A couple of weeks ago, we gave you the good news that Lorenzo and Sons Pizza would soon be making its glorious and greasy return to the late-night South Street scene. You may recall, the business near 3rd & South was lost in a fire last summer, leaving after-hours revelers scurrying for other ways to sop up the excessive amounts of alcohol in their stomachs. But no more!

In November

Lorenzo's today

According to Michael Klein, Lorenzo’s had its soft opening today, and will be celebrating a grand reopening on Friday, May 3rd. Half of the proceeds from that night will go to Philabundance, which is a very generous move from a business owner that’s been out of work for nearly a year.

We wish much success to owner Giuseppe Pulizzi on the rebirth of Lorenzo’s. Can’t wait to bite into a giant slice sometime very soon.

The excellent and adorable Lil’ Pop Shop hasn’t even been open for a year in its West Philly digs, and is already eyeing a second location. According to Michael Klein, the store, which sells artisanal popsicles made from fresh and local ingredients, will soon be taking over 534 S. 4th St., which was most recently home to Chicken.org.

West Philly location

Future spot one door off of South Street

In West Philly, Lil’ Pop Shop has had great success catering to Penn students as well as the Penn Alexander set. In the new location, the store will more often be serving tourists and high school kids, and competing with Rita’s, Phileo, and Haagen Dazs, all located within a couple of blocks. But we’ll put our…

Last summer, a fire destroyed South Street pizza shop Lorenzo’s, famous for large slices late at night with a side of surly service. Back in November, we told you that repairs were ongoing at the shop, and in the months since, renovations have slowly continued along.

In November

Current view

As you can see, the new storefront will feature much more glass and much less of a cartoony look. According to Michael Klein, the pizza shop is hoping to reopen its doors sometime this month, though these things often take a little longer than expected. We’ll keep an eye on things, and we’ll see you there once the pizza’s flying off the shelf once more.

Today, we have a couple of non-updates on projects we’ve been eyeing at the intersection of 6th & Lombard. Looking at the southeast corner, we see some improvements over, say, a year ago.

In the past

Recent shot

As you can see, the property one off the corner has been demolished and rebuilt, which we last told you about back in October. You may recall, both buildings were owned by Mother Bethel AME, a church located on the northeast corner of this intersection and had been blighted for years. From what we understand, the proceeds from the sale of the now-rebuilt building are going to the renovation of the corner building, which we also mentioned in October. Sadly, it seems that no progress has taken place on the corner in the past six…

Two summers ago, Olive Restaurant opened its doors at 518 S. 3rd St., a space that housed Ava for some time. Earlier this year, the Mediterranean BYO closed its doors for good, and the property went on the market, originally for an asking price that approached $500K.

The building

You can’t argue with the property’s location, in the thick of the Society Hill neighborhood and just a half a block off of South Street. And with a large second floor kitchen, a dining area that hovered around 1,000 sqft, and a parking spot, we can understand why the building could have been attractive to a restauranteur seeking a space to call their own. On the other hand, with a dining room looking ripe for an episode of Restaurant Impossible, we can understand why potential buyers balked at the price.…

A thread popped up on Philadelphia Speaks the other day, wherein someone posted that they had heard a rumor that a Trader Joe’s could be taking over the Superfresh location at 5th & Spruce. This could certainly be a legit possibility or it could equally end up simply being a rumor that never comes to pass. Whichever it is, it brings about an interesting conversation about whether we have enough access to grocery items in greater Center City.

Superfresh

If you ask us, it seems that 10th & South is where the rubber meets the road in this town for groceries. Convenient for pedestrians and with easy parking, a Superfresh and a Whole Foods provide thousands of area residents access to groceries. Many people even visit both stores in one trip to this…