never stopped asking when she would come back. For Philadelphia food lovers, early summer cannot arrive soon enough.
By: Michaela Althouse | PhillyVoice | March 13, 2026
Photo: Courtesy of Lucas Careaga / Innprodev Agency
