Garces Trading Co. opens at the Cira Centre with a marketplace and dining
In its new location, it is part coffee shop, restaurant, bakery, marketplace with grab-and-go offerings, and corporate catering outlet. A wine shop is on the way.
Chef Jose Garces, rebuilding his restaurant collection as the industry looks toward a post-pandemic world, has moved Garces Trading Co., his restaurant-marketplace concept, into a new space.
It’s on the ground floor of the Cira Centre (2929 Arch St.), the office tower accessible by bridge to 30th Street Station. Garces operated JG Domestic, a farm-to-table restaurant-cafe, there from 2010 to 2020, while Garces Trading ran from 2010 to 2018 at 1111 Locust St. in Washington Square West before it closed amid Garces’ former company’s bankruptcy; it was revived during the pandemic as a ghost kitchen.
The new Graces Trading, created with his business partners at Ballard Brands and Cira owner Brandywine Realty Trust, is part coffee shop, restaurant, bakery, marketplace with grab-and-go offerings, and corporate catering outlet. A wine shop is on the way.
The coffee bar, open at 7:30 a.m., features beans sourced by direct trade relationships with Central American coffee growers. The coffee segues into a cocktail bar after 11 a.m.
» READ MORE: Jose Garces to open Garces Eats, with food from his restaurants, at Wells Fargo Center’s revamped club level
Breakfast offerings, sold from the counter and via grab-and-go, include house-made ensaimadas (Spanish bagels), house-made pastries, croissants, breakfast sandwiches, and tacos, plus yogurts, fruit, quiche, and overnight oats. Breakfast is counter service and grab-and-go.
Lunch, available both for self-service as well as full-service, includes soups, salads, and sandwiches.
It has multiple seating options: a chef’s counter and cafe seating for self-service, a full-service dining room on the mezzanine (due to open in a few weeks), and two private dining rooms; one is on the ground level for six to 10 people, and a second, offering a bird’s-eye view of the dining room, on the mezzanine for 10 to 15 people.
The marketplace offerings include a refrigerator case full of beverages, Garces’ lavender truffle honey, salsas, tortilla chips, spice blends, chocolate bars, chocolate-covered espresso beans, coffees, and other local products.
Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, with breakfast on till 10 a.m. and the lunch/all-day offerings available from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Happy hour is 5 to 7 p.m.
This Garces Trading revival is part of an expansion by Garces and Ballard under Ideation Hospitality. Last month, Garces opened a second location of his Buena Onda taqueria at 114 S. 20th St. in Rittenhouse. Another Buena Onda location is due to open perhaps as soon as next week at 220 N. Radnor Chester Rd. in Radnor.