Walnut Garden, We Hardly Knew Ye

The newest, buzziest, and busiest drinking place on Walnut closed in less than 30 days.

September Update – It’s baaaaack!

I’m beginning to think 1708 is a cursed location. Partly because of that historic fire that took out the McDonald’s, Van’s, and Doc Martens stores in 2020, and partly because the latest outdoor drinking spot Walnut Garden that took its place, was shut down on June 27th – less than 30 days after its debut.

I have to admit that they aim high. They successfully transformed an empty pit filled with garbage and the occasional visiting rat to a lovely garden with benches in record time, and then racked up a surprising number of violations – 6 out of 7! 

More worrying probably than the plumbing and electrical may be the license violation IMO, followed by the possibility guests could be electrocuted. You’d think that FCM Hospitality, the company behind other popular casual drinking places in Philly would know better but it took less than 30 days for the inspectors to shut it all down.  Which is a shame, because Walnut Garden was packed every weekend with both tourists and locals.

Walnut Garden’s team may have been too optimistic about opening up as soon as possible since a handwritten sign on the front gate acknowledged they were closed for electrical issues.  Both Philly Mag and The Inquirer both have more deets on the closing.

Guess we’re stuck with another empty spot only this time it looks so much nicer. Updates to come!