Water Damage Restoration in Upper Darby, PA

Upper Darby residents are suing to block a newly approved local income tax, arguing, once again, that procedural errors invalidate the ordinance.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, continues a struggle between the Democratic-led council and a group of residents that has persistently raised concerns, and lawsuits, about the board’s adherence to policy.

Many of the recent fights have focused on the board’s push for a new 1% income tax for residents of the township.

“We’re against the earned-income tax. We don’t feel that the elected representatives really gave any explanation other than well, we want your money, we want the revenue,” said John DeMasi, a Drexel Hill Republican who is the lead plaintiff on the suit. “And once again, they’ve made some glaring errors in passing the ordinance.”

Last year the same group of residents successfully blocked Upper Darby’s attempt to approve a 1% earned-income tax, arguing in a lawsuit that the council had improperly passed that ordinance, and another limiting public comment, during a work session of the council rather than a meeting intended to approve policy.

That suit’s success blew a $15 million hole in the township’s approved 2025 budget, forcing the council to approve a new budget in late February.

After enacting the budget last month, Upper Darby Council approved an ordinance intended to enact the 1% earned-income tax in July.

The tax, councilmembers argued, would provide a needed revenue source for the township, helping to keep local property taxes in check or allowing the township to lower them. The tax would be automatically withheld from residents’ paychecks, like state and federal taxes.

In a statement Monday, Upper Darby Mayor Ed Brown said he was disappointed to see yet another lawsuit “from a small group focusing on technicalities, rather than addressing the core sustainability issues in the township.”

“We are confident in the legality of our actions and will strongly defend the Council’s right to implement the EIT as passed,” Brown said.

In the lawsuit, filed without an attorney, the residents argued Monday that the latest attempt to pass the tax violated state statutes.

“I don’t know if it was incompetence or on purpose, but they didn’t enact it properly,” DeMasi said.

The suit claimed that the council incorrectly enacted the tax immediately, failed to correctly repeal prior ordinances, and improperly included language directing courts to interpret the ordinance liberally.

As a result, the suit argued, the entire ordinance should be thrown out.

Despite the lawsuit’s claims that the ordinance was immediately enacted, Brown said the tax was not set to take effect until July.

The anticipated revenue from the tax is not currently factored into the township’s budget. While local officials are likely to try again if it is thrown out, the suit won’t force immediate changes to the township’s spending plans for the year.

Upper Darby officials have been contemplating a new earned-income tax for years, and Brown reiterated in his statement that the income was necessary to maintain township services and that more than 2,000 Pennsylvania municipalities already charged income tax.

“The EIT offers a more sustainable and fair revenue stream that would reduce pressure on property taxpayers and also ensure that certain nonresidents who work within the Township contribute,” he said.

It looks like one of the most famous chefs in the country is in the Philadelphia area this week.

We’re talking about Gordon Ramsay, and yes, it sounds like he’s currently filming a TV show at a local restaurant. Here’s what our internet sleuthing has found (so far):

For the past few days we’ve been some scuttle online that Gordon Ramsay has been in Upper Darby (Delaware County), PA.

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We’ve seen comments on social media (including a Reddit thread and a handful of posts on the X) with fans noticing that the TV star was in town.

But it wasn’t immediately clear what Gordon Ramsay is doing here. Is he filming something? Is he just working on a project? Is he visiting?

Well, all of that appeared to be answered in a new report published on Monday (March 24).

Yes, we think that the famous TV chef is filming something — likely an upcoming episode of Kitchen Nightmares — at the popular barbecue eatery Wilson’s Secret Sauce on E Township Line Road.

READ MORE: Will Guy Fieri FINALLY Visit These Philly Eateries?

This all originates from stellar reporting from PhillyMag.com and .com and Victor Fiorillo who noticed there were camera crews and TV trucks outside of the busy eatery.

Fiorillo observed that the interior of the restaurant had a new look (he described it as "cozier"), and he said the menu underwent some drastic changes as well (its down to just 13 dishes).

So body has publicly commented on the rumors. In fact, it’s likely that the restaurant staff wouldn’t be allowed to talk about the show.

READ MORE: Every Jersey Restaurant Featured on Kitchen Nightmares

However, you gotta admit that it all sort of adds up. If a restaurant is undergoing massive changes… that IS the plot of the show Kitchen Nightmares, which literally helps refurbish restaurants that are struggling or one reason or another.

Much of this is speculative, of course, so it may take time to confirm the rumors. But this seems like it's definitely happening.

We can't remember a time since 2013 when Ramsay and Kitchen Nightmares visited the Philly area. Back in season 5 they visited Zocalo a Mexican Restaurant in West Philly.

A few years prior they visited Fishtown for an episode filmed at Hot Potato Cafe.

Both eateries have since closed, by the way.

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He's also been spotted in Reading and at Ursinus College in recent days.

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Best of Philly-winning Wilson’s Secret Sauce barbecue restaurant in Upper Darby was closed to the public last week. But there wasn’t exactly a lack of activity surrounding it. Based on the various trucks and equipment seen outside, a television crew was clearly afoot. But why? The restaurant wasn’t saying.

Then, on Friday, Wilson’s Secret Sauce reopened for business. I stopped in. The dining room had a new look. Cozier. The menu went through a drastic change: from 70-some items to 13.

And then I learned that local residents had spotted (and, in at least one case, photographed) foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay of Kitchen Nightmares fame strolling down a street, just steps from the restaurant.

No one at Wilson’s Secret Sauce is talking about whether Ramsay was working with the restaurant or whether the shop will be featured on a future episode of Kitchen Nightmares or some other Gordon Ramsay vehicle. But a TV crew? Gordon Ramsay sightings nearby? A huge menu becomes a tiny one? Dining room makeover? That has Kitchen Nightmares written all over it.

Residents in Reading also spotted Ramsay in recent weeks. He was reportedly working at Marvel Ranch, a quaint spot known locally for its cheeseburgers and pancakes. That restaurant isn’t uttering the name Gordon Ramsay either. But Marvel Ranch was closed the week before Wilson’s Secret Sauce closed to the public. And a TV crew was on hand there as well.

In other words, I wouldn’t bet $1 billion that Gordon Ramsay just transformed Wilson’s Secret Sauce. But I’d certainly bet $1,000.

Another local Gordon Ramsay spotting? He grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks at Ursinus College. No, he wasn’t remaking the Starbucks. Ramsay, a big fan of bicycling and one who has competed in triathlons, told fans there that he was biking back to Philadelphia. Interestingly, you can bike from Reading to Philadelphia by way of the Schuylkill River Trail, which runs right by Ursinus College.

If, in fact, Gordon Ramsay has done a Kitchen Nightmares treatment on Marvel Ranch and Wilson’s Secret Sauce, I certainly hope it’s a boon for business. That’s not always the case. Kitchen Nightmares couldn’t save longtime West Philly restaurant Zocalo. And things didn’t exactly work out at Fishtown’s Hot Potato Cafe after Ramsay did his thing.

Kitchen Nightmares ran on Fox from 2007 until 2014. Then Fox brought it back for an eighth season in 2023 and a ninth, which debuted on January 7th.

Known for its tray pizza and Italian specialties for generations, Pica's Restaurant on West Chester Pike in Upper Darby announced the closing of the establishment in a post on Facebook.

"As we prepare to close our doors, we want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and loyalty throughout the years," the post said.

The restaurant has been an Upper Darby mainstay for 70 years. Customers sought out Pica's signature upside-down, cheese-on-the-bottom sauce-on-top trays of pizza.

The family, in its post, said the restaurant will close sometime in the summer. They plan to open a new, smaller location somewhere in Delaware County.

Angela Pica Oandasan and Frank Pica, the owners of the restaurant, said the rumors of the location closing got harder and harder to contain. They both said the decision to close the Upper Darby location was "difficult."

"This was a decision we didn't take lightly," Frank Picca said. "And it was a couple of years in the making."

The business started as a small sandwich shop in West Philadelphia in 1941. The family operates a second restaurant in West Chester.

"I don't know when my grandfather started his place in West Philadelphia that he dreamt of all of this," Angela Pica said. "We are honored to walk in their shadow and take on their tradition."

"It's like family"

The restaurant business is notoriously tough, and customers were stunned by the news of Pica's closing.

Retired Upper Darby Fire Chief Ken Bullwinkle has been a regular at the store.

"It's like family," Bullwinkle said. "Everybody comes up here."

"They have the best square pizza," he added.

Deborah Exton and her family were at Pica's for a celebration of life, but instead, they were caught off-guard by the sad news — the closing of another chapter.

"It's just devastating," Bachor said. "I can believe it. I think I'm a little in shock — I thought it would always be here. This place is so full of memories."

Gary Jamgochian has had a hand in Pica's Pizza for 50 years as an employee.

"All these years," Jamgochian said. "Stuck with the whole family. Love them all. Great family."

Tina Fey's favorite pizza joint to close

Upper Darby native Tina Fey had a viral appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" several years ago where Fallon surprised Fey with a few slices of their signature pie.

A photo of the 2014 appearance is still the restaurant's cover photo on Facebook.

"This pizza is the best," Fey said when Fallon surprised her. "Your sauce, your gravy is on the top."

Joe Holden

Joe Holden came home to join the CBS News Philadelphia team as a general assignment reporter in May, 2016. In August 2018 he became anchor of the weekend evening editions and Philly57.

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