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This & That: Jamonera, Another CVS, What Happens To The Boards from the Windows

June 24, 2020 by HughE Dillon 1 Comment

We are on the verge of the new normal and Broad Street and we’ll be complaining about traffic once again. I for one am excited for this. I took a walk around Center City this week to see what’s happening.

A lot of dining out, which is terrific. One thing I’ve been asking my readers is to really take care of your servers. These folks have come off of unemployment to serve us, taking a risk with their health. Remember when they come for your order, put your mask back on for those few minutes. When the food gets served, put it on again. When you go to the bathroom, don’t forget your mask and wash your hands. AND if you can leave a 20-25% tip, sometimes they’re pooling their tips, sometimes they’re sharing with the line cooks. Thanks

Last week I walked around Philly to highlight which restaurants were opening for dining out. The photos ran on the blog, CBSPhilly and in the BizJournal. One place I noticed which wasn’t opening was Jamonera. Marcie Turney & Valerie Safran’s Spanish wine bar on 13th Street. Seems it just never caught on as well as their other nearby hotspots (Lolita, Barbuzzo, Bud & Marilyn’s, and Little Nonna’s.) (I will miss their Paella.) Look for something special to pop up in this location. Check out this PhillyMag article on the duo.

Barbuzzo is taking it to the streets in Midtown Village

Over the past year the owners of this parking garage at 12th and Walnut have forced out many of their small shops and the Starbuck’s. I was wondering what they were going to put there, and now I know.

A gigantic CVS. Well at least they’re not blocking the sunlight and they kept the windows visible. You can thank the Walgreen’s at Broad & Chestnut for that concept, which was written into their contract about a decade ago. One of the first City drugstores where the windows remained at least half visible free from displays.

Walnut Street is slowly coming back to life, but it’ll still be awhile before it’s bustling again. The other day I walked on Walnut Street with a friend. It was the first time they had been to town in 3 months. They turned to me and said I thought you wrote the other day that stores were opening, and life was on the verge of getting back to normal. I said to me they will be, it will be, the new normal is coming.

I’m sure in the coming weeks a lot of these boards will be coming off as we head into green and return to our offices. Remember we are not going into green because the health crisis is over, we are going into green to restart our economy.

What happens to the boards used on the windows. No really I want to know. I tweeted about it a few times and didn’t get a response. Email me at HughE @PhillyChitChat.com

And as &Pizza says, “Don’t Be A Maskhole”