Olde Bar, a 10,000-Square-Foot, 19th-Century Oyster Saloon in the Former Bookbinder's Space - Run by the Garces Group

[DonRocks]

"Garces Leases Old Original Bookbinders" by Michael Klein of philly.com.

A big story on several levels, this has also been reported on by Jason Sheehan at phillymag.com.

Super-heady stuff, if you're in the tourism or PR industry; I wish I could get excited about it.

Actually, I just did! I'd neglected to include Old Original Bookbinder's on the Oldest Restaurants in Philadelphia list (since it was open when this website was founded on April 15, 2005, it gets included despite it having closed in 2009).

[Joe H]

"Garces Leases Old Original Bookbinders" by Michael Klein of philly.com.

A big story on several levels, this has also been reported on by Jason Sheehan at phillymag.com.

Super-heady stuff, if you're in the tourism or PR industry; I wish I could get excited about it.

Actually, I just did! I'd neglected to include Old Original Bookbinder's on the Oldest Restaurants in Philadelphia list (since it was open when this website was founded on April 15, 2005, it gets included despite it having closed in 2009).

Hmm... I have an original "Old Original Bookbinder's" menu from circa 1968.  Of course I also have a Phillips Crab House menu from 1964, too.  And 200 or so others from back then.  One day this will fund my retirement.

....oops, I'm retired.

[johnb]

Hmm... I have an original "Old Original Bookbinder's" menu from circa 1968.  Of course I also have a Phillips Crab House menu from 1964, too.  And 200 or so others from back then.  One day this will fund my retirement.

....oops, I'm retired.

Bookbinders was one of the first "serious" restaurants I ever ate in, summer of 1964.  In a youthful indiscretion, upon leaving I took one of their large glass candy dish things they had at the center of every table holding what I recall were some type of crunchy ball-shaped crackers.  I may still have that thing somewhere -- I used it for years to hold matchbooks I collected from other restaurants in those days, when all restaurants offered matchbooks or, in the case of really fine places, little match boxes.  Another era.

[cheezepowder]

Olde Bar opened on Jan. 9, 2015.   Website.

[DonRocks]

Olde Bar opened on Jan. 9, 2015.   Website.

This sounds like a "good" version of P.J. Clarke's or Old Ebbitt Grill.

My Cynical Antennae rise whenever I see a Twitter account with a city name appended to it, not that it really matters at this point:

They have whelks!