The Kibitz Room deli is set for a revival in Cherry Hill as the King of Prussia location gets shut down
The family behind the deli is getting the keys to the shuttered Cherry Hill location after a troubled expansion into Montgomery County.
The Kibitz Room’s Cherry Hill location, which shut down without notice in January and later filed for bankruptcy, is poised to reopen under the son of its last owner — even as the deli’s newer King of Prussia location appears finished after just one year.
On Tuesday, bankruptcy court cleared the way for a new ownership group to buy the equipment of the Cherry Hill restaurant, which had been owned by Sandy Parish. Brandon Parish, her son and a former operator, said he would run the restaurant along with his father, Neil Parish, but neither would be owners. Brandon Parish declined to identify the new owners.
Brandon Parish said he hoped to reopen within a few weeks, after getting the operation back in shape. He said he planned few, if any, changes.
The outlook is much dimmer in King of Prussia, where Parish had operated a separate business with his father. On Monday, on the eve of its first anniversary, the Kibitz Room there was evicted after its landlord won a judgment for more than $194,000 in rent and fees.
Montgomery County court records also show that the King of Prussia restaurant owes more than $135,000 to distributor Foods Galore and faces a Pennsylvania tax lien of more than $23,000. Singer Equipment Co. also says it is owed about $49,000 for equipment and supplies.
Brandon Parish said he does not expect to reopen in King of Prussia. “I think at this point it’s a thing of the past, to be honest,” he said, adding that he wants to focus his attention on reviving Cherry Hill.
An attorney for the King of Prussia landlord did not respond to an email from The Inquirer.
The Cherry Hill restaurant reported assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of $100,000 to $500,000 in its bankruptcy petition.
Sandy Parish did not return a message seeking comment.
Brandon Parish said King of Prussia never developed the customer base he had counted on. “Business wasn’t what we expected, and we want to get back to our roots and what we’re good at, what we’re known for,” he said. “That’s the traditional Jewish deli business, not so much the full-service restaurant business.”
He acknowledged that the King of Prussia location’s debts remain unresolved. “It’s going to take some work to clean up,” he said. “Obviously, it’s been a disaster since day one. Nothing went as planned. But we’ll have to figure all that out.”
The Kibitz Room’s recent troubles are part of a longer family saga. The Cherry Hill deli opened in 2001. Neil Parish bought it in 2003, and Brandon went to work for him there. After Neil and Sandy Parish split about a decade ago, Sandy and Brandon continued running the Cherry Hill restaurant, while Neil moved to the Baltimore area.
In 2024, Neil and Brandon Parish began planning an independent Pennsylvania version of the Kibitz Room, first securing a site in North Wales and then one in King of Prussia. Brandon had worked at his mother’s Cherry Hill deli until shortly before the King of Prussia opening last year.
From the outset, the King of Prussia restaurant was an ambitious play: a full-service deli and restaurant in the Valley Forge Center on Route 202, with two dining rooms and a party room, plus a retail deli section.
In Cherry Hill, by contrast, Parish said, the deli’s smaller size better suits the business. The Cherry Hill store has 50 seats, he said, while King of Prussia had close to 300 at full capacity.
“But it wasn’t the size,” he said. “What we’re known for is the deli and the over-the-counter business. It’s not really the restaurant business. And that’s how we thrived.”
Neil Parish oversaw King of Prussia’s food and helped shape a menu built around deli standards such as corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, oversized matzo balls, knishes, smoked fish, deli salads, and house-made baked goods.
Brandon Parish said his father will be involved again in Cherry Hill. For him, the return is more about restoring a business that had long found its footing there.
“I’m definitely looking forward to getting back where we belong, really,” he said.
An earlier version of this article misstated the new ownership of the Cherry Hill location.
