Sbraga's Juniper Commons is open
Based on a preopening look-see, the soundtrack is there and so is the look, for which Eimer Design borrowed and riffed on the old brass and glass motif. Newspaper pages - including some that nearly everyone read - are part of the wallpaper.
Juniper Commons - the homage to the '80s by chef Kevin Sbraga (Sbraga, The Fat Ham) - has debuted at the corner of Broad and South Streets (521 S. Broad St., 215-735-1913), where it occupies part of the ground floor of SouthStar.
The look is there. It feels just a touch retro, a bit diner-y. Eimer Design borrowed from the Reagan-era playbook and riffed on that period's love of brass and glass. Newspaper pages - including some that nearly everyone read - are part of the wallpaper. The soundtrack, curated by general manager Ben Fileccia, starts in the '70s at the beginning of the evening and progresses to 1989 by last call.
If you can, sit at the counter and watch the grill.
Menu, executed by chef Greg Garbacz, includes peel and eat shrimp cocktail from a raw bar, a caesar for two prepared tableside, crab cake, chicken pot pie, and a veritable ton of roasted selections from the open kitchen grill, such as the chicken and prime rib. Big portions. (See sample menu here.)
Harvey's Old Fashioned Cheesecake borrows the recipe of Sbraga's father, a baker.
Bar is stocked with plenty of gin.
Initially it is open for dinner nightly.