Dunkin' Donuts expanding to Chinatown corner

The former Wawa location at 11th and Arch Streets in Chinatown has a new tenant.

It'll be Dunkin' Donuts, said Jason Winig of Winig Properties, who brokered the deal. It is expected to open this fall.

Which should delight few people, given that there's a Dunk two blocks away on Market Street and that Beiler's Donuts 100 yards away in Reading Terminal Market is the ultimate doughnut destination.

More significant is neighborhood buzz - which Winig declined to address - that the Dim Sum Garden next door at 59 N. 11th St. will expand north to fill the rest of the space. Employees of the soup dumpling specialist have said on multiple occasions recently that the restaurant would expand to occupy the space, but management has declined to discuss.

Dim Sum Garden was the subject of a protracted name dispute settled only in April. Dim Sum Garden began in 2008 at 59 N. 11th St. Another restaurant with the same name - and operated by its last chef - opened in September 2013 at 1020 Race St.

That has led to all sorts of confusion as well as two camps of devotees: One preferring the original, in a fluorescent-lit room beneath the Hilton Garden Inn, and the other swearing by the newer, swankier DSG on Race Street.

Presumably, any expansion on 11th Street will result in a decor upgrade throughout the original restaurant.

Meanwhile, Wawa is aiming for a fall opening for its Center City flagship at Broad and Walnut Streets.