Mulherin’s Pizzeria, just off Market Street, has shut down after just 10 months
The Mulherin's restaurant in the East Market complex opened in April 2024, two years behind schedule, and is caught in litigation. Contractors are seeking nearly $1.7 million in payments.
Mulherin’s Pizzeria, which opened in April 2024 in the East Market complex after two years of delays, closed permanently last weekend, operator Method Co. confirmed.
Method president David Grasso said the restaurant, in The Girard building at 1175 Ludlow St., was caught in a legal dispute involving the building’s owner, contractors, and subcontractors. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court filings made after the restaurant’s opening include demands from six contractors totaling nearly $1.7 million, as well as claims against Method by the building owner, 1100 Market St. LP.
The owner filed to evict the restaurant in November, as the litigation put the restaurant in default of its lease.
Last week, Method notified the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that it had planned to close April 16 and lay off 39 employees. When contacted by The Inquirer at the time, Grasso said that the move was preemptive and that negotiations to settle the matter were ongoing. On Tuesday, Grasso said the talks had failed. An attorney for the landlord did not return a call seeking comment.
Method operates the Roost Market East extended-stay hotel in the same building. That and other Method holdings, including Wm. Mulherin’s Sons and Hiroki in Fishtown, are not affected by the shutdown. Grasso said workers have been offered jobs at other Method properties. “Some people are interested and some people are not,” he said. “They’re my biggest concern.”
Executive chef Sean McPaul left the restaurant earlier this month and is now culinary director at Philadelphia’s Royal Restaurant Group, whose restaurants include Khyber Pass Pub, Royal Tavern, and Royal Sushi & Izakaya.
Mulherin’s Pizzeria had been planned before the pandemic and was announced in July 2021 with an expected opening in the first quarter of 2022. Method attributed the two-year delay to assorted factors, including availability of equipment and permitting.
When the project was announced, chef Jim Burke was running the Mulherin’s kitchen in Fishtown. Burke, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer the summer before, worked on the new location until he had to step down before his death in August 2022.
Among pizzerias, Mulherin’s was stylish. Method Studios, the company’s in-house design firm, and Stokes Architecture + Design opted for saddle-leather banquettes, slotted benches, and hand-clipped mosaic tile flooring, as well as a contemporary lighting fixture by Roll & Hill hanging over the bar.
The restaurant was part of a $500 million development that includes an Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, a Mom’s Organic Market, and a forthcoming Mi Vida restaurant from Knead Hospitality + Design out of Washington, due in the fourth quarter of 2025.