They were greeted by a mellow scene - birthday dinners in progress, beret-capped Andy Aaron and his Mean Machine sextet laying down soul riffs, single-serving iron skillets of cornbread emerging with platters of succulent fried catfish fingers over thick white puddles of grits.
Sadiki, his striped shirt untucked, a fog of sleeplessness about him, was trying mightily to remember the names of friends he hadn't seen in years.
Four days earlier, of course, November had brought forth the city's elections, and with them the anticipated mayoral victory by Michael Nutter, and, as a side story, Sadiki's debut as the much-photographed venue of a Nutter election-day celebration fete.
"Sadiki's?" was the puzzled reaction outside the confines of West Oak Lane. It wasn't on the radar. And for good-enough reason; Sadiki himself (referred to sometimes as Kevin Sadiki Travick during his long tenure as head of Blue Monkey Catering) had staged a resolutely soft opening just seven weeks before.
Even the outdoor signage was still makeshift, "Sadiki's" printed on a big slipcover hooded over the sign for the previous tenant, Ogontz Grill.
What was on the radar about 10 blocks away was the Dunkin' Donuts on North Broad Street on West Oak Lane's eastern edge where, on Oct. 31, Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy was gunned down during a robbery; he died the next day.
For days, you could be assured that every mention of West Oak Lane was bracketed by the words Dunkin' Donuts and police shooting. For its part, Sadiki's was going about getting it together, quietly tweaking its still-evolving kitchen, un-newsworthy, almost invisible.
Early Friday night, a long line of tables in the main dining room was demarcated by sprays of balloons. The brighter, second dining room - the walls painted rich pumpkin and festooned with colorful African masks - faces a bar (still awaiting its liquor license) that faces a backlit aquarium of tropical fish.
The loudspeaker informed guests there was a "red Kia with its lights on." BYO wine was iced in orange plastic baskets suitable for trick-or-treating. The herbed chicken breasts were overcooked; the panko-crusted "Babe Sis' Crab Cakes" were superbly crunchy and sweet and tasty.
Toward 10 o'clock, a fresh gust of customers surged into the lobby, huddling under photographs of Sadiki with Phylicia Rashad and Stevie Wonder, catering customers of yore.
The joint wasn't quite jumpin' yet, but you got the feeling it might be on its way: "We're going to bump it up for the second set," promised Andy Aaron.
Sadiki's: 7152 Ogontz Ave., 215-276-0170Contact columnist Rick Nichols at 215-854-2715 or rnichols@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/ricknichols.
