Bar Bombón: Vegan Latin flavors on a Rittenhouse corner
The founder of HipCityVeg is behind an Old San Juan-style, 10-seat barroom and 30-seat dining room just off the square.
Nicole Marquis (HipCityVeg, Charlie was a sinner.) says Monday, Aug. 24 will be opening day of her vegan Latin bar off Rittenhouse Square.
Bar Bombón - known as JoséJosé early in its development - is at 133 S. 18th St. (267-606-6612), the corner store across the alley from a.kitchen and three doors south of the original HipCityVeg. It was last Crumbs Bake Shop.
Marquis and crew have not only created an Old San Juan-style, 10-seat barroom and 30-seat dining room out of the snug storefront but also have added new windows on both the 18th and Moravian Street sides. (Bonus: The Dumpsters that marred the view of 18th Street from Rittenhouse Square have been moved.)
Menu, all vegan as at Marquis' other restaurants, will include Puerto Rican empanadas (from her mom's side), arepas (inspired by Marquis' aunt and uncle in Venezuela), and tacos ("because everything is better on tortillas," she said). Figure on $14 for most tacos; there's a liberal use of faux chicken and beef at work.
See the menu as a JPG or as a PDF.
A couple of cool features: The store's former entrance, which hooks around the side of the facade to grant access to Nail Bar upstairs, has been converted into a takeout window.
Food, coffee, and cold-pressed juices will be sold through it. Marquis said the new fling-out windows in the front will allow bar service there, as well. A warming box at the end of the bar will keep food for takeout.
The Latin concept and overall layout is reminiscent of Jose Garces' former setup across town at Rosa Blanca, though Marquis seems to have a distinct advantage with Bar Bombón because of its smaller, more manageable scale and better location.
It will be open from midday through late night.
Marquis took Bombón from the Spanish word for candy or, in her words, "delightful little thing." Prepending with "Bar" played into her love for alliteration.
This will be Marquis' fourth restaurant in three years, counting the HipCityVeg outlets in Rittenhouse and University City and Charlie was a sinner. in Washington Square West.