Two area hotels have some new retail guests, as both the Inn at Penn and the Sheraton University City have new restaurants for the fall.
The Inn at Penn, for one, has welcomed the Penne Restaurant and Wine Bar to its 36th and Walnut streets facade. Penne takes the place of the Ivy Grille as the primary restaurant venue of the hotel. Penne opened on Aug. 23.
According to Harry Kratz, Penne's general manager, the Inn at Penn made the change from the Ivy Grille to Penne for two primary reasons.
"We strive to serve the broader community better, as well as become a destination restaurant," he said.
Kratz added that Penne hopes to appeal to all sorts of people in the area.
Penne caters to "a wide range of clientele -- students, students' parents, faculty and staff, travelers, and eventually, hopefully, the Philadelphia community," he said.
One of the ways the restaurant was transformed to suit its new occupant was through changes to the overall design of the space, but there were no major architectural changes.
"We did redesign the bar," Kratz said of the wine bar, where a tile floor has been added. The bar will showcase Penne's new, "very aggressive" wine program.
Kratz also said that the restaurant's atmosphere has become much cozier, with the addition of carpeting over the wood floors and more wallpaper. Penne boasts some booths, now, as well.
"It's a significantly much warmer room," he said.
The type of food served at Penne is also different than that of the Ivy Grille.
As restaurants have come and gone from the campus scene, there has been some student demand for an Italian eatery on campus, and Penne fills that demand.
"We went to a contemporary Italian concept," Kratz said.
At the Sheraton, Shula's Steak II, the chain sports bar owned by former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, vacated the hotel's ground floor over the summer.
Top Dog Sports Grille, which is also a sports bar, will take the place of Shula's.
According to Sheraton officials, renovations to the Shula's space have been underway since the summer, and the new restaurant is slated for a mid-September opening.
Top Dog already has another location open in Cherry Hill, N.J.
