Chinatown’s restaurants mull what’s next with the Sixers arena no longer looming — while South Philly restaurateurs rejoice

In Chinatown and South Philadelphia, restaurateurs seem cautiously pleased with the news that the Sixers have scuttled plans to build an arena in Chinatown and now intend to construct a new complex in South Philly.

After the initial shock of delight Sunday, Chinatown’s restaurateurs began to look toward the future of the neighborhood, which has lost 25% of its land since the 1970s to such projects as the Vine Expressway, East Market, and the Convention Center. In recent decades, Chinatown has rebuffed plans for a casino and a Phillies ballpark.

“I feel relieved and I believe many other Chinatown business owners feel the same,” said Dan Tsao, publisher of the Chinese-language Metro Chinese Weekly and a restaurateur whose EMei and TingTing’s would have nearly bookended the arena, dubbed 76 Place. “Knowing that any investment or effort I put in over the next few years can succeed based on the quality of our product and service is reassuring. Without the looming threat of this major external factor disrupting business growth, we can focus fully on building and thriving.”

Jack Chen, who owns Bai Wei at 11th and Race Streets, considers the fight against 76 Place a wake-up call. “Chinatown must remain vigilant and capitalize on this victory to build resilience against future development pressures,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity to foster partnerships and position the community as a vital, thriving part of Philadelphia’s future.”

Foot traffic has been down in Chinatown since January 2020, which saw a wave of xenophobia during the early days of COVID-19. One fixture — David’s Mai Lai Wah at 10th and Race Streets, where people once gathered for fried pork dumplings and panfried noodles at 3 a.m. — is still open for takeout only.

Aside from the pandemic, Tsao said, Chinatown has suffered under a series of circumstances, such as increasingly restrictive visa policies for Chinese nationals under the previous Trump administration, financial crises in China, and the migration of Chinese families into the suburbs coupled with the opening of businesses to serve them.

“We used to get 10,000 international students from China in the Greater Philadelphia region back in 2018,” Tsao said. “These students were studying at institutions like Penn, Drexel, Temple, the University of Delaware, as well as smaller colleges and private high schools. However, this population has declined by approximately 70%.” EMei in particular is a hangout among Chinese students, who were a driving force behind the growth of Chinatown, Tsao said.

Negative news about violence in Philadelphia and anti-Asian hate incidents during the pandemic lead many parents to reconsider sending their children here, Tsao said. The slumping Chinese economy has also hurt Philadelphia’s Chinatown. “To send a child to the U.S. to study for a year costs about $100,000,” he said. “Many Chinese families have not been doing so well in the last four years.”

At Terakawa Ramen on Ninth Street near Race, owner Nelson Tam fears that with the arena off the table, the city will not address security issues in Chinatown that have accompanied the drop in foot traffic. “Before, Chinatown was so crowded,” Tam said. “Right now at night, you don’t see too many people. You don’t see a lot of police on the street. A couple of years ago, we had a line going out the door even at around 9 p.m. Now at 8 p.m., it slows down.”

Sally Song, who recently moved her popular Dim Sum Garden into a larger space at 1024 Race St., said she felt “half and half” about the news. “If the arena were constructed, there could be more traffic and there isn’t that much now,” she said. “But it could also be that many customers would avoid the renovation area. It’s hard to say.”

Restaurateur Ellen Yin, who has been planning a Feb. 3 fundraiser to support Asian Americans United at her restaurant High Street at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, said the news raises new questions about the future of Chinatown and East Market in general.

Yin said Grace Young, an activist to save Chinatowns across the country and one of the event’s cohosts, considers Philadelphia’s Chinatown among the most endangered Chinatowns across the country. “The stadium fight has just added distraction and depleted community resources that are needed to continue helping the businesses make it a destination,” Yin said, adding that the change of plans has spiked ticket sales.

“It will be a celebration. However, I hope that all the planning that has gone into creating future community resources for this very important business district is not forgotten and instead is prioritized with a complete plan created with community input is put forth and not delayed.”

The shift toward South Philadelphia drew relief from other quarters. Just as the trade unions cheered the prospect of more work — a new arena for South Philadelphia and any revitalization on East Market — the Pennsylvania Lodging & Restaurant Association said it was “encouraged by hospitality-driven projects and investments that will lift up our industry by creating businesses, jobs, and experiences for visitors and residents.”

Even though a new South Philadelphia arena is years away with a projected opening date of 2031, there was a thumbs-up from “Skinny” Joey Merlino, who is about a month from opening Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks on Broad Street near Porter, a few blocks from the sports complex. “It brings a vibe to South Philly like no other and it’s great for all local businesses,” said Joe Perri, his spokesperson and cohost of the podcast “The Skinny With Joey Merlino.”

Restaurants, retail, and residences are being considered around a new arena — a novel use of the sports complex, which has been essentially one vast parking lot since Sesquicentennial Stadium opened in 1926 on the site of what is now the Wells Fargo Center. Supporters of a mixed-use project there point to projects such as the Reserve at the Ballpark in Atlanta.

The prospect of additional restaurants near the sports complex does not concern Pete Ciarrocchi, whose Chickie’s & Pete’s sports bar near the complex on Packer Avenue is full of red, white, and blue-bedecked fans for the Sixers' 41 home games each season.

“You always know you’re going to get that little pop before and after the game,” said Ciarrocchi, who also has concessions at Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, and the Wells Fargo Center.