Eric Dash: Big changes at Billybob

When I told a recent Penn graduate that Billybob was the newest hangout was on campus, he couldn't help but draw a chuckle and said he would have to experience it himself.

Well, last Friday night my friend ventured back to Penn to check out the latest incarnation of the legendary "cheesesteak and 40" establishment at 40th and Spruce streets. And he couldn't have been more shocked at what he saw: an upscale campus bar.

At the new Billybob, there were no beat-up, bus station turnstiles. Killian's had replaced Colt 45 as the beverage of choice. A friendly, attractive waitstaff took orders instead of those surly, short-order cooks. Heck, you couldn't even order a cheesesteak after 9 p.m.

And while the line still stretched out the door, this time the joint was filled with more than drunken students and other local loiterers; it was the jam-packed place-to-be-scene for the over-21 Penn crowd. "This isn't Billybob's," my friend argued. "This is Smoke's, two blocks over."

Likewise, I've been impressed by the change. Over the course of the past four years, there's been enough construction and development on Penn's campus to rival Boston's Big Dig. To be sure, the Houston Hall, Samson Common and the Wharton mega-complex have dramatically altered the landscape of campus.

But I think that over the past 18 months, you would be hard-pressed to find a campus institution that has changed more than Billybob.

This, you'll recall, was the run-down "home of the original chicken cheesesteak," but was more renowned for its extensive collection of malt liquor and its lenient ID policy. (On most nights, a PennCard or Visa did the trick.) It was a place where students and West Philadelphians alike waited in lines that twisted around the corner, and paper bag-toting patrons hung out at all hours of the night.

However, during my sophomore and junior years here, those trips went out of vogue after Billybob unsuccessfully changed its format.

The "cheesesteak and 40" dive retooled its concept with a poorly-conceived plan to convert itself into an international food cafe -- complete with pink French doors and a new menu featuring the traditional Billybob fare, Chinese food, sushi and of course, Le Bus breads.

Plagued by a slew of operating problems, "Billybob: The Smorgasbord" shut its doors in 2000, and reverted to its core cheesesteak business when new owners bought the establishment last February.

But the new owners found the business difficult to run, and were looking for a way out. That's when Tom Brassell -- a 43 year-old pizza shop operator from Delaware County -- stepped in with a partner and bought the place, intending to continue operating it as a late-night cheesesteak shop.

But Brassell saw an opportunity for a college bar in the prime location in which Billybob was situated.

"I saw a college campus with upside potential," Brassell said. "Penn kids went to Center City and downtown because there was really nothing here.We needed to keep Penn kids here."

So he created the bar with the Penn community in mind: quality food, drink specials, a fun environment with games, a dance floor and special events. And unlike other establishments near campus, he actually meant it when he said he wanted to keep students here.

Brassell's insights, of course, are not unique to Billybob -- or even other campus development projects. Administrators constantly talk about creating retail options targeting Penn students. And for the most part, they have done just that. In the past four years, more than 25 new outlets in Penn-owned property have opened around campus -- everything from Steve Madden to Starbucks.

However, the main distinction between Brassell's Billybob and other University-sponsored establishments lies in their respective approaches. While Penn designs elaborate master plans, Billybob allowed its strategy to unfold serendipitously. What is most promising, though, is that Billybob's success did not come from Judy Rodin's checkbook. Its competitive advantage was not in University subsidies or a national brand.

Rather, it was the vision and commitment of an local, independent entrepreneur who saw an opportunity and identified creative ways to exploit it.

By all accounts, the latest incarnation of Billybob is an overwhelming success. Over the past few weeks, the greasy cheesesteak shop has transformed itself into the "in" place to be. The lines are flowing out the door, and the crowds keep coming back.

Maybe Brassell's success will once again force him to employ some ingenuity. But this time, instead of looking forward, he might look to the past -- after all, those turnstiles are pretty effective in keeping the crowds under wraps.

Eric Dash is a senior Management and American History major from Pittsburgh, Pa.

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