COMING SOON

Fall is traditionally high season for restaurant openings. This fall is different. After a busy 2023, relatively few splashy projects are on the immediate horizon.

One, however, could augur well for Center City’s dining and nightlife scene, which has shown a glimmer of resurgence with the recent opening of Vinyl, a club on 15th Street near Locust. Turn your attention to Broad and Spruce Streets, whose corners are home to the Wilma Theater; Steak 48, a high-end steak house; and the Kimmel Center, which houses Garces Trading Co. and the upscale Volvér.

Lighting up the final corner is Loch Bar, a seafood restaurant on the ground floor of the new Arthaus condo building, with outdoor seating on both Broad and Spruce and live music nightly.

Loch Bar, from the Atlas Restaurant Group out of Baltimore, plays directly into Broad Street’s Avenue of the Arts leitmotif and the vision of developer Carl Dranoff, whose other Broad Street high-rises are the Symphony House, 777 South Broad, and South Star Lofts.

Dranoff built the 47-story Arthaus on the former site of Philadelphia International Records, where producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff created the Sound of Philadelphia in the 1960s and ’70s. Decades ago, Broad Street was the locus of Philadelphia nightlife, said Dranoff, a native Philadelphian: “Why can’t we do it again?”

Here is a sampling of bars and restaurants on the boards for fall. Among them: a whole new Dizengoff from Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook, created by adding the former Abe Fisher space; a new location (four years in the works) for fun-and-games bar Barcade; and the reopening of Royal Tavern in South Philadelphia. Jim’s Steaks is about to return from a 2022 fire; it’s expanding next door. (Tequila’s, damaged by fire earlier this year, is looking to reopen in early 2024.) And for those awaiting the King of Prussia location of Eataly, the Italian marketplace and dining extravaganza, put down your fork: You cannoli wait till 2025.

Fun and games

Barcade (1326 Chestnut St.): The Fishtown bar-plus-arcade — hence, the name — finally sees an opening in sight for its location just off Broad and Chestnut Streets in Center City.

Queen & Rook (123 South St.): The popular Queen Village game cafe plans a move to the former Pietro’s Coal-Fired Pizza, around the corner.

Libertee Grounds (1600 W. Girard Ave.): The mini-golf-themed bar-restaurant in Francisville is adding 4,000 square feet to its 8,000. That means: a new nine-hole course, a golf simulator, a new bar with seating for up to 10, and larger lounge areas.

The Peabody (1431 Cecil B. Moore Ave.): Glu Hospitality is renovating the Draught Horse, the Temple University sports bar.

Center City

Dizengoff (1625-27 Sansom St.): Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook are merging Abe Fisher and Dizengoff’s former spaces into an 85-seat full-service restaurant serving lunch and dinner, with a 10-seat bar and extended sidewalk patio.

Hi-Lo Taco Co. (1109 Walnut St.): Chef Jeff Newman is building a home for his pop-up taqueria, taking the former Bareburger in Center City for a sit-down experience with a bar.

Mulherin’s (1175 Ludlow St.): Wm. Mulherin’s Sons in Fishtown sets up an Italian restaurant specializing in pizza in Roost East Market, next to Iron Hill Brewery.

South Philly

Royal Tavern (937 E. Passyunk Ave.): One of Philly’s earliest gastropubs, closed during the pandemic, is poised for reopening under chef Nick Macri.

The suburbs

Amma, the South Indian restaurant, has two new locations on the way: 7000 Midlantic Dr. in Mount Laurel (replacing a shuttered Naf Naf Grill) and Goodnoe Corner (the former Zoës Kitchen at Route 532 and Durham Road in Newtown Township).

Double Nickel Brewing Co. (1585 Route 73, Pennsauken): The South Jersey brewery is going the brewpub route, adding pizzas from chefs Dylan Sweeney and Dylan Sambalino.

Soko Bag (95 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville): J.H. Chang and Shea Roggio, whose pop-up events specialize in Korean fried chicken, are headed to a brick-and-mortar.

Pubs

Joe & Kay (702 N. Second St.): Owen Kamihira (El Camino Real) is planning a Northern Liberties izakaya named in honor of his grandparents, who owned a farm in Washington State before the family was interned during World War II.

Samuel G. Gritz Public House (Second and Bainbridge Streets): A corner pub from the Institute’s Charlie Collazo and Neil Campbell (Race Street Cafe), plus Institute manager Frank Bell III, replacing the Irish Times. Gritz’s name is carved into the top of the building.

Two Locals Brewing Co. (37th and Market Streets): Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery will open a pub in uCity Square in University City.

Northern Liberties/Kensington

Dim Sum House by Jane G’s (1214 N. American St.): Jane Guo and son Jackson Fu are headed to South Kensington’s Liberty Square development for their third location. Half of the 200 seats will be indoors, while the others will be in a covered outdoor cocktail garden.

SIN Philadelphia (1102 Germantown Ave.): Justin Veasey describes this 200-seat Italian restaurant across from the Piazza in Northern Liberties as “vibe dining” — upscale dining in a trendy setting with a DJ.

The future

Boqueria (1608 Sansom St.): The high-energy Spanish tapas specialist from New York City sets up in the apartment tower under construction next to the Happy Rooster and across from Tapster.

Chotto Matte (12th and Sansom Streets): The upscale chain featuring Nikkei cuisine (a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian) will take the ground floor of the new Jessup House apartments.

Eataly (Route 202, King of Prussia Mall): The Italian-rooted marketplace/ restaurant is aiming for a 2025 opening at King of Prussia Mall.

Man Full of Trouble Tavern (125 Spruce St.): A local history rebuff is restoring Philadelphia’s original dive bar.

Provenance (408 S. Second St.): Chef Nicholas Bazik is transforming the 200-year-old Head House Square building that last housed Xochitl into a romantic, seafood-focused French restaurant based on tasting menus.

Rosalie (919 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills): White Dog operator Fearless Restaurants plans a second location of Rosalie, its posh Italian concept, in the former Ruby’s Diner space at the Shoppes at Brinton Lake.

Society Hill Hotel (301 Chestnut St.): Mike Cangi and Brian Linton, formerly of the United by Blue lifestyle brand, are behind a top-to-bottom renovation at the Old City hotel, whose first floor will feature a whiskey bar also serving breakfast.

Urbanspace (30th and Market Streets): Realty Trust’s Schuylkill Yards development will get a food hall from the New York-based developer of public markets in the former Bulletin Building across from 30th Street Station.

White Dog Cafe (192 E. Welsh Pool Rd., Exton): The American restaurant plans a new location at the former Vickers Tavern.