333 Belrose is back with a new look and the same popular nachos
After a seven-month renovation, the Main Line landmark has reopened with a redesigned bar and dining room and one dish regulars wouldn’t stop asking about.
Radnor’s 333 Belrose shut down in June 2025 for what was billed as a six- or seven-month renovation.
But when the January target came and went, chef Ross Essner said, regulars would show up at the door to ask the same two questions: “First, they wanted to know when we would reopen and then, ‘Will the nachos return?’”
The answers: late June, and yes.
The Main Line mainstay, which opened off King of Prussia Road in the St. Davids section in 1999, reopened in late June after an extensive renovation that rearranged its dining rooms and enlarged the bar.
Capano Management, which acquired the property in December 2022, initially expected the work to take only a few months. But early in the project, Essner said, designer Barbara Gisel of Haverford proposed flipping the layout, turning the dining room into a larger, dark-toned bar with 13 seats, a backlit wall of spirits, and a poster of Keith Richards, while converting the old bar into a bright dining room. “It ended up opening the whole space,” Essner said. “Now the bar is the focal point when you walk in.”
That dining room, boasting a vaulted, paneled ceiling, white millwork, and divided-light windows, and a checkerboard wood floor, has the feel of an updated country house. Woven chairs, pale tabletops, sculptural floral chandeliers, and contemporary artwork modernize the historic shell without hiding its character. The patio spills out from the bar through full-length doors.
The 3,870-square-foot building was once used as a stable where lore holds that George Washington once watered his horse.
Essner, also Capano’s director of operations, described the menu as American food with occasional international influences. “Our goal isn’t Michelin stars or accolades,” he said. “The food is approachable. Nothing too cerebral, nothing too crazy. We want to be good enough for the neighborhood every day, but also nice enough that you can come here to celebrate something.”
Entrées ($29 to $46) include goat-cheese gnocchi with short rib and horseradish cream, steak frites, black cod with mashed potatoes, a cowboy pork chop, and a long-bone short rib. Desserts include crème brûlée, peanut-butter mousse with chocolate ganache, and a warm skillet cookie with coffee-toffee ice cream.
And yes, the nachos are back. Layered with black beans, house-made lime and chipotle cremas, pickled jalapeños, cheddar, Colby Jack, guacamole, pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, a Cooper Sharp sauce infused with peppers, and cotija, they remain one of the restaurant’s signatures. They were landing on table after table during a recent dinner service. “We would never take this off,” Essner said.
The company, which also owns such Delaware restaurants as Columbus Inn and Charcoal Pit, views Belrose as a long-term investment rather than a project expected to produce an immediate return, Essner said. “The goal is to be here for the next 20 years.”
333 Belrose, 333 Belrose Lane, St. Davids. Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
