A cheesesteak star is born: Bradley Cooper's East Village pop-up is buzzing

Two weeks after actor Bradley Cooper broke the East Village with lines around the block for his new Philly cheesesteak concept, Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks, the brick-and-mortar space remains closed, with only a couple of trash cans and a sandwich board occupying the narrow Avenue A storefront.

“Nothing yet?” remarked a passerby. “I’ve been checking every day.”

The pop-up will announce its next opening on Instagram some time this week, a spokesperson wrote via the platform, without providing their name. They did not clarify if that opening would be another pop-up, or a long-term opening of the store.

Not announcing regular hours upfront is normal for restaurants that might face unexpected delays or other complications, according to Rick Camac, dean of restaurant and hospitality management at the Institute of Culinary Education.

“With Bradley Cooper's name, and Angelo's thought to be the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia these days, there's no need to rush an announcement,” Camac wrote in an email, referring to the popular South Philly pizzeria and sandwich shop whose owner has joined forces with Cooper on Danny & Coop. “The day they announce their opening, there will be lines ready to get a cheesesteak.”

The pop-up ran from Dec. 20 to 22. Cooper returned to the kitchen, with fans lining up to catch a glimpse of him in a white kitchen apron as he stayed largely behind the scenes.

The leading man in “Maestro” and “A Star is Born” previously stepped onto the cheesesteak prep line at the restaurant’s food truck in Greenwich Village in December 2023 and in Las Vegas in April.

The new East Village restaurant will largely be run by Angelo's proprietor Danny DiGiampietro’s team and family, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

No menu is available yet, but the single item served at the pop-up — a cheesesteak filled with beef, onions and Cooper Sharp cheese — is sure to be on it. Bradley Cooper has no connection to Cooper cheese, a spokesperson for the cheese company said.

The Hollywood star and DiGiampietro met when Cooper, a Pennsylvania native, visited Angelo’s in 2019 and quickly became a fan and friend of the restaurant, DiGiampietro told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

New Yorkers who missed the pop-up last month have been confused about when it will open permanently, taking to social media to suss out hours or an opening date. Questions to DiGiampietro and the business went unanswered.

“Does anyone know if Danny and Coop’s is open daily and/or the hours?” one user wrote on Reddit, prompting several responses about how nobody knows more.

“Just know Bradley is not gonna be their permanent cook moving forward,” another user replied.