Bud & Marilyn's: Retro at 13th and Locust
Pu pu platters and wedge salads, and a solid dose of the 1960s, are on their way, thanks to Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney.
Good, ol' nostalgia - including pu pu platters and wedge salads - is on the way to Washington Square West as chef Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran are putting the finishing touches on Bud & Marilyn's, opening the evening of Aug. 26 at the corner of 13th and Locust Streets.
The space on the ground floor of the Independent Hotel was last Rhino Bar and Fish after years housing gay clubs, including Bump.
Two years ago, just east of the corner, Turney and Safran opened Little Nonna's, which in itself is nostalgic (red gravy Italian). The couple's empire two blocks north, on the block between Chestnut and Sansom, is more contemporary: Lolita, Barbuzzo, and Jamonera, plus the retail shops Grocery, Verde and Open House.
Bud & Marilyn's (1234 Locust St., 215-546-2220) is named in honor of Turney's grandparents, Wisconsin restaurateurs Bud and Marilyn Briese.
Menu includes Beer Battered Wisconsin Cheese Curds with pickled morita salsa and charred green onion ranch; Heirloom Tomatoes with grilled corn, avocado, hush puppies and lemon-oregano dressing; The B&M Wedge Salad with iceberg lettuce, Thai basil goddess, buttermilk blue, Nueske's bacon bits and crispy onions; Pu Pu Platter, a Polynesian sampler including tamarind-soy spare ribs, tuna poke, shrimp toast and Angels on Horseback; Marilyn's Fried Chicken with chive biscuits, zucchini pickles and hot sauce; Short Rib Stroganoff with egg noodles, trumpet mushrooms, garlic scapes and horseradish crème fraiche; and Bud's Burger, a Wisconsin-style butter burger with clothbound cheddar, "fancy sauce," pickles, lettuce and a sesame potato roll. Dessert options will include cherry-peach slab pie, a Fat Elvis sundae and dark chocolate malt ball cake.
Nightly specials include a Friday Night Fish Fry and a Sunday Meat-and-Three (a family-style dinner with biscuits & jam and a farm salad to start, followed by shared sides and each guests' choice of meat entree).
Bar and dessert menu is here.
It's open initially at 5 p.m.; lunch and brunch will follow. Happy hour is 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays.
Beverage manager Terence Lewis' 12-seat bar is stocked with 40-plus bourbons, ryes and whiskies plus a dozen or so American craft beers and the group's first all-American wine list.
The cocktails, created by consultant Colin Shearn, includes classics, such as the Manhattan and the Marilyn's Old Fashioned - made with brandy instead of whiskey - as well as light cocktails, such as Planter's Punch and a few tiki drinks.
Kate Rohrer of Rohe Creative worked with the couple's desire to evoke a modern mid-century, old-school rec room look. Rohrer repurposed vintage General Electric light fixtures from a local warehouse, and designed geometric wallpaper and a '60s-inspired sofa. Safran and Turney secured glassware, dining room chairs, vintage oil paintings, transistor radios, book collections and other tchotchkes from estate sales and the like.