The Industry, Coming Soon To South Philly

You know, it was really only a matter of time before someone in Philly came up with this idea: A bar and restaurant dedicated to (but not exclusively serving) members of the service industry. Sure, Philly has plenty of industry nights. There are specials and deals for cooks, servers, hostesses and dishwashers everywhere (both publicly known and kept very private). But until now, no one had put together the idea of an industry night (filled with food that cooks like to eat and drinks that cooks like to drink), with a 7-night-a-week service schedule and turned the whole thing into an actual restaurant where off-duty sous chefs, bartenders and service captains can rub shoulders with the public until the wee hours of the morning.

But that, basically, is the business plan for The Industry–the long-rumored new South Philly bar (1403 East Moyamensing Ave.) from the Good Dog crew, as conceived by owners Dave Garry and Heather Gleason and partner Tom Darby. “The Industry will be a regular spot for our South Philly neighbors, people looking for a great bite and a drink and the talented professionals who work in the biz in the Philadelphia area,” according to Gleason. A very meta kind of thing where the industry night theme becomes the regular environment and all the civilians and neighbors get to come in and play along, too.

Chef Pat Szoke (ex of The Farm and Fisherman, Vetri and Buddakan) will be in charge of the kitchen, putting together a menu of the kinds of things that cooks eat when let out on the town. Big plates of charcuterie and bone marrow with shallot marmalade, grilled sausages, sweetbreads, shrimp and grits, burgers with champagne chasers, potted trout and (I love this) Pork Face Nuggets–bits of testa, breaded and fried like gourmet pig McNuggets.

Of course, there will be beer (12 taps, mostly local craft beers, plus a small bottle list). Of course, there will be wine (domestic and international labels, mostly from boutique producers). Of course, there will be a cocktail program, focusing on original, handcrafted drinks slung by able-bodied professionals. More to the point, there will also be a standing discount, 7 days a week, for all restaurant workers, and in order to accommodate the schedules of Philly’s line cooks, grillmen, barbacks and waitresses, The Industry’s kitchen will serve until 1am, every night.

While there’s no opening date yet, the owners do say that they’re shooting for spring (which means, like, soon) and, of course, the requisite Facebook and Twitter accounts are already up and running.

But still, a Twitter account can’t make me an order of Pork Face Nuggets. And seeing as I have some fairly serious impulse control issues, here’s to hoping The Industry hits no snags and gets open before I start getting bitter about having to wait.

The Industry [Official website]