Marathon Grill is reopening nearly 10 months after being damaged during Philadelphia unrest

Nearly 10 months after it was ransacked during a wave of unrest last spring in Center City, Marathon Grill at 16th and Sansom Streets will reopen Tuesday, March 23.

The casual restaurant, which Sheryl and Jay Borish opened in 1992, will rejoin a changed Rittenhouse Square neighborhood.

The pandemic had already shuttered some businesses as office workers — the restaurant community’s lifeblood — had largely vanished. Then in late May and early June, after largely peaceful daytime protests against police brutality came several nights of unrest and destruction. Three historic Frank Furness-designed buildings on the 1700 block of Walnut Street were heavily damaged by fire; they were razed recently and their facades are expected to be replicated.

Meanwhile, the 1500 block of Sansom Street, which Marathon Grill anchors, has been closed to traffic to allow for outdoor-dining setups for such establishments as Mission Taqueria, Harp & Crown, and Oscar’s Tavern.

Other nearby businesses and restaurants that had closed last fall are reopening, shedding their cloaks of plywood, including the venerable Monk’s Cafe, which expects to open its dining room as soon as ventilation systems are upgraded, and the stylish Spice Finch, at the Warwick Hotel.

At Marathon, Sheryl Borish said she had wanted to reopen sooner. Contractors needed at least five months to obtain the glass and materials to reconstruct the facade, which was destroyed when people tossed tables into a bonfire, trashed the dining room, and ripped the computer point-of-sale system from its spot behind the counter.

“I was devastated,” Sheryl Borish said in an interview Friday as longtime managers Vickie Izzo and Rob Gotlieb readied Marathon Grill for reopening.

Cary Borish, whose company A-Frame Constructs builds and develops restaurants, estimated the damage at $250,000, most of which was covered by insurance. He and friend Ian Chapin redesigned and upgraded the interior.

The Marathon and its other location at 19th and Spruce Streets — which has remained open — serve as neighborhood diners. A larger Marathon location, in leased space at 1818 Market St. and closer to the office towers, closed permanently in fall 2020.

On Sansom Street last week, workers had put the finishing touches on Marathon’s lounge area and were constructing a streetery. The additional outdoor seating will allow Marathon to make up for reduced occupancy indoors.

The Borishes commended their neighbors for pitching in to help. On May 31, the morning after the damage, hundreds of people showed up with brooms and dustpans to help clean up. Cary Borish told The Inquirer that he and his daughter “literally wept as we went from despair to heartfelt gratitude.”

“I wasn’t thinking about rebuilding at that moment,” he said. “But it was already in the minds of hundreds of people in my community.”