New business development puts a twinkle in our Wharton-adjacent eye. So we were jazzed to read in Curbed Philly that a big VENTURE CAPITALIST firm is headed to the former bowling alley and current Keswick cycle building at 40th and Locust. The firm, called First Round Capital, is moving into University City from Conshohocken (which is crazy cuz why would anyone leave Conshohocken?!) and will set up shop in September. We wish them the best of luck doing all those things that venture capitalists obviously do!
According to Curbed, Mayor Nutter has called the impending arrival of First Round Capital “a game-changer,” probably because the cool-cat capitalists will be moving in next door to the new ramen bar and money and Japanese food are two of the MOST delicious things out there.
Recently spotted outside the string of alt/hip/middle school date-worthy venues along 40th and Locust was this orange beacon of light: Alas! There will be booze. Setting up shop next to Keswick Cycle, Ramen Bar will fill the space now occupied by half of Strikes and all of Locust Moon (cue look of ¡OMG! feigned surprise). While yes, this means the death of all your indie ‘zine and Dragon Ball dreams, you’ll be able to mourn their demise with a sake bomb (or seven) soon enough.
Update: Locust Moon is re-opening at 40th and Ludlow in early May! Let the dreams live on.
The West Philly liquor gods have spoken and the porn gods are weeping. University City Review reports that a state-run Wine & Spirits shop will take the place of Risqué Adult Video Store at 43rd and Chestnut, as the porn shop’s lease is set to expire. At a meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association, an owner of the Chestnut Street Plaza confirms plans to give the property to the liquor store.
Our neighborhood’s recently deceased Wine & Spirits at 41st and Market left a void in accessible booze on campus, and the nearby store on 49th and Baltimore has long lines and a (frankly) terrible selection. But there is hope! According to Liquor Control Board District Manager Jimmette Bolden, ”Our aim is to move the Plaza to a higher level. We don’t want to lower it. This liquor store will be more upscale than the one at 49th and Baltimore Avenue.” Shazam! But where will Risqué go?
Have you ever been torn between Pilates and piña coladas? Stuck in a mental war with weights and whiskey? Don’t know whether you want down dog or Dogfish Head? Annoying alliteration aside (ha ha), ignoring the Ivy League guilt of productivity–both academically and physically–for the sake of happy hour can be difficult. However, a recent study could make that choice much easier.
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Pennsylvania, you crazy when it comes to liquor laws, but you may finally be shaping up in the drankz department. Governor Tom Corbett signed legislation last week granting restaurants and bars more flexibility in scheduling their happy hours. Under the old law, drinking establishments were allowed up to two hours of happy per day for a maximum for 14 hours of happy per week. The 14-hour weekly cap still stands, but now your favorite afternoon sip spots will be allowed up to four hours of drink specials on a given day.
It’ll be interesting to see how many bars actually shuffle around their happy hours when the law goes into effect in late August (Mad4: 12 hours of $7 Big Azzes on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays?). Loyal readers, help us keep tabs on any changes and alert us if you notice any!
Because booze is always news here at UTB, we are happy to share this week’s drinkable delight: it’s Cocktails Week! The friendly people at Yelp Philadelphia have partnered with the 21 bars and restaurants they are most excited about to feature major drink specials through Sunday, April 10. Each place will highlight one of their drinks for 50% off; all you have to do is ask for the Yelp Cocktail Week price.
We’ve mapped out all of the locations below, and you can see the entire list of participants and drinks after the jump. Happy imbibing!
View Yelp Cocktails Week in a larger map
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It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and we all 
know it would be stupid to throw yourselves into the festivities without a plan. We’ve compiled a guide to happenings on and around campus today so you can plan your perfect pub crawl. For those of you who are looking to switch it up a bit, we’ve got a list of off-campus spots that might be more to your liking, although they may not be offering any special deals. Take a look, or resign yourself to a lot of aimless wandering (which will probably also be fun).
For the campus-bound traditionalist:
The Blarney Stone: Kegs and eggs starting at 10 (free breakfast!), $2.50 pounders all day, $6.50 Irish car bombs until 3, and cheap grill-eats all afternoon. Drinking game paraphernalia will also be provided.
There’s more after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Finally! Two of our favorite topics to post about (drinking and rankings) have come together with a New Year’s bang in The Daily Beast‘s list of the 40 Drunkest Cities in the US, and Philly is number 20!
We may not have made it into the top ten on this prestigious list, but we should still recognize our victory over boozy destinations like New Orleans and Las Vegas. Yes, the accompanying statistics that justify this new title may be a bit depressing (talking about alcoholic liver disease like, totally kills our buzz), but at least the people in the photo sure look excited? Go ahead and incorporate this information into your resolutions as you see fit.
We’ve just received word 
that Fresh Grocer has installed the fabled wine vending machine that we told you about back in September. Our tipster-provided photo doesn’t make clear as to whether or not the machine has been stocked yet, but the whole thing does bear a striking resemblance to the computer rendering we used in our earlier post – technology! Further investigation forthcoming.
Now that our football team is “good,” or whatever, everyone’s trying to make tailgating a thing. Day drinking? We’re all for it! But before you go all Southern state school on us, we checked in with some authoritative sources to find out just how shady you’ll have to be about your alcohol consumption. Read the rest of this entry »
