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The neighborhoods of Bustleton and Somerton in Northeast Philadelphia, along the city’s border with Montgomery and Bucks counties, have been called “Little Odessa” for their large numbers of residents who are immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
At least 43,000 immigrants born in those countries live in Northeast and upper North Philly, according to census estimates.
They include 13,000 from Ukraine and about 4,900 from Russia, along with 5,800 from Albania, 3,400 from Uzbekistan, 3,100 from Belarus, 2,700 from Poland and hundreds from Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Latvia, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and other countries.
In the ZIP code that includes Somerton, some 41% of residents are from Russia or Eastern Europe, while for Bustleton the figure is 27%, per the census.
They have been coming to the area in successive waves for more than 150 years, driven by a lack of economic opportunity in their home countries, religious persecution, dictatorships, oppression and war — most recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The neighborhoods where they settled look much like other parts of the Northeast, with quiet suburban-style residential streets of rowhomes and ranch homes. Commerce takes place largely along a few main roads — Bustleton Avenue, Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Boulevard among them — that are dotted with occasional strip malls and churches.
But look closer, and nestled among the nail salons and pizza shops, you’ll start to notice international markets and restaurants, and signs in Cyrillic and other scripts offering an array of services.
“For immigrants, the neighborhood has all the infrastructure that people need,” said Andre Krug, CEO of KleinLife community center in Somerton. “If you have Russian stores, Russian doctors, Russian tellers in the bank and other other services, it’s obviously going to attract a lot of immigrants.”
Krug, who immigrated from Ukraine in 1989, noted that the two neighborhoods are also home to many people from other parts of the world, including more than 10,000 from India.
“Immigrants kind of gravitate to other immigrant groups because of the similar experience,” he said. “So, that’s why it kind of works.”
Evolving to serve a changing community
People from Russia and surrounding regions have been coming to Philadelphia and other U.S. cities since the late 19th century, initially to escape poverty and find work, and later in response to World War I-era repression and the devastation of World War II.
Many were Jews facing religious persecution, both in the early waves of immigration and in a surge that began in the 1970s and continued after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
After Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians poured into the U.S., with up to 10,000 initially expected to come to Pennsylvania. KleinLife launched an Immigrant Welcome Center and resettled about 2,000 Ukrainian refugees, providing cultural orientation, food aid, English classes, summer camps, and help arranging work and applying for state assistance.
KleinLife, which opened in 1975, is a Jewish community center that hosts Yom Kippur services and counts 200 Holocaust survivors among the 35,000 people it serves annually.
As the local Jewish population declined over the years and the community’s needs changed, the center evolved and now serves a highly diverse community in its 100,000-square foot building, Krug said. It has a pool and swim programs, fitness classes, children’s camps, and a farmer’s market. KleinLife has a senior center that provides basic medical services to its members and also offers services such as support groups and home-delivered meals.
Over the years, word has gotten out that the center is a safe, welcoming place for immigrants, including those scarred by past experiences with big institutions or who hail from developing countries where life is very different from the U.S., Krug said.
“Some of these countries that people are coming from, it’s not like coming from one country to the United States. It’s like coming from the 14th century to 21st century,” he said. “We’re dealing with Ukrainian children who came with PTSD from the battlefields, and on the other hand we deal with people from Central Asia who are not well integrated into modern societies.”
“They don’t trust the government. They don’t trust the big corporations. But for some reason, the community centers they trust. They come in and they say, ‘Can you help us?’ We’re providing all kinds of services for them. So they feel kind of welcome in this country,” he said.
A buffet of Eastern delights
The neighborhoods are also served by some other groups, like the nonprofit New World Association, which provides English classes, citizenship application help and other assistance to immigrants. There are a number of religious institutions, including the historic St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Chabad-affiliated Congregation Beth Solomon, and the Lubavitch Center for Russian Jewry, and some newer storefront mosques.
But Krug said KleinLife is by far the largest and most active community organization in the area, even counting government agencies. He maintains that in many ways Bustleton and Somerton, which are about 15 miles from the heart of Center City, are ignored by the rest of Philadelphia.
“It’s completely unjustified, frankly. It’s such a lively neighborhood and such a multicultural neighborhood where people from different countries and different religions manage to live together without killing each other,” he said. “You know, that’s a big accomplishment these days.”
Krug said that for visitors who want to explore the area, interesting places to visit include two grocery stores, Bell’s Market and Netcost, that stock a wide variety of Russian and European products, and dining destinations like Uzbekistan Restaurant, which serves Russian and Central Asian dishes.
One popular itinerary starts with a long, relaxing visit to Southampton Spa, a Russian-style bathhouse just over the city line in Bucks County, followed by a meal of kebabs, pickled mushrooms, Georgian khachapuri cheese bread or other Eastern European specialties.
Here’s a small selection of restaurants and other attractions in Bustleton and Somerton.
ASR Food Market
This store, butcher and buffet offers a long list of halal and Uzbek foods, like plov (a spiced rice dish with meat), lamb kazan kebab, zrazy patties with meat and potatoes, and samsa pastries stuffed with different meats, and also sells juices, smoothies, pizza and other dishes.
14101 Bustleton Ave.
Bell’s Market
Ukrainian butter, Lithuanian spiral marshmallows, baked Russian halibut, kievski sponge cake, and dozens of jam flavors and cake varieties are on offer at Bell’s, along with standard grocery store selections of produce and meats and specialty items sought by immigrants from Turkey, Israel, Afghanistan and other countries, Eater reports.
8330 Bustleton Ave.
Gamarjoba Restaurant
Gamarjoba serves the gamut of Georgian dishes, such as khachapuri cheese boat breads, pizza-like Lobiana stuffed with mashed beans, blini with caviar, garlicky chicken shkmeruli, kebabs with pork, chicken, or lamb, and enticing desserts like “Ideal Cake” with layers of honey, honey biscuit, walnut and condensed cream.
13033 Bustleton Ave.
Georgian Bread
The main attraction at this much-praised restaurant are the khachapuri, which are soft breads that are delicious plain or stuffed with cheese, cheese and a baked egg, or beans. But diners also rave about the spinach with walnuts, shkmeruli (chicken in milk and garlic sauce), khinkali dumplings with beef and pork, kebabs, and rich layered cakes.
10865 Bustleton Ave.
Golden Gates
This banquet hall is a throwback of sorts to the old country, with costumed singers and dancers performing Russian, Polish and American pop hits on Saturday nights as you enjoy dishes like smoked fish, blintzes, shish kebabs and chicken wings.
11058 Rennard St.
Netcost Market
Reminiscent of an old school market in Russia, the local outlet of this East Coast chain offers reasonably priced produce and delicacies ranging from Polish kielbasa and mushroom blintzes to fresh breads and a big assortment of cakes, cookies and pastries.
11701 Bustleton Ave.
Uzbekistan Restaurant
One of Northeast Philadelphia’s best-known eateries serves a variety of Russian and Central Asian dishes, like kharcho beef soup, chicken broth with meatballs, grilled lamb kebabs, Uzbek manti dumplings, borscht with veal and potatoes, honey cake, and Turkish coffee. Dine in the main room, decorated with brick-arched alcoves, or the window-filled enclosed patio.
12012 Bustleton Ave.
Pennypack Park
Once you’re stuffed with kachapuri and borscht, you can stretch your legs with a stroll around woodsy Pennypack Park, whose northern end runs just south of Bustleton. From the entrance on Pine Road you have easy access to a trail that runs along Pennypack Creek all the way down to the Delaware River, 8 miles away. The city’s nearby Pennypack Environmental Center is also nearby.
8635 Pine Road
