The third time's the charm - at least that's officials are hoping in regards to the retail space at 3716 Spruce St.
Savory, which opened at the location earlier this week and will serve a variety of ethnic foods, is the third eatery to hold the space - which is owned by Penn and operated by the Aramark Corp. food service - in the past four years.
Savory replaces Tony Luke's, which in turn replaced Triangle Diner one year earlier.
Aramark district manager John Cipollini said the previous venues closed due to lack of revenue, but he expects that this issue won't be a problem for Savory.
Tony Luke's "wasn't meeting our forecasts," Cipollini said. "Tony Luke's proved to be very popular with the general street, especially the construction workers, but not a lot of dinning dollars were being spent."
However, he added that Aramark conducted research to determine the type of restaurant that would appeal to Penn students before selecting Savory, which is an offshoot of the most popular food station at Houston Market.
Contrary to Cippollini, Tony Luke, who owned and operated the restaurant which bears his name, said that the decision to close was due to disagreement within the management but would not elaborate on what that disagreement was, citing "legal restrictions."
Because 3716 Spruce is located near the Quadrangle, Triangle Diner was a late-night freshman hang-out, according to College junior Billy Hanafee.
"It was convenient whenever I went to see friends at the Quad," said Hanafee, who lived in Hill College House. "I really enjoyed Triangle Diner a lot. It was nice to get a milkshake and chicken fingers late at night, and there was so much on their menu."
In contrast, Pamela Kline, a College sophomore who lived in the Quad last year, said she rarely visited Tony Luke's.
"There wasn't really much of a selection, and whenever we would go in, I just felt like I was eating really unheathily," Kline said. "I don't really know anyone that went that much."
Cippollini said he is confident that Savory will have better luck.
"We have crafted a menu that appears to [cater to] a wide a demographic," he said. "There are pitas, vegan hot dogs, even an international flavor - research among students shows that they were looking for more ethnic flavors."
Kline and Hanafee have not yet been to Savory, but Hanafee says that "it'll definitely be something new to check out."
Students will be able to make purchases at Savory using Dining Dollars.
