Chinatown Getting a 24/7 Food Court

Ever dream of walking through a room that has boiling pots of water cooking noodles to your left and on your right, steaming trays of spring rolls? What about all of this at 3 a.m. or even 6 a.m.? Well, come February, Kenny Poon, owner of five restaurants in Philadelphia, plans to do just this. He will create Chinatown’s first food court in place of the longtime gift shop, Shanghai Bazaar.

There will be eight restaurants serving Thai, Japanese and American cuisine. Some of the vendors will stay open late, while others will open early. Between all the vendors it will truly be a 24/7 food court. So, while the days are getting shorter and the temperature is getting lower, use Chinatown’s impending 24/7 food court as the light at the end of the tunnel we call winter, and look forward to the many meals you will enjoy there in the future.

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Thai noodles at 5 a.m., spring rolls at noon, and maybe sushi at dinner?

Kenny Poon, who owns five restaurants in Center City and Northern Liberties, wants to open Chinatown’s first food court, and right now crews are scooping out the former Shanghai Bazaar, a longtime gift shop at 1016 Race St.

Poon says he has at least three of the eight restaurant tenants nailed down for Chinatown Square – serving Thai, Japanese, and American cuisine. The restaurants will be on the first floor, while seating will be upstairs. Workers are now digging out the foundation to raise the ceiling height.

Some will open early and others will stay open late – “that way, we’ll make it open 24/7,” he said, adding that he wanted it to be more than a neighborhood destination.

Opening is penciled in for next February.

Poon’s current holdings are Ken Shin Asian Diner in Northern Liberties, Tango, Tea-Do and BonChon in Chinatown, and Kai on 10th Street near Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

He also is developing a Japanese teahouse and ramen bar at 1028 Arch St. in Chinatown called Yamitsuki.
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