Newly upscale Billybob opens its French doors on 40th Street

After three months and close to a quarter-million dollars' worth of renovations, Billybob -- the late-night hotspot known for its cheap alcohol and customers with munchie-driven appetites -- opened with a new look and what its owner hopes will be a new lease on life. According to Hideo Omori, owner of the famed "Home of the Chicken Cheesesteak," the West Philadelphia landmark was turned more upscale after seeing its profits steadily drop. "My business was going down little by little," Omori said. "Last year it was do or die." The Tokyo-born Omori also owns the neighboring Genji restaurant and oversaw the partition of the old Billybob into the steakhouse and Chinese restaurant Silk Road two years ago. But now, Billybob and Silk Road have been brought together into a single entity in order to reduce costs. In addition to those two restaurants, the new eatery -- called "Best of Billybob and Silk Road" -- will also feature Le Bus baked goods, Torreo coffee and soon, a Genji Sushi Express. The new establishment officially opened its French doors on Tuesday, ushering patrons into an atmosphere that many felt was a shade too pink. "I think it's great that they have beer and coffee all in one place," fourth-year Medical student Kevin Du remarked. "It's like California, except it's on a street corner." Some patrons felt that the new service arrangement -- a cashier takes orders where there was once a short order cook -- left a lot to be desired. "The whole setup is a bad idea," Wharton senior John Taglientei said. "The service is way too slow." Omori said that since many of the employees are new to Billybob and they are using a new ordering system, service has been slow so far. "Busyness makes me worry, because we are not completely trained [to use the registers]," Omori said. "I don't want to see [the] customer getting frustrated waiting for the line." Whether the eatery's service will pass the litmus test of a weekend's early-morning line remains to be seen. Omori is concerned that a rush for cheesesteaks could overload his rookie cashiers and cause customers to leave with a bad taste in their mouths. He stressed that despite the new decor, the food will be the same, including the chickensteak which Billybob proudly claims to have invented. Some returning students complained that what really upset them, however, was the absence of the unique atmosphere of onion-tainted breath and harsh-voiced cooks that had been their "freshman rite of passage." "We know that as soon as the sophomores graduate, no one's going to remember it," College senior Jesse Goldstein said. "They've being doing some interesting business experiments and I think this will work, unfortunately, and I don't like what that says about campus." But others who were acquainted with the Billybob of old felt that it was a change for the better, reflecting the revitalized mood of the 40th Street corridor. "It's a lot better than before because you can eat inside now and there's a lot bigger selection," Drexel University sophomore John Weaver said. Nevertheless, nostalgia prevailed for a place that existed on the periphery of campus amidst a badlands that freshmen were warned to stay away from at orientation. Said fourth-year Dental student Joshua Dembsky, "It was nice to have a disgusting hole in the wall instead of having everything become a Starbucks."