Cheu Noodle Bar and Wiz Kid Are Out at Whole Foods

The giant Whole Foods in Fairmount is losing Asian noodle bowls and vegan cheesesteaks. This Sunday, October 22, is the last day for the Whole Foods outposts of both Cheu Noodle Bar and Wiz Kid. Both stalls were part of the lineup when the grocery store opened near the art museum, at 2101 Pennsylvania Avenue, last October. Whole Foods told Philly.com two new tenants are already lined up to replace them, joining the store’s Dizengoff, from Michael Solomonov and crew, and Severino Cucina Rustica, an offshoot of Severino Pasta Company.

The Whole Foods kiosk was the first location of Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby’s Wiz Kid, which now has a shop in Rittenhouse in the form of an all-vegan counter-service spot. Landau and Jacoby also have Vedge and V Street. Landau told Philly.com the Whole Foods set-up turned out to not be “the right fit.”

The Cheu Noodle Bar team had similar things to say, posting on Instagram: “Operationally, the place just isn’t a good fit for us.” Shawn Darragh, who owns Cheu Noodle Bar in Washington Square West, Cheu Fishtown, and Bing Bing Dim Sum on East Passyunk with Ben Puchowitz, told Phillymag.com the system at Whole Foods, which included cooking in a small shared kitchen at the back of the building and transporting the food to the kiosk, wasn’t working for them.

Update: After this story was posted, a spokesperson for Whole Foods emailed Eater to say: “We will have an announcement regarding our exciting new vendors for Restaurant Row soon." So stay tuned.