When former MarBar manager Bob Hanna packed his bags and took over 2 Goodfella's a block away, he got a lot of his former employees to follow him.
Now, he just has to convince his old customers to do the same.
Hanna is hoping his new spot at 4101 Walnut St. can grab a share of the local nightlife.
He previously managed MarBar at 40th and Walnut streets. Last March, he left MarBar for Goodfella's, and he took an inner circle of co-workers and clients with him.
"I brought my entire staff from MarBar, and a lot of kids from Penn," Hanna said. "I have a whole following of kids."
Current MarBar employees would not comment for this story.
But some who followed Hanna to Goodfella's said the choice was easy to make.
Megan Shipe worked with Hanna at MarBar as a bartender and cocktail waitress before coming to Goodfella's.
"A group of us came with Bobby," Shipe said. "He's just a good guy to work for, and he's been very loyal to us, so we've been loyal back."
Wharton junior Adam Victor, who worked with Hanna as a promoter for MarBar, said he started going to Goodfella's after Hanna took over.
Nursing graduate student Melissa Palka says the bar is often a friendly pit stop on her way home, and added that she appreciates the new friendly attitude.
"Sometimes I'll just walk by and see people I know and stop in to say, 'Hi,'" Palka said. "I even brought my mother here."
Other local bar owners, though, doubt whether Hanna can make Goodfella's a major spot on campus.
"I think from the UPenn student's perspective, besides Smoke's and MarBar, there's really only the three of us," said Rich Roller, owner of Blarney Stone on the 3900 block of Sansom Street. "I haven't noticed any change in businesses here. I didn't even know [Goodfella's] changed ownership."
Yet Hanna still thinks that he can push his bar to fill a niche in the local market.
"I want it to be in between MarBar and Smoke's," Hanna said. "A little nicer than Smoke's, but not as 'high-class' as MarBar."
Still, he may have some more convincing to do.
Wharton junior Anton Bernstein said he went to Goodfella's last year before Hanna took over, but now prefers to spend most of his nights at Blarney's.
"I went to Goodfella's once," Bernstein said. "The scene was very local. I haven't been back since."
But whether Goodfella's will become as popular as MarBar or Smoke's does not matter much to most students, said Victor, the former promoter. He believes Penn students will always want another place for a good drink.
"For a party-savvy campus like UPenn, its good to have options in the area," Victor said.
