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Garces to close Chifa, open a Cuban diner

The diner - still unnamed - will also be open for lunch and dinner at 707 Chestnut St.

Chifa - Jose Garces' four-year-old Peruvian-Cantonese hybrid at 707 Chestnut St. - will close after dinner Saturday, July 13, as staff just learned.

Garces plans to open a Cuban diner this fall in the same location.

Unlike Chifa, the diner - still unnamed - will also be open for lunch and dinner.

I'm told the menu will offer such comfort food as empanadas, Cubano sandwiches, and ropa vieja, plus signature cocktails such as mojitos and daiquiris, milkshakes and even a fountain dispensing malta (carbonated malt soft drinks).

"It is now time for a new flavor to hit Washington Square," Garces said in a statement. "We want to appeal to the neighborhood's day and nighttime scenes, to both locals and tourists alike."

Chifa, which took over in 2009 from 707, shares a block with such restaurants as Jones, Aqua, Morimoto, Green Wasabi, and Las Vegas Lounge.