I have had been trying to stay away from Stephen Starr restaurants. You definitely tend to pay for the quirky ambiance, but over the past three weeks I have been to three: (1) El Vez for a margarita for a friend's birthday; (2) The Continental Mid-town to welcome that same friend back from Israel; and (3) most recently to El Rey, Starr's newest addition to his restaurant army, to visit with a dear, dear friend.
First Impressions:
Weeiiiiirrrd. Either they are using everything from the old diner I think this used to be (the Mid-Town or Mid-City Diner II? - nope - it's been confirmed by grubstreet as having been the Mid-Town IV), or they bought new old-looking/cheap stuff and decorated with that. We couldn't figure it out. I think we finally settled on the latter. We are talking wood paneling, chunky rock/stone walls, those rounded Christmas tree lights (not the cute little ones, the slightly tacky-but-I-still-love-them ones from the 70s/80s). As entrance (or parting) favors, I halfway expected them to hand out any of the following: (1) bowling shoes; (2) stuffed armadillo dolls; (3) velvet elvis bobbleheads; or (4) my own summery lumberjack button-up shirt so I could match the servers. It's like being transported to a 70s diner in the middle of the desert in El Paso, or just outside of it a few hundred miles, except the food is very, very good.
The Food:
The menu items are really reasonably priced. And, everything sounds so good, so it's really hard to decide. This all avocado-inspired combo was calling to me: Guacamole and chips, Nopales (cactus, pumpkin seed, avocado, and tomato), and Cabrito (braised goat with guacomole and some other stuff). That would have been a little too much avocado, so instead I got chips and salsa (perfect and also perfectly unnecessary - like most orders of chips and salsa), chayote (a fantastic corn salad with corn, pickled onion, AVOCADO, and a lime vinaigrette), and lamb tacos (lamb = delicious almost any way you slice it). My beverage was a mango margarita. Marvelous.
The Service:
Except for the hostesses, each member of the waitstaff has an edgy down-on-my-luck-I-understand-the-economy-sucks look about them - dark eye makeup, messy hair, plaid shirts paired with denim, raspy voices. Our server was really friendly and helpful, albeit a little busy. It took twenty minutes to bring out the chips and salsa and twenty minutes to take care of the check. This restaurant is brand spanking new, though, so once the kinks get worked out, the quality of service should improve more than a few notches.
p.s. He's reportedly opening another restaurant at 18th and Sansom, a bistro (to compete with Tria??), and I still kind of want to go to the speakeasy behind El Rey (but the entrance is on Ranstead). Oh Stephen, I really wanted to hate you!
p.s. He's reportedly opening another restaurant at 18th and Sansom, a bistro (to compete with Tria??), and I still kind of want to go to the speakeasy behind El Rey (but the entrance is on Ranstead). Oh Stephen, I really wanted to hate you!
Food mmmmm
Service mmm
Decor mmm
Je ne sais quoi mmmm
Overall mmmm
2013 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
About the ratings:
mmmmm would eat there again tomorrow
mmmm looking forward to eating there again
mmm not in a hurry to eat there again
mm likely not going to eat there again
m would try my best never to eat there again. ever.
I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.
but i looove his restaurants and the food and going there with you! :)
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