Lynda’s Mediterranean, the Middle Eastern spot on Passyunk Avenue opened so quickly, we barely got wind of it. Thanks to our eagle-eyed commenters, we found out it closed shortly after we posted the menu.

We hear Lynda’s was not long for this world due to a lack of restaurant personality and food not exciting enough to overcome it.  The short-lived restaurant only lasted 30 days – perhaps a new record?

We also hear that other restaurant parties – parties with experience – are interested in the space. If you’re interested in the space, you can call the number in the photo. In the meantime, let’s play Restaurant Yenta and decide what we think should go in that location. Fire away in the comments below.

One note: the current incarnation is just one storefront, but it can be expanded into the next door space, doubling the size. Just something to consider while you Yenta.

We came across this little ditty tucked into Dan Gross’s column today:

…Vice stayed limber with shots of Patron in the DJ booth with promoter Brett Perloff throughout his set. Perloff, who recently parted ways with the Stein family at Pearl (1904 Chestnut), in which he was a partner, says he’ll open a high-end boutique bottle-service bar in the Rittenhouse area next month. He was mum on a name or exact location, since the joint is another bar now.

Our first thought was, really?! Does the Rittenhouse area need another high-end bottle-service bar in this economy? Of course, then our inner Restaurant Yenta took over and we started to wonder… where exactly that Rittenhouse location might be? Where would you put it?

Dan Gross [PhillyGossip]
Chef Ari Weiswasser Leaves Pearl [KleInsider]

A well-connected Starrling tells us that neither of the potential Starr restaurants – the Broad Street Diner and the Letto Deli – we’ve been following here at Foobooz are likely to come to fruition. Personally, we don’t care so much about the Letto Deli; after all, there’s another Starr location right down the block and the Midtown Gayborhood is already awash in restaurants. 

But, the Broad Street Diner? Well, that makes us want to cry a little bit. Actually, a lot. Our source tells us that there are ‘environmental problems’ with the location and it’s a dealbreaker. Gulp. Sniffle. Hysterical sob. 

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Sorry, Queen Village! If all goes smoothly, Tria #3 will be located in the former M.A.B. paint store at the corner of 21st and South. Which would make G.Ho the winner of this particular neighborhood smackdown.

The owner of the building contacted Foobooz to say that he’s “agreed in principal to lease terms with Tria owner Jon Myerow.” Which means things could still go in any direction. And then there’s the community board fun, after the jump.

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Well, Stephen Starr, you certainly are keeping our rumor-mongering restaurant yenta crew busy these days. First with the takeover of the Broad Street Diner and its potential Greek-ness and now we hear that you may have purchased the Letto Deli in the Midtown Gayborhood.

Readers may be familiar with the spot at 208 S. 13th Street between Walnut and Locust Streets – it’s basically half a block from Woody’s and about two blocks from another SRO spot, El Vez.

So what do you think Starr should do with the place, assuming this is true? Will he revive the gastropub idea he killed on Chestnut? A third Continental? The first official Starr Gay Bar? What does 13th Street not have that it needs?

Please do tell us your thoughts.

Which neighborhood will get the next Tria? It’s been a pretty hot topic of conversation around these parts. Every time we ask owner Jon Myerow to confirm the burblings of Bella Vista or G-Ho, he tells us no deals have been made. And we believe him! From the looks of this craigslist posting, he’s still on the hunt for restaurant magic. Check it after the jump.

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It’s been awhile since I last visited the inside of Stephen Starr’s head. I mean, we’ve both been really, really busy and venturing inside of someone’s cranium and poking around is not as easy as it sounds.

But for you, dear readers, I got up to my elbows in StarrThink and probed. And what I came up with is this: a possible answer to the burning question of just what exactly our sly, secretive impresario has planned for the Broad Street Diner.

We hear it may go Greek. File that under rumor-floating and read on.

Could it really be Greek? Low-key, fun-for-the-masses-Greek? Is it a play on the classic Greek diner? Is he inspired by Dmitri’s? I’m still searching for the answers within, but a Starrling says it may be called Ya-Ya’s – the Greek term for grandmother – which is sweet, but… eh. But the Greek concept, that’s clever. No one else is doing it, especially in South Philly, and that’s what we expect from Starr – that he’s one step ahead of us. He knows what we want before we’ve even realized it ourselves. Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Maybe HE’S INSIDE OF ALL OF OUR HEADS?

Of course, A.D. Amorosi swears it’s going to be ‘designer Mexican‘ and the voices in the KleInsider’s head are whispering to him that the location has ‘environmental issues’ and may not even happen at all, so who knows? Starr has been known to float a bunch of concepts before deciding on one. Everyone could be right. And then again, none of us could be right either.

*Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC

It’s a new week and that means a new version of Restaurant Yenta! Since you were all so eager to share your thoughts last week on the Not-So-Jolly Latham Situation, we’ve got another corner conundrum we’re considering. This time we’re heading deep into the heart of the Italian Market to consider the mysterious case of the former Butcher’s Cafe at the corner of 9th and Christian Streets. 

Here’s a little history on the spot, courtesy of Rick Nichols. It’s from 1999, so it doesn’t mention the most recent chef-owner Todd Bergman. For commentary on that, you’ll have to delve into the blatherings of the phillyblog crew. Butcher’s closed back in late 2007 and has remained vacant ever since. Which is hard to fathom considering the crowds at Sabrina’s across the street and it’s primo location in the heart of Bella Vista. The people are hungry… what would they want to eat there? Our suggestions, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time, a really strange and inexplicably appealing bar named Jolly’s lived in the semi-subterranean ground floor of the Latham Hotel on the corner of 17th and Walnut Streets. A few doors down, still within the structure of the Latham, there was another bar, a piano bar, called the Redhead Lounge, also owned by the same person, also strange yet appealing.

One day, both of these bars up and moved to 19th Street where they promptly sputtered and died. Without knowing the nitty-gritty of the owner’s financials, etc., we can only speculate that the mojo of these two spots was intimately related to their location within the Latham and they couldn’t survive the move. Same owner, same names, basically the same neighborhood and still they couldn’t survive.

This is a cautionary tale of sorts, of how carefully a restaurant owner needs to heed the three words: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. This is also a Restaurant Yenta musing, as in: what, in a perfect world, should go into that ex-Jolly’s spot? The space has been empty (despite an orange liquor transfer sign) for what amounts to an eternity in such a primo location – it has an entrance on heavily trafficked 17th Street and a row of windows (stupidly tinted) on the Walnut Street side. We can only imagine that the Latham is desperate for our help, but afraid to ask. Don’t worry, Latham! We live to serve and we’re here to help – take our advice before you open up something lame.

Is it time for a craft beer bar on Walnut? A second Good Dog? A Monk’s, even? Something fancier? How about sushi by day and karaoke at night? A Distrito in the Center City Distrito? Or maybe this is the spot for the elusive barbecue joint in Philly?

Your thoughts?

We haven’t heard much about Pennsport spot Peppercorns since it opened late last year, but it looks like the building is for sale. The phillyblog thread, ominously titled “Poor Peppercorns“, offers 10 pages of neighborly assessments that run the gamut from hopeful to grim on the future of the spot. 

Pennsport is a tricky spot for a restaurant, bar or resto-bar. It clearly can support a bar – there’s no shortage of them there – but the food situation is inconsistent. The Ugly American seems to be surviving. There’s a newish BYOB Nicholas (anyone been?). So what might work in Peppercorns space, if not Peppercorns? Another BYO? Another gastropub? Sushi? Bueller?

Here’s the Restaurant Yenta’s pick: lose the restaurant and open a craft beer store with prepared foods. The prepared foods should be delicious, but affordable and accessible. It should be staffed by cute guys and girls who are earnest but not snotty about their love of craft beer. They should have cake, because cake is wonderful and everyone loves cake. 

Thoughts?