Is Roxanne reopening? After being shuttered by the city, the Queen Village restaurant is taking reservations again.

If you go by the internet booking sites, it looks like Roxanne is about to reopen. The Queen Village restaurant is once again taking reservations.

Tables are available for Thursday, June 18, and Friday, June 19, via Resy for the Michelin-recommended spot that was shut down by the city in April over licensing issues.

Roxanne had been operating without a required food preparation and serving license since chef-owner Alexandra Holt moved the experimental supper club from 912 Christian St. to 607 S. Second St. in December 2024, according to a search of Department of Licenses & Inspections records by an Inquirer reporter.

The restaurant had also never received a health inspection in the 14 months it set up shop at 607 S. Second St., Department of Public Health Deputy Commissioner James Garrow previously told the Inquirer.

“Roxanne’s was never inspected [by the health department] because it was never legally operating” in Queen Village, he said in April. L&I issued a cease operations order on April 6, which the restaurant at one point covered with pink construction paper and painters tape — an act that is against the law in Philadelphia and carries a $2,000 fine, according to L&I spokesperson Kandyce Stukes.

Now, it appears, the restaurant is ready to go legit.

Opening a restaurant in Philadelphia is notoriously difficult, generally involving a complex web of approval processes from disparate city departments that can cause varying delays if an establishment needs anything from a zoning variance to a sidewalk cafe.

Still, most Philly restaurants must take the same three steps prior to opening: After a restaurant finishes construction, its owner must file a license plan of review with the health department that details operating procedures. Once the plan of review is approved, the health department conducts an initial health inspection.

If the restaurant passes, it can then apply for a food preparation and serving license, which costs $299 or $415 (depending on its size) and must be renewed annually.

Roxanne submitted a license plan of review — the first step of the process — sometime after the initial Inquirer report, Garrow said over email. He declined to say the specific date, citing confidentiality.

The restaurant’s plan application was accepted by the health department, said Garrow, but a health inspection has yet to be conducted. “The Office of Food Protection is working to schedule a date for an inspection now,” he wrote.

It’s unclear if Roxanne will be able to open in time to serve its June 18 and June 19 reservations. A now-uncovered striped cease operations order was still stuck on the restaurant’s front door as of May 21, and the cease operations order is still active, Stukes confirmed.

The city has yet to fine Roxanne for any violations, according to Stukes, and the business will not face any additional barriers in applying for a license despite having previously operated illegally.

“The Department of Licenses and Inspections Quality of Life Division does not have a penalty for operating without a required license prior to inspection,” said Stukes via email.

Holt, Roxanne’s owner, did not respond to repeated requests for comments about her plans to reopen.

A pastry chef who previously worked at a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Stuttgart, Germany, Holt first opened Roxanne at 912 Christian St. in September 2022. From its opening, the restaurant toed the line of performance art, its then-eight course tasting menu a way for Holt to process emotions like grief and political disillusionment through the use of deli meats, pastries, and what she once described as “blob” food.

The first iteration of Roxanne was polarizing: Inquirer critic Craig LaBan gave a mixed review, while Esquire listed it as one of the Best New Restaurants in America in 2022. It, too, also appeared to have been operating illegally before Holt closed it in 2024.

A search of L&I records by an Inquirer reporter did not return a food preparation and service license for Roxanne for the time it operated at 912 Christian St. A search of health department records did not return a health inspection.

Stukes, the L&I spokesperson, confirmed that Roxanne never had a food license at 912 Christian St. “Our records indicate that she did start the process to apply for a Food Preparation and Serving License in 2022, but the application was ultimately abandoned,” said Stukes.

Stukes did not immediately reply to request for comment about what constituted an abandoned application, and Holt did not respond to repeated requests for comment regarding Roxanne’s previous location.

The health department, however, has no record of a license plan of review for Roxanne at 912 Christian St., according to Garrow. Thus, the restaurant’s Italian Market location never received a health inspection either, he said.

When Holt reopened Roxanne in Queen Village in 2024, the restaurant became an immediate food media darling.

“The ever-experimental Holt has simply continued to grow, tweaking her edgy, art-forward concept with high-quality ingredients … and fine-tuning the details until it landed square at the crossroads of weird and wonderfully delicious,” LaBan wrote when he reviewed the restaurant in 2024. The year after, it would land a spot on the Inquirer’s The 76 and a recommendation from the Michelin Guide on its first-ever visit to Philly.

“Restaurants could learn a thing or two from this eccentric spot in Old Town [sic],” the Michelin Guide says of Roxanne. “Chef Alexandra Holt just wants to cook — and cook she can."

Roxanne is currently listed as “temporarily closed” on the Michelin Guide website. (The Inquirer also updated The 76 to reflect the closure.) Michelin only delists restaurants if they’ve closed permanently, spokesperson Carly Grieff previously told the Inquirer. The guide “does not keep a record of a restaurant’s health inspections or licensing records as it’s not a part of the evaluation process for inclusion in the selection,” she said.