About Us

"Ah, how I relish good food, fun times and fine champagne."
- Ella Anne Widener Wetherill

Our Mission

Delicious food and great drinks pair seamlessly with a beautiful atmosphere - stop by for a classic cocktail and quick bite at the bar, enjoy a wonderful experience in the dining room, or host your next event in our private banquet area. 

Our Story

Ella's Bistro pays homage to the late matriarch of the Wetherill family.  Ella Anne Widener Wetherill inspired her family's appreciation of fine dining because of her love of the culinary arts

The bistro’s architecture and ambience follow the colorful chronicles of her life and adventures. Natural materials, a warm palette, family heirlooms and equestrian memorabilia stimulate interest and spark conversation.

Ella Anne Widener Wetherill was a woman who loved fine food and champagne.  An epitome of elegance, she raised entertaining to high-art level.

The daughter of Peter Arrell Brown Widener II and Gertrude T. Douglas Peabody, Ella grew up at Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park. Her father raised award-winning German Shepherds and champion racehorses. As a child, she delighted in being surrounded by such wonderful animals. Her fondness for dogs and horses was a lifetime passion.

The young woman developed a singular joie de vie and infectious sense of humor during her years at private school in Bryn Mawr and Virginia. In 1946, her parents hosted a large ball at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel to formally present Ella as a debutante. Three years later, she married Cortright Wetherill and moved to Happy Hill Farm, a successful thoroughbred horse racing enterprise. Once again, she thrived in an equestrian environment and became a regular in winners’ circles at Sheepshead Bay, Whitney, New Orleans and other prestigious handicap races. Raise A Native, acclaimed as one of the most important sires in North America, produced more than 70 stakes winners.

Always a perfect lady dressed in impeccable style, Ella made people happy. Seeing friends and family laugh, watching party guests savor delicious food inspired by her numerous trips to Paris and sharing fun were treasures she cherished. It’s comfortably chic – just as Ella was.