Philly's 2017 restaurants: As a boom subsides, zombies move in
The Philadelphia-area restaurant scene seems to be showing signs of cooling.
Last year at this time, more than 50 restaurant projects were on the books, and 2016 was among the busiest years for openings. This year, the crop of newcomers seems to be smaller by at least 25 percent.
Cooling is a relative term, of course. Since the industry recovered from the 2008 recession, growth has been utterly staggering. Now, it's merely solid, but some believe that a painful change is coming.
Aside from the zombies that may be in the picture. But I'm getting ahead of things.
First, some of the more significant known projects in Center City are an unnamed Korean-influenced bistro on Sansom Street in Rittenhouse from chef Peter Serpico, backed by Stephen Starr (opening date unknown); an Independence Mall branch of the New York City bar P.J. Clarke's (May); a bar-restaurant on 13th Street in Center City called Maison 208 from Top Chef contestant Sylva Senat (March); Giuseppe & Sons, a red-gravy Italian restaurant on Sansom Street in Rittenhouse pairing Michael Schulson and the Termini Bakery family (late 2017); Wiz Kid, the casual vegan drop-in next to V Street on 19th Street in Rittenhouse (late February); Tria Wine Garden, an expanded version of Tria on 18th Street near Market (spring); Keen, a long-awaited bistro at 1708 Lombard St. (late winter); a branch of the Peruvian favorite El Balconcito replacing Tin Angel and Serrano in Old City (spring); and Rooster Soup Co., a luncheonette/diner on Sansom from the Federal Donuts crew that promises to send its profit to a charity (late this month).
Now for the zombies.
Next to the Fillmore, where Travinia was, at Frankford and Delaware Avenues, Florida restaurateur Michael Johnigean is backing Mad Rex.
Its theme will be the apocalypse.
How's that?
"You'll feel like you've come to the end of the world," Johnigean said.
(Like a parent at a Chuck E. Cheese's on a rainy Saturday?)
Mad Rex's decor, he said, will be a disaster: cracked floors and perhaps the shell of a crashed helicopter. A virtual-reality component will have patrons reclining in wheelchairs, sipping their drinks through a straw (but set up like an IV drip), while "experiencing" earthquakes and other disasters. Johnigean describes it as a "rustic, industrial but luxury setting with a survivor's menu inspired by mother nature." Meats will be butchered on premises, and cooking will be done on heated black rock or Himalayan salt block.
He said Philadelphia would be the first city to get a Mad Rex, and "it's ready for it."
Next door, Johnigean is also planning Urban EEL — as in "Entertainment Eatery and Lounge." The American menu will include dishes made in a wood-fired oven, sushi, and pizza. And there will be an 8,000-gallon salt-water tank stocked with moray eels. For show, not for dinner. Both restaurants are due this spring, he said.
Also apocalyptic: As the local scene shows signs of cooling, some observers believe that the business situation is dire nationally.
One widely read series on the website Thrillist suggested that the U.S. restaurant industry is a bubble about to burst, as it cited factors such as fast-rising rents, taxes, labor, and food costs. In the Philadelphia area, the price of liquor licenses has skyrocketed as supermarket chains pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the same piece of paper as a corner bar for the privilege of selling alcohol.
To some, the marketplace simply seems saturated. Chef/restaurateur Kevin Sbraga, who opened a branch of the Fat Ham last year in King of Prussia but has no 2017 expansion plans, said: "I can go out 45 nights in a row to 45 different great restaurants."
Small-time operators have been all but priced out of many parts of Center City, particularly west of Broad Street. "There's no small business in the city anymore," said Peggy Stephens, whose tea company Premium Steap enjoyed a 10-year run on 18th Street near Chestnut until her landlord proposed doubling her rent a year ago.
Stephens moved Premium Steap into an office building at 211 N. 13th St., while an eyeglass boutique ponied up the new rent. Stephens traded her street visibility for a newly expanded online business and, she said, better hours. "I've maintained my core customers, but for somebody who didn't have a home base and clientele [and had to move], I feel bad for them," she said.
The bulk of new Center City development is poised east of Broad Street; among the newcomers will be stir-fry/salad specialist Honeygrow, opening this summer at 15 S. 11th St., and a branch of Wrap Shack at 112 S. 11th St.
Tenants have not yet been announced for East Market (the block facing Market Street between 11th and 12th Street) and the Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia (the former Gallery, just east). Most, if not all, of these new restaurants are expected to be chains or at least well-funded regional players.
Other restaurants on the way, and an estimated opening, include:
Blue Duck (212 S. 11th St., March): The Northeast Philadelphia bruncherie adds a Washington Square West branch with a small bar.
Bryn & Dane's (909 Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr, in the spring, followed by Atwater Village in Malvern and the Franklin, on the 800 block of Chestnut Street): Healthy fast-casual food.
Buena Onda (1735 Chestnut St., late spring/early summer): Jose Garces spins off his Logan Square taqueria.
Far East Descendant (240 N. 13th St., April): Asian small-plates, stylish bar, roof deck in Chinatown.
Fox & Son (Reading Terminal Market): Corn dogs are the specialty of this stand opening in late winter.
Grace & Proper (941 S. Eighth St., summer/fall): Italian-theme bar-restaurant at Eighth and Carpenter Streets from the Hawthornes/Cambridge/Tio Flores crew.
Love & Honey (1100 N. Front St., March): Fried chicken and pies in Northern Liberties.
Otis & Pickles Speakeasy (2500 S. Third St., February): A Pennsport bar.
Poi Dog (102 S. 21st St., February): The Hawaiian theme truck comes in from the cold with a Rittenhouse storefront.
Tuna Bar (205 Race St., spring): A sushi specialist in the new Bridge in Old City.