Next Monday, March 21, Honeygrow will reopen the doors to its Center City location at 16th and Ionic Streets. Back in January 2015, Eater announced its temporary closure due to renovations and general upkeep. If you can recall, the 16th Street location was Honeygrow's first-ever, and has since grown into seven locations from North Jersey to Delaware. But being a fast-casual lunch spot smack in the middle of Center City can create some serious wear and tear on a place.
Most of the renovations were for back-of-house operations. Says Honeygrow founder and CEO Justin Rosenberg, "Mostly structural and kitchen upgrades (i.e. - new kitchen floors, new woks and other equipment, new electric, new refrigerated walk-in." The location's previous walk-in came inherited from the nation's oldest Italian restaurant, Ralph's, which stuck around for Pita Pit before it closed to make way for Honeygrow. Obviously, it was due for an upgrade.
Renovations are done, cosmetic front-of-house touch-ups are complete (the copper die walls in the Instagram above are a fancy new addition), and it's locked and loaded with a new menu, below, courtesy of Honeygrow's new(ish) culinary director David Katz (Mémé). Come next Monday, the booming lunch crowd of Center City will finally be able to get their stir-fry on, once again.
Something to keep in mind: 16th Street gets first dibs on the new menu and will be available on March 21. All other Honeygrow locations will begin serving the new menu by April 1.
