Devon Seafood Grill on Rittenhouse Square says it will close after 25 years

Devon Seafood Grill will end its 25-year run across from Rittenhouse Square on New Year’s Day and 76 people will lose their jobs, according to a company filing with the state Department of Labor & Industry.

Landry’s Inc., Devon’s parent company, said the closing coincides with the end of its lease at the Parc Rittenhouse, the luxury condo building that houses the restaurant at 225 S. 18th St.

Devon’s prime space — between the popular restaurants Rouge and Parc — is not expected to go unclaimed for long. The Inquirer has heard that numerous prominent restaurateurs expressed interest long before Devon parent company Landry’s filed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice. Parc Rittenhouse management could not be reached for comment.

Among the 76 Devon employees to be laid off are four managers, 28 waiters, 20 kitchen employees, 10 bus workers, six hosts, five bartenders, two food runners, and a dishwasher, according to an email sent to employees and seen by The Inquirer.

A Landry’s representative called the closing “a difficult decision” and said it would try to place employees at other Philadelphia locations. Among Landry‘s locally operating brands are Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s Grille, and McCormick & Schmick’s.

Last month, Landry’s announced the impending shutdown of the Chart House location on Penn’s Landing, effective Nov. 30, putting 36 people out of work.

The WARN notice said Devon paid nearly $212,000 in local sales tax and liquor taxes in 2023, and more than $142,000 year to date. The restaurant‘s annual gross payroll for 2023 was $2.22 million with local payroll taxes of nearly $82,000. The gross payroll year to date was nearly $2 million with local payroll taxes of about $72,000.

Such numbers suggest that Devon grosses just shy of $7 million a year, since labor in a fine-dining restaurant typically amounts to about 35% of sales. A restaurateur who declined to be named said a restaurant of Devon’s scale (8,800 square feet) and location should be capable of generating twice that revenue.

Devon, which succeeded a Houlihan’s, was an integral part of Rittenhouse Square’s development as a dining destination when it opened in summer 1999 across the alley from Rouge, which had opened a year before.

Parc, by far the largest restaurant on the square’s 18th Street side, opened next door in 2008. Parc owner Stephen Starr, who also owns Barclay Prime steakhouse a block south, is also developing an Italian restaurant called Borromini in the former Barnes & Noble bookstore on the north side of the square. It is due to open next year.