New Bella Vista Bar Swaps Out Mardi Gras Beads for Vinyl Records

In Bella Vista near the Italian Market, 824 S. Eighth Street has traded the Big Easy for Ease.

Up until this past August, the address was home to Acadia, a Cajun-Creole restaurant with the tagline “bringing New Orleans to Philadelphia.” Starting Thursday, October 3, it’s a bar called Ease and the new motto is “take it easy.”

Ease will be open every day from 5 p.m. until midnight, and promises beer, wine, cocktails, snacks, and vinyl, with records displayed along a wall and boxes of records to flip through and buy. The records were supposed to be a small part of the bar, “but it really is shaping up to be an impressive, large, and well-priced collection,” says general manager Adam Herndon.

Herndon is coming from Strangelove’s in Washington Square West. Strangelove’s used to be owned by Leigh Maida, Brendan Hartranft, and Brendan Kelly. The trio also owns Ease, and used to own Coeur, a Montreal-styled restaurant in the same space. (They have Clarkville and Local 44 in West Philly too.)

Coeur closed in October 2016. Acadia opened in January 2018 and closed abruptly mid-August 2019.

Previously, the space was the Mildred and Jim Burke’s James.

There aren’t a lot of bars, or restaurants open late, right nearby, so let’s hope for better luck for Ease.

Update October 3, 12:28 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details about Ease’s offerings and owners.

Rachel Vigoda