A mysterious concoction becomes a Germantown woman’s work-from-home mainstay

Khadijha Bryant only had a few yams, some chicken and the last of her juice to offer as she got ready to close up her business for the night.

Bryant moved to Germantown two years ago from Northeast Philadelphia with her husband and three kids. For 10 years, she worked out of a friend’s home selling food on the sidewalk.

Now, on the 4900 block of Germantown Ave., down the street from her Masjid and next door to a man selling Tory Burch knockoffs, she has a thriving business of her own selling homemade food right outside of her door.

However, Bryant is not alone.

“There is competition, but I make sure to make my food better,” said Bryant with a chuckle.

While she raved about her yams, her special fruit-juice drink is the best-seller, she said as she poured the last bit of the pink concoction into a Styrofoam cup for a customer.

Made with peaches, strawberries, apples and watermelon, a large cup goes for $2.

“I had a full glass jar earlier, but they keep drinking it,” Bryant said. “I need to find a name for it.”

It is Bryant’s nameless juice, the one that can sometimes anchor $900 in sales in a given day, which has set her apart from the other vendors and a nearby food truck. She is open for business every day around noon and closes roughly at 6 p.m.

Thomas E. Zamonski and Parissa M. Zecher are students at Temple University. Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a NewsWorks content partner, is an initiative of the Temple Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab.