Jonathan Petruce Lands at Center City Beer Garden

Back for its second year, the Uptown Beer Garden lands a big-named chef in Jonathan Petruce, the former chef-owner of Walnut Street's recently deceased Petruce et al.

Teddy Sourias (BRU Craft & Wurst, U-Bahn) will reinstall the popular after-work hang at 1735 JFK Boulevard, in BNY Mellon Wealth building's courtyard, and this year, he's stepping up his beer garden-game. Gone are the marbled benches, and in their place: communal picnic tables. Not only will the bar be bigger and the seating more plentiful, but 2016 also marks the arrival of an outdoor grill for summertime street food: charred octopus, beef skewers with chimmichurri, sausage and peppers, and grilled Mexican street corn.

Uptown's draft system will boast a selection of strictly craft beers, and cocktails will be warm-weather friendly, like frozen margaritas, sangria, and moscow mules.

The garden opens this Thursday, May 19, but the grand opening (with complimentary food samples and drink tastings) is on Wednesday the following week, May 25. Hours start at 4 p.m. daily, closing at 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and at midnight Wednesdays through Fridays. Weekends are for private parties.

Keep in mind: Sourias has a new project opening later this summer with an entire section of the menu dedicated to its wood-fired oven, which, lest we not forget, was once the heart and soul of Petruce et al.'s kitchen. Could Cinder be Jonthan Petruce's next kitchen?