Rimedio, a Northern Italian cuisine restaurant, is officially opening on Saturday, March 24 in Rx’s former space at 45th and Spruce and will serve its first brunch from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dinner will be served from 5 – 10 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.
The brunch menu features three varieties of crepes, all served with a side of herbed new potato hash ($8-$11), grains including stuffed Italian bread French toast ($10), and benedicts ($8-$11).
The dinner menu includes risotto ($15-$18), antipasto ($9-$15), house-made pasta ($17-$20) and fish, chicken, lamb and steak entrees ($24-$29). See the complete menu here.
For more information, call 215-222-9590.
March 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 pm
So excited about this place! Brunch looks great, but I’m a bit disappointed at the lack of veg options for the dinner menu.
March 23rd, 2012 at 6:48 am
Agreed – multiple vegetarian options are needed for repeat visitors. still hope they do well
March 23rd, 2012 at 11:19 am
I third the motion for more veg options.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Most of the brunch menu, the antipasto, and at least one of the risottos are vegetarian. Meat is a traditional part of an Italian dinner, so I’m not sure it’s the right place to complain about the fact that most of the dinner menu is meat.
March 23rd, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Definitely would like to see more vegetarian options, or even just one veg-friendly pasta dish! I was so excited when I heard about this place but don’t think I’ll be going here unless they expand their menu 🙁
March 23rd, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Yeah, as a vegan, it really makes a big difference just to have one non-salad entry I can order. It might not make a restaurant my first choice when I’m going out to eat with friends, but it will make it an option.
March 23rd, 2012 at 3:24 pm
That being said, I understand that not all restaurants need to cater to my dietary preferences. I just checked out the menu and it looks excellent (both the visual design and the concept).
March 23rd, 2012 at 4:13 pm
@Keith: On Fridays and for the entirety of Lent, meat is actually not a traditional part of the Italian dinner. Last I checked, sourdough pretzel crusts and bacon foam were not, either.
If the chef is willing to innovate on presentation, I have confidence in his ability to innovate to offer multiple well-executed vegetarian options, of which there are many in the traditional Italian repertoire. I’d happily go there and make a meal of several antipasti, which look excellent, but a fuller complement of vegetarian entrees would make me a repeat customer.
March 24th, 2012 at 3:25 am
VEG OPTIONS!
March 25th, 2012 at 1:50 am
I agree with Jeff. I’m not going to “complain,” but since I’m vegan, I’m not going to go there, either. If there were more vegetarian (and vegan!) options, this would be a great local place to go to when my family comes to visit, or with some of my Italian-loving friends. And I haven’t had a problem eating vegan while IN Italy, so I know options are possible…
March 25th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
yeah this place obviously has no interest in vegans. too bad.
West Philly needs a vegan place. i might as well post here that if anyone knows anyone wanting to open a vegan cafe i’m a vegan that wants to partner up on something. Holla at me.
jasonspetcare@gmail.com
March 25th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Super glad to have, what seems to be, a pretty awesome Italian restaurant (with brunch!) in the neighbourhood. I’d love to know what people, who visited this weekend, thought of the food. The menu looks delicious and I look forward to trying this place out!
March 26th, 2012 at 10:22 am
hopefully the owners read this and see the neighborhood wants veg options.
March 26th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I hope they don’t get discouraged that the first 3 commenters crapped on their menu, instead of commenting on how great it sounds. Abyssinia has at least 8 different veg options, if veg options are your bag. Vietnam Cafe has several as well. Manakeesh offers tons of veg options. Local 44 usually has about a half dozen, if not more. Can’t say for sure, but I’m betting a lot of the other restaurants do as well, including the brunch at Rimedio, it seems.
W. Philly seems to be a pretty good neighborhood for vegetarian options. I realize being a vegan is probably a lot more difficult, but I would imagine it’s difficult to be a vegan at any restaurant that doesn’t specifically cater to vegans. At any rate, it’s not a sin to have a dinner menu geared more towards meat eaters. There are a lot of us that eat out too, you know.
March 26th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Vegans and vegetarians need to learn that they are the exception, not the rule and stop whining that the rest of the world doesn’t cater to them. The menu looks amazing to me. If I looked at the menu for a vegan place and noticed there was no meat or dairy on it I wouldn’t cry about it on the internet, why do you feel the need to?
March 26th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
as a server of 20+ years, but not as an employee of rimedio, chances are this is the opening menu – there will most likely be 2-4 specials a night, and the addition of neighborhood favorites to the menu as business increases and more folks take the opportunity to something new.
give them a chance to offer what would make you happy as a guest – whether it’s a meat or vegan option – by asking nicely.
March 27th, 2012 at 12:52 am
Ralph: you wouldn’t cry about it on the internet because MOST places cater to you. You can eat out anywhere you want to. You can even eat at the vegan places, because just because you like meat, doesn’t mean you *can’t* eat vegetarian. You can walk into pretty much any restaurant and be perfectly able to eat there. You don’t have to spend time looking up restaurant menus online before going out with friends/on a date because you want to make sure there’ll be something for you to eat, you don’t have to make yourself eat a heavy lunch because you’ll be going to a friend’s birthday party at a restaurant for dinner and are not sure if they’ll have anything for you, and you don’t have to sit at a table watching everyone else eat when you can’t, or spend $12 at a fancy place for some garden salad.
Here’s the thing: West Philly IS very friendly to vegans. Personally, that’s half the reason I chose to live here. Yes, Abyssinia has vegan options, and so does Vietnam Cafe and Manakeesh, and most of the coffee shops carry vegan desserts, and that’s the thing I love about this neighborhood–that it IS easy for me to eat out here. That even places that don’t cater to vegans have something vegan on their menu for me. Heck, I can even get veggie wraps at the pizza places, and Koch’s has a seitan hoagie. It’s great.
So when a new restaurant comes to West Philly, I would like it to be aware of the spirit of the neighborhood, and the fact that West Philly has a lot of vegans and vegetarians. I would like it not to be like the kind of Italian restaurant I could see anywhere else (and that exists by the dozen in CC and elsewhere).
I would not go to Kentucky and complain about lack of veg options. I would also not go to Southwest Philly, and complain that the French African and West African restaurants there don’t have meatless dishes for me, and I would not go to Germany and whine about it. But when a restaurant is moving into the West Philly/University City area, I don’t think it is too much t expect of it to show more sensitivity to its demographic.
March 27th, 2012 at 10:37 am
i dont think anybody was “Crying” or even being rude , so i dont know why you feel the need to , RALPH.
We want the business to do good. we also want to eat there, as vegetarians or vegans. and there is a LARGE number of people in the neighborhood that are have similar personal eating choices. This is a positive thing, don’t turn it into something negative.
March 27th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Hey Ralph, think about it this way: if a group of 6 friends/family wants to eat there, and just one of them is vegetarian or vegan, that means the whole group may choose to go somewhere that has more veggie options. Thus, the restaurant loses 6 customers instead of just one. I know my family is always happy to go to a restaurant where everyone can enjoy a few salad and entree options, whether they eat meat or not. Anyhow, I wish them well and am sure they will get more suggestions from neighborhood residents, just like most new establishments do!
March 27th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
We ate there Sunday night and had a wonderful meal.It is a great addition to the neighborhood! The staff was extremely helpful and easily accommodated our requests. To the folks who are worried about veg and vegan options, I am sure they would happily accommodate your requests. Plus – if enough people ask I am sure they will start to offer these options on their regular menu. Being the new kid on the block – I am sure they would like everyone’s feedback. Please give it a try – it’s a great place.
March 29th, 2012 at 11:27 pm
Thank you all very much for this feedback. It is a goal of mine to make Rimedio a restaurant that is embraced by our community. I will always be happy to accommodate the dietary preference of clientele. After reading your responses to this article, it has become apparent that some revisions are required in order to please everyone. I will gladly add vegetarian and vegan dishes to the menu in the near future. Until then, I always take any opportunity to vary a dish by excluding components which may conflict with diets. So, come on in and enjoy yourselves!