The owner of East Bayside sandwich shop Ramona’s plans to open a lunch and dinner restaurant on Congress Street this spring where he’ll feature Philadelphia-style hot sandwiches and classic Italian-American fare.
Josh Sobel said he expects the new restaurant, Benny’s, located at 545 Congress St. – previously home to Broken Arrow – will open by April. “Benny’s is the natural evolution of Ramona’s,” he said. “I think it’s what our customers have been looking for. It was more their idea than it was mine.”
Ramona’s also specializes in Philly-style sandwiches, but because its tiny kitchen doesn’t have an exhaust hood, it can’t produce some of the iconic hot sandwiches Sobel’s customers have been requesting, like cheesesteaks and meatball parm and chicken cutlet subs.
Sobel said Benny’s lunch menu will be sandwich-focused, also including vegetarian options with fried eggplant or mixed roasted veggies, along with salads.
The evening menu will spotlight classic Italian-American dishes “with a little bit of Philly flavor,” Sobel said, like pretzel garlic knots, a mashup of a Philly soft pretzel with the classic pizzeria-style bread appetizer. Other dinner options will include house-made mozzarella sticks, fried calamari, pasta alla vodka, linguine with clam sauce, and chicken and eggplant parmesan, with smaller versions of the main dishes for kids and some sandwiches available as well. Dessert items will include cannoli and tiramisu.
Benny’s will have a full bar offering beer, wine and about five house cocktails. Sobel said TV screens behind the bar will play Philly sports games, though he noted Benny’s isn’t meant to be a sports bar, and the screens won’t be on all the time.
“I have young kids, and it’s important to me to have a place that’s open for dinner earlier, like around 4 o’clock, so people can come after they pick their kids up from school or after work. I also want it to be one of those places you can come to a couple times a day or a week,” Sobel said, noting that he expects Benny’s will be open six days – closed Tuesdays – serving lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4-10 p.m.
Benny’s is named for Philadelphia icon Ben Franklin. “The more we said it, the better it sounded to us,” Sobel said. “It’s a little ubiquitous; it doesn’t sound too serious.”
Sobel said Ramona’s and Benny’s will be separate restaurants, though they’ll share some “common threads” with branding, design and menu items. He emphasized that Ramona’s is not closing or moving, and that he recently signed a lease on its Washington Avenue space for another five years.
“We plan to be there for as long as we possibly can,” he said. “It’s my goal to keep both places open.”
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