The Palm to close for renovation

The Palm, one of Center City's longest-running steakhouses, will close for what is billed as a major renovation after business on Feb. 29.

The restaurant, in the Bellevue at Broad and Walnut Streets, is due to reopen late in the fourth quarter of 2016 or early 2017. The parent company said the Philadelphia restaurant will be the seventh to receive a new design.

The Palm opened in 1989 and quickly became a power room that helped usurp the city's private clubs. Of late, though, it has been upstaged by newer competitors. Its walls are a somewhat dated who's who of Philadelphia, whose faces beam down on the dining rooms in the form of caricatures. Zack Bird, a Philadelphia artist whose family has created caricatures for Palm Restaurants for several decades, will redo the work.

The restaurant was last redone several years ago as it expanded into the Bellevue's lobby.

In a statement, the Palm said the new design will feature "intimate seating for 152 and a striking hand-painted feature wall of Philadelphia's famous landmarks overlooking the dining room."

"A new expansive bar will anchor the dining room.  The Private Dining Room will be relocated to the main level of the restaurant with seating for up to 36 and will feature a state-of-the-art audio visual system."