The Chart House restaurant’s nearly 40-year run on Penn’s Landing is coming to an end
The Chart House, which boasts excellent river and city views from its perch on a Delaware River pier, is suffering because of its location amid the I-95 construction zone, its owner says.
The Chart House, the seafood restaurant on a Delaware River pier near the southern end of Penn’s Landing, will close on Nov. 30 after 38 years.
In a statement to The Inquirer, Shah Ghani, chief operating officer for parent company Landry’s, cited “major construction in the area that has cut off visibility and access for our customers to the restaurant.” The Chart House, in a low-slung building off Columbus Boulevard at Lombard Circle, is now largely obscured from the street and construction vehicles occupy part of its parking lot.
For a year, the area has been part of the PennDot work zone for a $329 million project to create a nearly 12-acre park at Penn’s Landing over I-95. Work is expected to continue for several years.
The Chart House is the longest continuously operating restaurant on Penn’s Landing. The Moshulu, set up on a historic four-masted ship docked just north of the Chart House and sharing a driveway, has been open for 21 years under Fearless Restaurants. Its business this year has been “right up there with last year, and that was our best year,” said Fearless owner Marty Grims.
“Upscale seafood restaurant with views” is the line on the Chart House, whose Google ratings give it four of five stars. A 1986 review from the Philadelphia Daily News under the headline “A little off-course” mentioned a long wait, a “great” salad bar, and a piece of prime rib that was “so huge that I imagine our waiter must have struggled to carry it from the kitchen.” Its $18.45 price tag translates to $53 in 2024 dollars; a prime rib today costs $36 to $50, depending on size.
A 1990 review by The Inquirer’s Elaine Tait praised “markedly improved” food compared with “the rather tired fare served us in the restaurant’s early days.” Both reviews praised the salad bar, no longer offered.
Ghani said that Landry’s, whose brands also include Del Frisco’s and McCormick & Schmick’s, was working to relocate employees to related restaurants. The closest Chart House is at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. Thirty-six people will be affected, according to its legal filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.