NYC bar P.J. Clarke's to set up at Curtis Center
Washington Square to get restaurant activity.
The historic district is in line to get a branch of the venerable New York City saloon P.J. Clarke's.
A news conference is set for Friday, Feb. 26 at the Curtis Center to announce a restaurant tenant, and Mayor Jim Kenney and former Gov. Ed Rendell are supposed to do the honors.
A rep for Clarke's declined to comment.
The Curtis Center has been shopping for a restaurant for its Sixth and Walnut Streets corner, which faces the rear of Independence Hall and Washington Square. Cescaphe Event Group caters events inside the Curtis and operates a casual eatery called Cooperage on the Seventh Street side.
No timetable is known.
The high-energy P.J. Clarke's, which traces its roots to 1884, has been angling for a 215 area code for more than three years now, when rumor had it in talks for the former Ted's Montana Grill spot at the Atlantic Building.
It's one of the few independent bars with its own Wikipedia page.
Clarke's would complement the seasonal Independence Beer Garden just up Sixth Street and presumably Red Owl Tavern and Stratus Lounge at the Hotel Monaco across Independence Mall.