Dining options at Penn are on the way to a major upgrade, with plans to bring some of city's biggest names to a renovated space on the West Philadelphia campus.
The university's Division of Facilities and Real Estate services announced Tuesday that the former Moravian Food Court, located at 3401 Walnut Street, will get an infusion of critically acclaimed talent when it reopens early next year as the Penn Food Court.
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“Penn is repositioning this space as a food hall in alignment with our overall Retail Master Plan, a project that seeks to bring to the Penn community a vibrant mix of local entrepreneur retailers at a variety of affordable price points,” said Ed Datz, Penn's executive director of real estate.
The first five of seven incoming food stalls are an impressive group:
•Goldie, CookNSolo's recently opened vegan falafel shop.
•Pitruco Pizza, a popular wood-fired pizza food truck, will open its first stationary location
•Kensington Quarters, a Fishtown staple for organic and locally sourced foods, will open up a scaled-down stall
•Little Baby's Ice Cream, a frozen desserts success story born in Philly, will add a third location in its home city
•The Juice Merchant Juicery and Café will bring 100 percent organic, vegan, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies and whips to the new dining space.
Penn Food Hall will also conveniently be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, adding another safe bet dining space at the Ivy League campus.
“We would like for shopping and dining at Penn to be a destination experience,” Datz said. “We are continually enhancing our mix of eating, shopping and service retailers to provide variety and quality to our community and neighbors who are here every day, but also to be attractive to those who want to visit for that celebration meal or weekend outing.”