January 24, 2017
Maybe you’ve been there: you want dim sum but you don’t feel like getting on the trolley or the El all the way to Chinatown to go to Dim Sum Garden. Not to worry, Dim Sum House has arrived in University City with a heavy Cantonese lean thanks to restaurateurs Jane Guo and Jackson Fu.
According to captain server Khoa Nguyen, Guo is related to the owners of Dim Sum Garden but she has no shared business interests. “The owner of Dim Sum house is the wife of the owner of this place. We didn’t take any of their servers or chefs or anything like that,” said Nguyen.
Guo also owns Szechuan-style Chinese restaurant Jane G’s in the Rittenhouse Square area.
When you walk into Dim Sum House, the decor is a little upscale and the bar is set up to look trendy. I know what you’re thinking, this must be pricey. Well, it’s not. The cheapest thing on the menu was in the neighborhood of $5 while the most expensive entree was $15, save for a few chef’s specialty items like Peking Duck, which go for as much as $25. The offerings also go beyond just dim sum, including more common entrees like Szechuan Beef. Continue Reading
January 11, 2017
The University of Pennsylvania has confirmed that the Fresh Grocer that has been operating at the corner of 40th and Walnut for 15 years will soon be replaced by another operator.
In an e-mail to West Philly Local, Jennifer Rizzi, Director of Communications at Penn, confirmed that the university, which owns the building where the Fresh Grocer is currently located, “began lease discussions with a new operator and will soon announce plans with this operator for an exciting, upgraded state of the art urban supermarket at the 40th and Walnut location.” The decision to seek proposals from a variety of grocery stores for this location was made after the Fresh Grocer “failed to renew the lease for almost 4 months after the deadline [November 2015],” according to the email. Continue Reading
January 10, 2017
The two sisters behind LuLu Bang, who recently appeared on ABC’s reality TV show “Shark Tank,” have just opened a new pop-up restaurant in West Philly. Jorrae and Kelly Beard, the owners of LuLu Bang Sauces and Marinades, opened Lulu Bang Burgers & Wangs on Jan. 2 at The Common Table at 310 S. 48th St.. The restaurant is part of the Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises (CCE) incubator program.
The pop-up restaurant will operate at this location until March 31; LuLu Bang is an active member of the CCE and will have the organization’s support during their launch phase. While temporarily using space at The Common Table, the program will continue to seek a permanent location for LuLu Bang’s future restaurant and will launch a kick starter campaign for 60 days. Continue Reading
January 5, 2017
New Hamilton Court streetscape rendering.
In August 2016, the Post Brothers, the real estate company that has acquired a number of residential properties in University City in the past year, revealed their plans and renderings for the renovation of the historic Hamilton Court apartment complex at 39th and Chestnut Streets. Currently, the company is in the process of making upgrades to Hamilton Court, which was one of Philadelphia’s first apartment buildings when it was built in 1901. The renovations include the conversion of vacant ground-floor space into modern commercial retail spaces, which will be occupied by five dining establishments.
On Wednesday, the developers revealed the restaurants that signed leases for those spaces. Here they are:
• Steve’s Prince of Steaks, one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak restaurant chains, has signed a lease for 2,277 square feet. Continue Reading
December 27, 2016
Come April 2017, Acme may replace Fresh Grocer at 40th and Walnut. Fresh Grocer, which is affiliated with ShopRite, “did not renew their lease in a timely fashion,” according to a statement released on Monday by the University of Pennsylvania. The statement also said that Penn identified a new operator for this location, which is reportedly Acme.
Fresh Grocer employees and customers have been distributing flyers asking passersby to support Fresh Grocer.
Signed by The Burns Family (Patrick J. Burns is Fresh Grocer’s president and CEO), the flyer urges customers to contact Penn’s executive vice president Craig Carnaroli by phone and email, join the movement to save the store on Facebook, and use a #SavePennFroGro hashtag on social media.
The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s staff writer Jason Nark spoke to Fresh Grocer customers and asked their opinion about the store’s possible closing. Read his report here.
December 23, 2016
Here is information on holiday hours and closings for assorted local cafes and stores. We’ll update the post as more information becomes available (let us know about your business at: editor@westphillylocal.com or via Twitter @westphillylocal).
Stores:
Mariposa Food Co-op (49th and Baltimore)
Dec. 24: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Dec. 25: Closed
Jan. 1: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Continue Reading
When you walk into Dim Sum House, the decor is a little upscale and the bar is set up to look trendy. I know what you’re thinking, this must be pricey. Well, it’s not. The cheapest thing on the menu was in the neighborhood of $5 while the most expensive entree was $15, save for a few chef’s specialty items like Peking Duck, which go for as much as $25. The offerings also go beyond just dim sum, including more common entrees like Szechuan Beef. Continue Reading
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