Q BBQ calling it a day
Tuesday's finale will be the end of the line for Kevin Meeker at 207 Chestnut St. in Old City.
Q BBQ calling it a day
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Twenty-nine years ago, Kevin and Janet Meeker opened Philadelphia Fish & Company at 207 Chestnut St., one of the city's better seafooders in its day. Three years ago, they switched the concept to barbecue, bringing in specialist Tom Stewart as a partner in Q BBQ.
And after Tuesday, July 31, the spot will go dark.
The Meekers did not renew the lease. "I never like closing a business, but this is not as bad as closing [Philadelphia] Fish," he told me. "It's just amazing and gratifying to see how far we have come in all these years. We are truly one of the great restaurant cities."
Stewart, who had sold BBQ outside Philly Fish, is trying to find another spot.
Kevin Meeker, a silent partner in The Plough & the Stars across the street, also owns Keg & Kitchen in Westmont.
The other silver lining is that Janet no longer will have to work seven days a week.
Calling Philadelphia Fish and Co. "one of the better seafooders in the City," is pretty generous. That always was a tourist place, with a good happy hour, but not worth staying for dinner. While Philadelphia surprisingly has long lacked for a really good pure seafood place (Striped Bass was the last to try---Route 6 is decent, but expensive for its ambitions), this was a thawed mahi kinda place. And that's why it's gone.— Palestra Jon- Devon is the only seafood place in Philly.Stripped Bass and Route 6 aren't those owned by Steven Starr? (forget it) Old City needs an overhaul starting with the streets and sidewalks then remove the teen scene on 2nd street.It is becoming what South Street was in the 80's Where is the classy historical feel?— vrb1955
- Devon is owned by Houlihan's (although they make some good food if you keep it simple). Where is the equivalent of a Grand Central Oyster Bar or Shaw's Crab House (Chicago)? A place that celebrates seafood should exist in a port city like Philadelphia. However, we have about 20 steak houses and no true upscale seafood house.— Palestra Jon
- Are you people forgetting Sansom Oyster House?? Or Snockeys?— andy
- Amen, Andy!— ritmomente
- Neither of them is in the class of Grand Central or Shaw's---they are what Bookbinders used to be before its long decline. Snockey's is a fried food joint and Oyster House has a very good Oyster Bar---not much else. Right now, Route 6 is by far our best seafood restaurant, but it is a theme New England Clam and Lobster house at 2X the price.— Palestra Jon
- Time to bang out one last super happy hour!
WHO's with me!!!— Mackey Dingo
