Alfa on Walnut St. to close
The building is looking for a new tenant.
New Year's Eve will mark the finale for Alfa American Tavern (1709 Walnut St.) and its club upstairs.
The lease is done, says co-owner Joe Beckham, who opened on the prime Rittenhouse block with business partner Giancarlo DiPasquale in April 2006. (They have since opened the cool Loco Pez in Fishtown.)
"We've seen this coming for a long, long time," said Beckham, who realized that he was not going to be able to renew given the skyrocketing rents on Walnut Street.
As for relocating, he said: "The Alfa concept has gone the way of the dodo."