Bodega Bar pops up with a sultry Latin theme in Center City

Brothers Alex and Stavros Vasiliadis, and business partner George Karagiannis, have packed a lot of Instagrammable details into their sultry, sexy Bodega Bar & Kitchen, which grand-opens Jan. 24 at 1223 Walnut St. It’s next door to their previous luncheonette, Pandora’s Box, which they sold; it is now Butcher’s Smokehouse.

The Vasiliadises dipped into their club past (Bump, Monkey Bar) for the low-lit design, which includes neon, brick walls, and giant murals. They peeled layers of old wallpaper and drywall that covered what was a longtime nail salon. In stripping the old floor, Alex Vasiliadis told me, the space picked up 7 inches in height in certain areas. You can now see decades-old wood and tile.

Executive chef Shain Wancio, last at Farm Truck Philly after stints at Centre Bridge Inn, Dettera, Sidecar Bar, Kraftwork, and Supper, is executing a Latin-ish menu of sandwiches/bar snacks plus entrees including pork croquettes with hoisin sriracha barbecue sauce and bonito flakes over spicy mustard ($15); pretzel-crusted pastrami fried chicken with sage and Cheddar waffles ($27); banh mi on Ba Le rolls; and a novel snack, Nashville “hotoctopus” ($18; yes, it’s a seafood version of hot chicken).

Full bar. Live and DJ music from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Happy hour (5 to 7 p.m. weekdays) is on the way, as is a substantial outdoor patio in the rear when warmer weather arrives.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.