Fishtown’s Latest Unusual Offering Is a Georgian Dinner Theater

Up next in the wild ride that is the Fishtown neighborhood’s transformation: a massive Eastern European restaurant, bar, and dinner theater in a one-time ice cream factory at 1108 Frankford Avenue. For now, the venue is using the handle @icecreamfactoryfishtown on Instagram; the official name hasn’t been revealed yet but the owners are mulling The Crane, Soka, Fabrika, or Oda.

As Philadelphia magazine reports, co-owner Lasha Kikvidze also owns Golden Gates, a similar venue in Northeast Philly that’s part restaurant, part club, and hosts events like weddings. His partners in the ice cream factory project are Ylia Dzlieri, Alex Gritsyuk and Boris Khanataev. They’re planning to serve Georgian food — the country is south of Russia and north of Turkey, and the originator of khachapuri, the cheese-and-egg-filled bread boat America is loving right now.

The new Fishtown dinner theater is located next to Barcade and near the Fillmore, Johnny Brenda’s, The Barbary, and several bars and restaurants, including the post-apocalypse themed Mad Rex. The property fronts Frankford Avenue and goes all the way back to Dunton Street, so this place will be big.

In addition to the dinner theater, Philly Mag reports the partners are also planning another restaurant in an empty lot right next to the building, but that one won’t open for a couple years.

Here’s what the building looks like now:

Google Maps

Check it out at an open house on June 6.

• A Gigantic Eastern European Restaurant and Dinner Theatre Is Coming to Fishtown [Philly Mag]
• Where to Eat and Drink in Fishtown