PYT leaves the Piazza for new home; it's also opening in NYC
The new spot will be across the street from the week-old Fillmore Philadelphia, in a former dry-ice storage warehouse on Canal Street just off Frankford Avenue, across the way from SugarHouse Casino on Delaware Avenue.
Prepping for a move, burger bar PYT has closed after six-plus years at the Piazza at Schmidt's.
And it will not venture far.
The new spot - one and a half times the size of the original - will be across the street from Live Nation's week-old Fillmore Philadelphia, in a former dry-ice storage warehouse at Canal and Allen Streets, just off Frankford Avenue. It's across the way from SugarHouse Casino on Delaware Avenue.
Next May, PYT will join a burgeoning list of entertainment and food projects around the Fillmore, including Travinia Italian Kitchen, a fun-house called Latitude 360, and a new home of Philadelphia Distilling.
Owner Tommy Up - who on Thursday, Oct. 8 will open PYT's first branch in New York City - said he came into the Piazza because of developer Bart Blatstein. But since Blatstein sold much of his interest in the Piazza, "not having a local connection makes it not as personal," Up said. "I love music, and these Live Nation guys have so much energy. It was too attractive not to pursue."
PYT has grabbed more than its share of headlines, what with the alcohol-spiked shakes (among the first in the city), Up's bold response to a negative early review, and the flap over a shady tip left by then-Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.
PYT's closing also means a sudden end for Emmanuelle, the cocktail bar tucked behind PYT and run by cocktail masters Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal. It was supposed to close after its third anniversary party on Nov. 30. Up now says the closing events have been moved to his other bar, The Yachtsman in Fishtown.
As for PYT in New York (334 Bowery): Chris "C.T." Thomas and Greg Charnock of Philly's Outside iN Design flashed back to the 1980s and 1990s, evoking the look and feel of The Max cafeteria from TV's Saved By the Bell. There's a video game console that's really a "secret" door to SRO, a pizza speakeasy next door.
And as for the Piazza, booze, and burgers: Wahlburgers - the Boston chain from the Wahlberg brothers - is on the way.