News

Oyster House Gets a Swanky New Look

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. There’s some big news happening in the industry this week — including (but not limited to) a redesign of a Philly classic, tacos and tequila for brunch, more ice cream for ice cream season, and the end of one of the city’s big restaurant groups. So let’s kick things off this week with…

Oyster House, But Make It Fancy

Sam Mink’s Oyster House has been holding down its space in Center City for nearly 50 years now. It is a third-generation operation, and, pandemic aside, it has been consistently mobbed — and consistently excellent for every one of those years — which is no small achievement in a city with a churn rate as high as Philly’s.

Still, half a century is a long time to spend staring at the same four walls. And while Oyster House has gone through a few different interior refreshes over the years (most recently in 2010-ish), a few years ago Mink decided that it was time to dig in and do a full remodel. His plan was to “elevate” the feel of the dining room while keeping the casual vibes of the joint intact — which is an important consideration because fully half the draw of the place has always been the sense of it being this rollicking, loud, crowded, walk-in, and stumble-out kind of joint where the city’s swelliest swells could rub elbows with the lowliest, gin-swilling food writers without it being weird for anybody.

So Mink decided to do his remodel in phases. A little bit here, a little bit there, and before you’d know it, the whole project would be done. Phase one was a color and lighting redesign, courtesy of Velocette Studio here in town. And it went swimmingly. The only problem? It finished around February of 2020. And we all know what came next.

COVID shut Oyster House down, same as it did every other restaurant in the city. And it is a reminder of just how devastating those endless days were for the industry because it took four years for Mink and his team to get back to a place where they felt stable enough to continue with their interrupted plans for the remodel. And if it takes a place as beloved and successful as Oyster House that long to get off its heels and feel like they’ve got some momentum back, imagine what it was like for any place without 50 years of goodwill, steady crowds, and happy memories going for it.

Anyway, Velocette was brought back in recently to redo the dining room. And the result? Well, you can see for yourself. Gone are the jumble of constantly shifting two-tops on the main floor, replaced by twin, back-to-back leather banquettes. The lighting design now focuses on the seating areas and matches the style of the bar with its brass pendant lights. And those dark banquette seats nicely set off the sanded wood tables and chill white-over-sea-green walls from 2020.

Back when Mink and Velocette finished their first phase of the remodel, Maddy wrote about how nicely the space wore its new look. Now, with phase two complete (and with the ability to essentially split the dining room in half to hold semi-private events in the middle of a normal lunch or dinner service), I think it looks even better.

And the best thing? The menu hasn’t changed a bit. Which means you can still get a dozen oysters, some of the city’s best lobster rolls, a proper martini, or a full-on lobster party whenever you need one.

Now what else is happening this week…

Anyone Want Rice Rolls?

Because if you do, I’ve got very good news for you.

Recently, a Philly location of Yin Ji Rice Roll popped up in the space at 908 Cherry Street. This is a place that specializes in chang fen — steamed rice batter turned into a kind of very thin, very wide noodle that used to wrap pretty much anything you’d want to wrap up for a quick meal. Beef, pork, shrimp, corn, oysters, squid — whatever you’ve got laying around.

Chang fen have been around for centuries. It’s one of those foods (like the sandwich, the burrito, and the pastie) that falls into the “portable lunch” family of transnational culinary innovations. In China, they are everywhere. And Yin Ji has been making theirs (using a special process of pulling the rice dough after it has been steamed on cloth to make it smoother) since 1958, starting in Guangzhou, and now, today, in Philly.

The new Yin Ji in Chinatown is being run as an independent restaurant by chef Binyin Zhao. The menu is heavy on the rice rolls, obviously, but also leans into another classic comfort food: congee, which I love. So I’m thrilled about all of this. Plus, the menu tops out at 12 bucks (with most of the rolls running $8 to $10), so the price is just a bonus.

The new Yin Ji is open daily, from 8 a.m. in the morning (congee time) to 7:30 p.m. (rice rolls for dinner). I’ll tell you more as soon as I get there myself, but in the meantime, check it out if you’re in the neighborhood.

New(ish) Sushi For Fairmount

Eight years ago, restaurateur Albert Zheng opened a sushi restaurant called Engimono at 1811 Fairmount Avenue.

Late in January of this year, Engimono closed.

Next month, Zheng is planning to open a new sushi restaurant called Javelin. At 1811 Fairmount Avenue.

And that’s an interesting move, right? They’re not calling it a “remodel” or a “reconceptualization” or anything like that. It’s being pitched as a replacement — an entirely new restaurant that just happens to live in the same space where Zheng’s previous restaurant (of the same style) closed. That’s strange.

But anyway, Javelin is prepping for an April debut, with 50 seats, a full cocktail and wine program being designed by Richie Tray of the Library Bar, sashimi and maki at the sushi bar, and a full menu of upscale Japanese snacks — everything from A5 wagyu and crab and avocado towers to bowls of udon, takoyaki, and tuna tacos. Zheng (who is also an investor in Ogawa Sushi & Kappo in Old City) designed the interior himself and is promising outdoor seating along Fairmount Avenue when the weather turns nice.

Javelin will be open seven nights a week for dinner service, starting at 4 p.m. Mid-April is the target for its grand opening.

Glu Hospitality Calls It Quits

In what is possibly the least surprising bit of news to come out in the past few weeks, Glu Hospitality has shut down. Normally, I’d throw in a link to the restaurant group’s website here, but even that has vanished. It’s just listed online as “expired.”

I’m saying this isn’t surprising because Glu has been having some serious problems lately. A couple weeks back, I told you about the closure of Chika Ramen Bar (the Blade Runner-themed restaurant) over troubles with an expired liquor license. Losing Chika tanked the Bagels & Co. location above it. And before that, they’d been forced to close 1225 Raw over tax issues. Plus, they’re involved in lawsuits from former employees over alleged wage theft and non-payment issues. So yeah, them shutting down is not surprising at all.

Glu made a big splash during the pandemic and immediately after. For a little while, it seemed like every third restaurant being opened in Philly was a Glu project. They had sushi bars and nightclubs, bagel shops and cafes, a giant Italian restaurant, cocktail bars — everything. But they scaled up too fast. Way too fast, apparently. And recently, they’d been making the news more for closures, lawsuits, and accusations of bad business dealings (like bouncing checks to employees) than they were for anything good.

Anyway, the entire group has now been dissolved. Figo, their giant Italian spot in NoLibs, is closed. The Peabody — a sports bar on Temple’s campus that they just opened two weeks ago(!!!) — has been transferred to new owners. Chika is done. Izakaya Fishtown is kinda up in the air right now but remains open because of a partnership deal with Sushi By Bou. It’s all a mess.

If you’re interested in the fallout, there’s a big piece over on the Inquirer that lays out what’s open, what’s closed, and who is getting sued by whom. But for right now, it’s enough to say that Glu is done, and there’s absolutely no one who was paying even a little bit of attention who did not see this coming.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Just in time for ice cream season, it looks like Rittenhouse is going to be getting its very own location of Weckerly’s. 1600 Spruce Street will be home to the third brick-and-mortar location of the local ice cream chain, and this new spot will be going large, offering not just the standard scoop shop but more of a cafe environment, with an all-day coffee and tea service courtesy of Brandywine Roasters.

Opening is set for some time in April (likely as soon as the weather starts to warm up). There’ll be 24 small-batch flavors on hand to start, plus ice cream sandwiches. You’ll know more as soon as I know more.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for something a little more grown-up, Libertee Grounds and Taco Heart are teaming up for a “Tacos & Tequila” brunch this Saturday, March 29th, at Libertee Grounds. So basically what you’re getting is an Asian fusion craft beer bar and mini-golf emporium teaming up with an Austin-style Tex-Mex taco spot for a boozy, one-day brunch collab with Latin DJs spinning reggaeton, espresso martinis, tequila Bloody Marys, Filipino sweet pork, crab dip, and smash burger tacos.

It sounds awesome.

Menu here. Reservations here. You know what to do.

And finally, this week, just in case you missed Victor’s eulogy for Tina Fey’s favorite pizza spot, it looks like Pica’s in Upper Darby is going to be shutting down.

It’s the going to be shutting down that’s important there, though. As of this moment, Pica’s is still up and running. The plan is to close it down some time this summer, in advance of (possibly) opening a new, smaller spot in the future. So if you, like Tina, have an affection for this long-time Delco staple, make some plans to drop by soon and grab a couple pies. Because right now, no one really knows when the end might come.