After a slew of new business debuts during the fall and spring semesters, restaurant openings on Penn's campus do not appear to be slowing down for the summer.
At least two new eateries made their debuts in the past weeks. Metropolitan Bakery, located at 4013 Walnut St., opened on Monday. The store will hold its official grand opening during the week of May 17, in time for graduation ceremonies.
And Ajia, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar located in the Left Bank at 3131 Walnut St., opened on April 12.
So far, business has been fairly good, according to one of Ajia's owners, Vincent Lam.
"I would say [it is] steadily increasing every single day," Lam said. "We're getting more and more students coming in very noticeably."
In coming weeks, Ajia will also begin offering delivery, which will allow the restaurant to target the Center City office district.
"Once we have everything running, we'll have a bigger advertisement running for the surrounding office buildings," Lam said. "Right now, we're basically just concentrating on the students."
Additionally, at least two more restaurants expect to open their doors for business in the coming months.
The Greek Lady, operator of campus food trucks since 1985, is expanding its current operation into a full-fledged restaurant. The new eatery will be located at 222 S. 40th St. in the former Simsum site.
And work on the restaurant's new interior is progressing, although slower than expected, according to owner Dimitrios Dimopoulos.
"We have to build the place still," Dimopoulos said. "I was going to try to rush it to open while the students were still here, but it didn't look like it was happening with all the permits."
Dimopoulos said that he is now expecting to open the new restaurant in June, despite the fact that the lack of students around campus may initially hurt business.
"I'm not expecting to be really busy when we open up because it's summertime," Dimopoulos said, but added, "I'll definitely open by early June."
And Marathon Grill, located inside the Bridge: Cinema de Lux at 40th and Walnut streets, is now scheduled for a June debut. The eatery, which will feature a sit-down restaurant and an upstairs bar, was originally slated to open in January.
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