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Tue
Aug 28
2012

Out With the Uncle’s, in with the U Bar

Uncle’s Bar has remained virtually unchanged in its 25 years of business at Locust & Camac  – until now. Steve Carlino, Uncle’s Owner and Principal at the Tavern Group (owners of Tavern on Camac and Terra Restaurant/Ascend Lounge), put in the order this summer to commence renovations at this space, which are estimated to be complete in the next few weeks. At that time, the refreshed establishment will be dubbed “U Bar”.

Front door

If you’d ever been to Uncle’s, you may have noticed the decor was neighborhood bar a la Philly: the Feng Shui of thin commercial carpeting, mirrored walls and the Formica bar top; open street-front windows letting in soft, midday light; stiff, cheap drinks and friendly staff.

“We’re all about customers, which is why we’re keeping the renovations clean, cool and simple,” said Randal, Director of Operations at the Tavern Group.

Closer look

“We’ve done a complete gut of the entire first floor,” Randal said. “It’s a small bar, so the renovations are intended to be properly to scale. Our customers come here for the great priced drinks, great staff and great conversation, so we want the redesign to preserve all that and increase the utility of the space.”

Scheduled renovations include a new ceiling, wide plank hardwood floors, refurbished bathrooms and new large, hinged windows on the west wall.

New windows coming soon

In addition to the renovations, the Tavern Group plans to make the pre-existing kitchen in Uncles basement operational, meaning that bar food will be part of the U Bar’s offerings.

Uncle’s renovations are in keeping with a current remodeling trend that’s been sweeping “Midtown Village” (Gayborhood) for the past few years. While Woody’s, Voyeur (previously Pure), Tabu (previously Sal’s), ICandy (previously 12th Air Command) have all undergone major transformations, the neighborhood as a whole bears a split personality – posh clubs and cleaned-up neighborhood bars, where U bar intends to fall.

“Still, we believe we can always improve, and I think anyone who has been coming to Uncle’s for years will like the changes we’ve made.” Randal went on the say that the inspiration for changing the name Uncles to U bar is to highlight the bar’s historic attraction – the people in it.

–Aaron Stella

6
COMMENTS
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Posted in Washington Square West | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments
  • Punchy Paulie

    why no articles on point breeezey? is it that dead?

  • http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.com/ Sandy Smith

    Don’t be so possessive, Michael.

    (I’ll admit to some bias here: I know the openly gay business owner who spearheaded the whole “Midtown Village” markeing effort.)

    What I just said above notwithstanding, the whole idea behind “Midtown Village” was the same as the idea Tony Goldman had when he came up with the term “Blocks Below Broad” for the same area: namely, that a lot of (mostly straight) folk wouldn’t come to “13th Street” if you paid them to, given its reputation at the time. A lot of these same people would probably not think there would be anything they’d want to do in “the Gayborhood” either, even though you and I and half the people who live (lived, in my case) there knew better.

    Names DO matter: just ask the people of Point Breeze who got similarly out of joint when someone came up with “Newbold” as a term for its southeast quarter. But unlike that effort, which struck some as an attempt to exclude, the “Midtown Village” effort represented an effort to draw more people into what had become a lively business district with something for everyone. Both terms, I’d like to suggest, can coexist happily, just as the heterosexual folk who mob the Midtown Village Fall Festival have no problem partying under those rainbow-flag street signs.

  • chris

    “The Gayborhood” isn’t the name of a neighborhood. It’s a label, just like any other label. And, in this day and age, with everything the gay community is fighting for, it’s a name that should laid to rest. Not one of the gay bars is strictly gay any longer, not even the Bike Stop. So why should you take offense that a neighborhood should go from a “nickname” to a legitimate real estate sector of a major city?

  • qguy

    Gayborhood isn’t the original name of the neighborhood. Once upon a time a group of people decided to start calling it Gayborhood instead of the name it had up until then. Now another group of people living and working there decide to start calling it something else again. Why was it OK the first time but not OK this time?

  • http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.com/ Sandy Smith

    Are you referring to the shutters that cover the windows at Knock?

    He had those installed when he took over that space about five years ago. Note that they’re on the inside, not the outside.

    He does open the curtains that cover the windows in the restaurant area from time to time.

    And Knock has outdoor seating! I don’t think he’s really hiding anything.

  • Jahvon09

    I like the new U Bar as much as I like it when it was Uncles!! It’s right down the street from the Doubletree Hotel, where I stay at when I come to visit Philly!!!

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