Tin Angel and Serrano's days are numbered in Old City

The days are numbered for the music landmark Tin Angel and its restaurant counterpart Serrano, as owner Donal McCoy has a buyer for the Old City building they occupy.

It is important to note that the sale will be final with the liquor-license transfer - likely in January 2017, and that Tin Angel and Serrano are still now very much in business at 20 S. Second St.

Tin Angel's website shows bookings through New Year's Eve. McCoy says they will all be honored.

Serrano, serving an international menu, opened in 1985, while Tin Angel opened upstairs in 1992.

The intimate club has hosted top singer-songwriters over the years, including Tom Rush, Donovan, Livingston Taylor, Richie Havens, Laura Nyro (in one of her last shows before her death in 1997), and Erin McKeown, as well as local performers such as Grey Eye Glances, Karen Gross, and Suzie Brown.

Public filings identify the prospective buyers as the partners who run El Balconcito, two Peruvian/Portuguese restaurants in Northeast Philadelphia (at Godfrey Avenue and Tabor Road in Lawncrest and at 7326 Castor Ave. in Rhawnhurst). Their plans will be made clearer soon, their attorney, Stephen Murphy, said.

McCoy, who put the property on the market about 15 months ago, says it's time for him for move on, a decade after he bought the building and businesses from founders Rich Machlin and Jude Erwin. He still owns Sassafras, a bar on the same block.

"This will be good for Old City," McCoy said.

He said he planned to revive the Tin Angel name and concept elsewhere - a bigger venue. "I don't want to kill the brand."