Brick and Mortar: Industrial American bar in Loft District
Bar-restaurant in the emerging Loft District.
Ever so slowly, the Loft District north of Vine Street is coming up.
The forthcoming Rail Park - which will turn the old Reading Viaduct at Callowhill Street near 12th into a green oasis - is part of the improvements.
Also new to the stretch of town is Brick and Mortar (315 N. 12th St., 215-923-1596), the restaurant/bar in the Goldtex building around the corner. It's on 12th Street at the corner of Pearl.
Though BAM been teed up for an opening "just after New Year's" when it was announced last summer, we see that "just after Memorial Day" was more like it.
The rustic-meets-industrial American, fronted by Mike Welsh (formerly of Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company and Lemon Hill), is in its first days of operation. Late in the afternoon Tuesday, June 2, Goldtex dwellers were dropping by for drinks and plates. The Friends of Rail Park will gather there Thursday, June 4 for a $100-a-head cocktail reception. BAM operators say they're gearing it for the neighborhood; for now, its location north of Chinatown places it a touch out of the way for Center City bar-crawlers.
Chef Brian Ricci, who joined the project last fall from Queen Village's Kennett, has a small menu (here). Rotisserie chicken, lamb and pork is one specialty.
The restaurant, designed by Adam Zangrilli (North Bowl and South Bowl, Red Sky), has nearly 15-foot ceilings. Concrete columns are festooned with graffiti by Mars5 + Air Rat, and ornamental ironwork was done by Jim the Welder. Cait Clement did a mural of the restaurant's logo.
Franklin Investment alumna Christina Rando oversees the 22-seat bar. Bar list, including tap wines, is here.
BAM is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. (kitchen opens at 5 and stays open till midnight Sunday to Wednesday and till 1 a.m. Thursday to Saturday).
FYI. The three-year rehab of the building, originally the circa-1904 Goldtex ladies' shoe factory, was delayed by an ugly standoff between the developers and building-trade unions. The building was finished last summer.