Here’s a short roundup of some latest news from local restaurants, bars and cafés.

• University City Dining Days kicks off this Thursday (July 16), with over 30 restaurants participating in the event. During the 11-day promotion, you can choose a pre-fixe three-course dinner menu best suiting for your wallet: for $15 – at Dahlak, Desi Village, Dock Street Brewery, The Gold Standard Cafe, New Delhi, Vietnam Café, and more restaurants; for $25 – at 48th Street Grille, Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House, The Farmacy Rx, Han Dynasty, Harvest Seasonal, and more restaurants; or for $35 – at City Tap House, Distrito, Penne Restaurant & Wine Bar, Pod, and White Dog Cafe. Reservations should be made directly at participating businesses.

In addition, you can win some great prizes offered by the event organizer, University City District (UCD), including an iPod Touch, an Apple TV, and a $200 bundle of restaurant gift certificates. For more information go to: www.universitycity.org/university-city-dining-days.

• UCD has installed a new and the largest parklet in the area – on 40th Street between Walnut and Sansom, in front of the retail space that hosts several eateries, including Hai Street Kitchen, Jake’s Sandwich Board, and Zesto Pizza. The new parklet, designed by Shift_Design, measures about 60 feet long and is among the longest parklets ever constructed. Now you can enjoy your sushi burrito outside.

• We’ve been keeping an eye on the progress of Cafe Renata‘s opening at the new location near 46th and Baltimore. As we reported earlier, Renata co-owners Katie Steenstra and Yasser Aiq, were planning to open the new location this summer, after their old space near 43rd and Locust was heavily damaged in a fire in March. They even participated in the recent Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll (pictured right). It turns out, the opening will not happen until later this summer because Katie and Yasser are busy preparing for a big personal event – they’re getting married early next month! Once they’re “refreshed with marital bliss” they’ll be “back on the street” figuring out the opening date. We’ll keep you posted. By the way, the name of the new place is Renata’s Kitchen.

• The Gold Standard Café is hiring Front of House staff, including a busser/runner (for weekend brunch), a server (3-5 days a week), and a barista. Please drop off your resume in person at 4800 Baltimore Ave. or stop in and ask for an application on Monday-Friday from 10-10:30 a.m. or 2:30-5 p.m.. For more information, check out this Facebook post.

The Subway restaurant near 46th and Baltimore has closed along with several other spots owned by the same franchisee.

The restaurant, which became a focal point of controversy in late 2011 and early 2012, was one of four Subway locations that will close. But that doesn’t mean Subway is gone. The corporation that owns Subway is looking for another franchisee for the Baltimore Avenue location, according to Barry Grossbach, chair of the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee.

The zoning committee initially supported Subway’s plan to open on Baltimore Avenue, arguing that it would provide a stable tenant. Nearby residents complained that it would increase traffic in the nearby alley. Others complained that a franchise was out of place on a commercial corridor that was largely made up of locally owned businesses.

In early 2012, Subway signed a 10-year lease on the storefront at 4533 Baltimore Ave., which has churned through businesses over the last several years.

– Mike Lyons, Andrew Foronda

Here are a couple of updates from local businesses.

West Philly acupuncture fans rejoice: after a few delays and setbacks West Philly Community Acupuncture is finally opening its doors at 4636 Woodland Ave on Tuesday, Feb. 25, according to owner Sarah Lefkowich. “It’s so exciting to be finally accepting appointments,” Lefkowich told West Philly Local via e-mail.

A $10 treatment special we told you about earlier is now from Feb. 25 until March 25 and you can schedule it online at www.westphillycommunityacupuncture.com or by phone: 215-222 -2303. WPCA is open Tuesday/Thursday: 3-7 p.m., Wednesday/Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and Saturday: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

In other news, West Philly’s popular coffee shop, Green Line Cafe, has started accepting credit cards at their Baltimore Avenue location. The news prompted some lively discussion on Twitter:

Cash only NO MORE at Baltimore Ave. Bring yr cards! @westphillylocal http://t.co/0Cf7StCXLa

— Green Line Cafe (@GreenLineCafe) February 21, 2014

@WestPhillyLocal @GreenLineCafe woohoo! Welcome to the 20th century everyone, it’s gonna be awesome!

— kyle cassidy (@kylecassidy) February 21, 2014

@kylecassidy @WestPhillyLocal … ’bout time…we know! 🙂

— Green Line Cafe (@GreenLineCafe) February 21, 2014

If you want to leave a tip, there’s an option of cash or credit card, so no worries.
 

The problems are continuing for the Watusi II at 45th and Locust and its owner Noel Karasanyi. The bar’s commercial activities license has been revoked for “serious tax violations,” according to a sign affixed to the building dated Sept. 11.

The business owes about $37,000 in back taxes, according to the Revenue Department website. The closing of Watusi II follows The closing of the Watusi Lounge at 46th and Walnut earlier this month due to an expired food license. Both bars are owned by Karasanyi, who has a Yeadon address listed on tax and real estate documents. Karasanyi also owns the Third World Lounge at 49th and Baltimore.

All three establishments have received complaints about late night noise and fights. Three people were shot near the Watusi Lounge on Aug. 30 and the Third World Lounge got some brief citywide publicity for its second-floor “pee pipe” that drained onto the sidewalk along 49th Street.

The Watusi II was briefly closed and put up for sale in 2012, but later taken off the market and reopened. The cease operations sign at the Watusi II lists its name as “Spider Kelly’s,” which is the name of the establishment before it was sold in 1988. It still retains that business name in city records.

Photo by Alex Vuocolo/West Philly Local.

Chestnut Square, a mixed-use development located at 32nd and Chestnut Streets, has added more retail to its over 360,000 square-feet of space. The building now contains a total of seven businesses in addition to 19 stories of student housing and other amenities like study areas and a computer lab.

The newest retail additions include Plaza Artist Materials & Picture Framing, Yogorino, and a branch location of Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union. Four other food establishments– Joe Coffee, Shake Shack, Zavino and coZara— are already in the lineup.

Drexel University students and some businesses will be moving in within the month, as construction finishes up just eight months after the project broke ground.

Rendering of Chestnut Square. Image via americancampus.com.

Plaza Artist Materials should open as early as the next two weeks, while Yogorino, Joe Coffee and Shake Shack should open by mid-October. The rest will open between December and January, according to Jason Wills, senior vice president of campus development at American Campus Communities (ACC).

Wills explained that ACC has made a concerted effort to bring in a mix of retail options that are interesting and local to the region.

“We could have filled the space three times over with chains, but instead we really wanted to make it a cool Philadelphia square that felt like a good place to go for an evening,” Wills said.

ACC’s portfolio also includes another West Philadelphia building, University Crossings, a 30-story campus-housing building at 15 N. 32nd Street. It is perhaps most recognizable as the building that towers above the Firestone Tires store.

Though University Crossings will soon be refurbished and potentially given retail on its ground floor, according to Wills, the two developments couldn’t be more different.

Chestnut Square’s inclusion of retail reflects Drexel University’s most current thinking about what it wants its campus to look and feel like. As shown in Drexel’s campus master plan, a big part of this involves building denser housing and adding retail and other amenities to its educational and residential areas.

Wills credits Drexel University president, John Fry, for this change in culture.

“Among the things that [Fry] has committed to is was work to bring students out of absentee landlord situations in the neighborhoods and bring them back on campus,” Wills said. “He has also really tried to activate and urbanize the campus core.”

–Alex Vuocolo

Tomorrow, in conjunction with the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA) will launch its new website, babawestphilly.org—a first for the member organization that has promoted and supported local business along the Baltimore Avenue corridor for the last few decades.

Baltimore Avenue/West Philly Local archive photo.

BABA’s new website will feature a list of known businesses within its boundaries (Baltimore Avenue between 40^th and 52^nd streets, plus one block north and south), a calendar of events, special promotions, a member-maintained blog, and local business and community news. The website, made possible through grants from The Enterprise Center and Local Initiative Support Corporation, was created by BABA members and will feature BABA’s new member-designed brand and logo.

According to BABA member and neighborhood organizer Algernong Allen, the website was launched in an effort to “enhance our digital presence, better marketing of the Baltimore Avenue corridor, and connect customers with the diverse range of local businesses we have to offer.” “The Baltimore Avenue Business Association will be able to highlight the wonderful energy taking place in West Philly from a commercial perspective,” Allen told West Philly Local.

The Baltimore Avenue Business Association underwent a revival six years ago thanks to the effort of a small group within the organization that focused on cementing BABA as a presence in the community, Vincent Whittacre, owner of the Gold Standard Café on 48^th Street and Baltimore Avenue, told West Philly Local. In those intervening years, he said, the association held group meetings as well as business and community meetings to address local concerns, like parking and outdoor table licenses.  Continue Reading