With the recent announcement of Philly’s impending move to the yellow phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus reopening plan, two of the city’s popular outdoor dining destinations also have an announcement of their own.
Morgan’s Pier by Penn’s Landing and Harper’s Garden in Center City, both FCM Hospitality establishments, are starting to take reservations today in anticipation of Philly allowing outdoor dining. If permitted, plans to reopen their doors for outdoor seating will be next Saturday, June 5. This announcement is the first step for Philadelphia’s food and beverage summer season to revert back to somewhat normal circumstances.
FCM owner Avram Hornik has been working for months with state and city officials and organizations, as well as with other restaurants, hospitality groups and business districts to call on Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia to allow safe outdoor dining, the release states. Both Morgan’s and Harper’s will follow new procedures outlined by city officials, such as wearing masks and other techniques to keep both employees and customers healthy when they do reopen for outdoor dining only.
“Harper’s Garden and Morgan’s Pier are back for the summer,” said Hornik in a release. “In anticipation of promising news coming soon from the state of Pennsylvania, we are full steam ahead to take reservations for Harper’s Garden and Morgan’s Pier starting this week for outdoor dining parties on June 5 and beyond. Following last week’s legalization of cocktails-to-go, outdoor dining is a key next step for the recovery of restaurants throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. We have been working since the start of this crisis with state and citywide organizations and officials to figure out what safe outdoor dining could look like for restaurants, our staff and our patrons. We want to create the same enjoyable and memorable experience for our patrons, but to do so in a safe manner that follows new protocols that will be coming out.”
Starting today, May 27, Morgan’s Pier will be officially open for take-out and delivery (via Grubhub), and also will start taking reservations through their website and eventually on Resy. The popular hotspot has never accepted reservations before, but with current circumstances, the establishment wanted to get a jump on the changing state allowances.
“Morgan’s Pier is one of Philadelphia’s top dining spots in the summer months. With the passage last week of legal cocktails to go, and now anticipated good news surrounding outdoor dining, we have opened up Morgan’s Pier effective immediately seven days a week, from noon to 8 p.m. daily,” added Hornik in the release.
Food-wise at Morgan’s Pier, Philadelphians can order up sour cream and onion dip, a boneless pork rib sandwich, a fried eggplant sandwich, french fries, crispy chicken wings and much more. The establishment also will be offering the largest cocktail-to-go menu in the city. A few highlighted liquid libation items include a frozen margarita, twisted frozen tea, a cherry Italian ice cocktail, blueberry lemonade cocktail, American mule and much more. The eatery will also be offering a full bar set-up and 16 beer options for drafts and cans, including the exclusive Mainstay Independent Brewing Mainstay Pier Beer.
To help everyone stay safe while enjoying themselves, Morgan’s is working on expanding sidewalk seating along Columbus Boulevard, as well as a new layout inside to allow for social distancing and other new protocols. Morgan’s Pier has consistently been known as one of the city’s most sought-after outdoor dining locations with its views of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Delaware River.
Harper’s Garden has also recently decided to expand their outdoor dining to adhere to social distancing regulations and will nearly double the outdoor seating capacity. The hotspot eatery will also be debuting a new dining area directly South of the current dining area with their typical lush and colorful stylings. Although the establishment is not offering take-out or delivery yet (although you can currently get Harper’s Garden cocktails through Rosy’s Taco Bar, another FCM establishment) the reservations will anticipate the hotspot reopening June 5. Reservations will be available through OpenTable.
For more information on Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd.) visit morganspier.com and for more information on Harper’s Garden (31 S. 18th St.) visit harpersgardenphilly.com
