4 gorgeous, new Center City restaurants | Let’s Eat

You eat with your eyes, and I’ll show you four new, eye-popping Center City restaurants. Also this week, Craig LaBan finds a hot Chinatown newcomer, Jason Nark joins the feeding frenzy at Shady Maple smorgasbord, and Jenn Ladd says do-gooder influencer MrBeast is partnering with Philly-based food-waste nonprofit Sharing Excess.

Oh, and a good morning to you early birds! Our new a.m. publication time has me thinking about lunch already, so read on for a tasty new/old spot. And while you’re playing with your phone, check out our new and improved mobile app, whose “discover” tab helps you find food nearby.

— Mike Klein

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Three of anything is a trend, right? How about four! We say Center City restaurants are getting sultry again. In the last six weeks, we’ve seen a new verve with the openings of four smart bar-restaurants, all with different styles but a common touch of high polish.

Let me show you what’s what and where’s where. (Follow along, clockwise from top left in the photo above):

Miss Saigon, 1316 Walnut St.: Midtown Village/Gayborhood gets a restaurant and lounge with three bars and a South Vietnamese-influenced menu of street food; it’s in soft-opening mode this week. The founders say the name has nothing to do with Broadway show; it’s a tribute to their mothers and wives.

Almyra, 1636 Chancellor St.: Modern Greek food and sumptuous, earth-toned surroundings from the Pashalis family, which owns the fancier Estia, on a Rittenhouse corner. There are 177 glass roses in the chandelier over the bar. Opens Friday, and do pronounce the name “al-MEE-ra,” even if you take the Tacony-Palmyra to get there.

Bar Lesieur, 1523 Sansom St: French food and wine/drinks in a cozily low-lit, vintage-filled room above Giuseppe & Sons.

Loch Bar, 301 S. Broad St.: Baltimore-style seafood, including what may be Philly’s latest raw bar, in a clubby, refined setting on the ground floor of the Arthaus condos, across from the Kimmel Center. It runs lunchtime through late night (with live music later), and it has been packed.

Jian Nan on Arch Street in Chinatown is making waves with theatrical service, moody dark style, and Michelin Guide hype, critic Craig LaBan writes, but it also delivers some notable flavors. The cumin lamb shown above on a sizzling plate is fire, in every sense of the word.

The Weaver family didn’t set out to create what’s said to be the largest buffet in America, let alone in Lancaster County. They just kept building and adding seats over the decades and the lines got longer. Jason Nark took a drive out to Shady Maple Smorgasbord, and he’ll tell you what it’s like to feed 7,000 people a day.

As Northern Liberties swells with new apartment dwellers, its food and dining scene will get a large boost from three high-end restaurant operators coming to Piazza Alta at Second and Germantown. Most of the space will be food hall operated by Method Co. There also will be Gertie, Nate Adler’s modern Jewish deli that’s been making waves in Brooklyn (that’s shown above), and a large, high-end restaurant from chef Laurent Tourondel. The whole thing is at least a year away, but Jake Blumgart and I will tell you all we know.

Philly food-rescue org Sharing Excess has obtained support from such players as Philabundance, Share Food Program, and Pew Charitable Trusts over its five years. It’s now working with Beast Philanthropy, the nonprofit arm of YouTube multimillionaire Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast. Now, Sharing Express has set up shop inside the Bronx’s Hunts Point Produce Market.

Fishtown is getting a boutique hotel (with a heated pool!) as well as a Mediterranean restaurant from chef Tyler Akin, current chef at Le Cavalier in Wilmington. Bastia marks a return to Fishtown for Akin, who founded Stock nine years ago on Girard Avenue.

Shiao Lan Kung, which has held down 930 Arch St. since 1987, will be closing, likely in January, said a worker. Familiar story: Owners are retiring. SLK provided many Philadelphians’ first salt-baked Cantonese experiences.

About that lunch idea: If you want a change from cheesesteaks, how about an actual steak sandwich? Nick’s Charcoal Pit, a venerable hole-in-the-wall South Philly takeout, reopened this week after being closed for most of the year due to family illness. Owner Joe Fiore, whose family has run it for 20 years, char-broils filet mignon and chicken for his sandwiches, and the grill also turns out baby-back ribs, wings, burgers, and hot dogs. Above is the fire spice filet sandwich ($16.65), served on a Sarcone’s roll, with sliced filet, jerk sauce, Provolone, lettuce, tomato, and a seasoned oil. The menu is not on Nick’s socials or website, but I have it for you here.

Nick’s Charcoal Pit, 1242 Snyder Ave. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday, and noon-9 p.m. Sunday. Closed Tuesday. Takeout only. There are a few steps at the entrance.

Trenton barbecue destination 1911 Smoke House BBQ has just opened a location in Willingboro Town Center, on Route 130 south of Van Sciver Parkway. Maurice Hallett’s bar received recent fame for dunking on New York Times columnist David Brooks, who alleged that he had spent $78 on a burger, fries, salad, and drink for lunch at 1911′s Newark airport location. Turns out, a bar tab had run up that total. In response, Hallett launched a “D. Brooks Special” — a burger, fries, and a double shot of whiskey for $17.78. Hallett points out that the special will be offered in Willingboro when the liquor license arrives, at the end of next month. Meanwhile, you can order “one rib and a sip of Coke,” the so-called C. Rock Special, shown below. It’s Hallett’s ode to a memorable scene in the 1988 comedy I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, in which a young, pre-Saturday Night Live Chris Rock walks into a bar and hilarity ensues. (I wrote about it last year; tap here and search for the “Briefly noted” section.)

1911 Smoke House BBQ, 4376 Route 130, Willingboro, 609-800-1300. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Dine-in, takeout, ADA accessible.

🍽️ Opening this week: Hi-Lo Taco Co., the refined taqueria at 1109 Walnut St. (Tuesday); Paffuto, the Italian cafe at 1009 S. Eighth St. (Friday); and 48 Record Bar, the listening room above Sassafras, at 48 S. Second St. (Saturday).

Three Philly restaurants — Pietramala, My Loup, and Honeysuckle Provisions — made Esquire’s list of best new restaurants in America.

Phoenixville has become quite the destination, but not everyone is digging the borough’s Inside Out drinking and dining series. Is it too much of a good thing?

Hank’s Place at Routes 1 and 100 in Chadds Ford, will be demolished next week, two years after it was flooded out by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Groundbreaking on a new building will commence a week later. Meanwhile, patrons are urged to visit the Kennett Square location.

RIP, Sal Vetri. Chef Marc Vetri’s father and muse died last week at 87.

Looking for a bar decorated for Christmas? We know where the lights are.

The first-ever Pop-Tarts Bowl, to be played next month in Florida, will have a special postgame event. What is it?

A) The winning team will go to Disney World.

B) The winning team can take a bite out of the mascot, which will be edible.

C) The winning team will get a Pop-Tart party in the locker room.

D) The winning team will get toasted.

Find out if you know the answer.

What happened to Bernie’s, the pub chain? — John K.

As these bars closed one by one, I suppose you could say there was a “weak end at Bernie’s.” On the upside, all of the former locations have opened, or will reopen, under new owners. The shuttered Manayunk location is Mia Ragazza, a stylish Italian bistro with a glassed-in rooftop bar. Dan Katz of the West Avenue Grill and Pizza Wheel took over the Glenside location as The Highland, similarly family friendly with a lively bar. And now in Hatboro, Bob Ross of Ambler’s Gypsy Blu signed a lease this week to redo that spot, at 58 S. York Rd. He’ll call it Ross & Co. and hopes to open in February. Eric Kretschman, who founded Bernie’s in 2011 in Oreland, told me this week: “Like Napoleon, the restaurant business defeated me. Unlike Napoleon, I shall not attempt a return. With tail between my legs, [I] will remain on the island of Elba, rooting for my fellow restaurateurs, including the ones that followed in my locations. It’s a tough business and I send nothing but peace and love to all who are in it.”

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