Empire Building

Are Khyber Owners Taking Over South Philly’s Triangle Tavern? [Updated]

Triangle Tavern
Triangle Tavern Photo: Courtesy Meal Ticket

Over on Meal Ticket, A.D. Amorosi is shedding light on two mysteries that have been baffling the local fooderati for quite some time. The first one: The Triangle Tavern at Tenth and Reed streets, is — or at least was — up for sale. The ages-old watering hole has been operating under the radar when opened, rumored to be up for sale when it was dark, and fluctuating between the two for what seems like an eternity. That is until Stephen Simons and Dave Frank, the duo behind the Royal Tavern, Khyber, both Cantinas and yet-to-materialize Royal Sushi Izakaya, supposedly inked a deal to take it over. We’re still awaiting an answer from Simons about Royal Sushi Izakaya from last fall, and doubt we’ll ever get conformation on this. But if Amorosi’s reporting on his home turf, it can be taken as truth until debunked. The second mystery, you ask?

Well, that of course is the whereabouts of bartenders extraordinaire Phoebe Esmon and fiance Christian Gaal, late of Farmers’ Cabinet, and what they are doing next. The two have been seldom seen since departing their respective posts at the always in flux Walnut Street spot. But according to Amorosi’s post, the Simons-Frank deal on the Triangle is part of a long-in-the-works plan to place the two behind a bar. Perhaps this is where the duo’s tiki research for the dead-in-the-water Farmers’ Cabinet spin-off at Sixth and Spring Garden streets will materialize. [Meal Ticket]

Update: Turns out someone signed a lease on the place, but it wasn’t Simons and Frank.

Earlier: Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal Both Out at Farmers’ Cabinet

Are Khyber Owners Taking Over South Philly’s Triangle Tavern? [Updated]