Fill This Front: Mexican Post

104 Chestnut Street

             I hate it when a storefront that was filled for decades+ loses its occupant and ends up empty for a long period of time. This is the situation with the old Mexican Post on the 100 block of Chestnut Street. That bitch-bastard held on to this place for 24 and a half years before calling it quits. Now's the time to fill this place back up with... I don't know, something.
             This storefront, being in Old City, is pretty old. Going through all the iterations of this storefront over the decades would make this article reach the Orias System. The last time I started a Fill This Front about a building this old it ended up becoming in a Hidden City story. Therefore, I'll just go over its fairly recent history. In the 1950s, it did time as part of Old City's old role of being a wholesale goods district.

Selling wholesale wool in 1959. Image from the PAB.

                 By the end of the 1970s, it had become a bar called the Penny Pot Tavern, referencing a place with the same name from the 17th and 18th goddamn Centuries.

1977. Image from the PAB.

              A place called Louie Linguini took the spot after that and then, on May 15th, 1989, the space became Mexican Post. At the time, Old City was in the midst of a massive revitalization as a bar and restaurant nexus. Mexican Post was a welcome addition at the time, staying open late to accommodate the drunks. The lunchtime crowd of tourists/nearby office workers and the late night partiers would provide enough traffic to keep the place open for 24 and a half goddamn years. The owner also managed to open other Mexican Posts in Wilmington, the burbs, at a big-ass location on the Parkway, and evenin the food court at the Comcast Center.
             Unexpectedly, in November of 2013, the Old City and Parkway locations both closed. The owner told the Insider "he has lost confidence in the city's restaurant climate" and that "

Old City in particular is wiped out". Yeah, right. The restaurant climate in Philly is so badass right now that you can't walk out of your front door without getting slapped in the face with a vegan chili-flavored goose knuckle sandwich on a hand-rolled quinoa-spelt flour bun. What the fuck was the guy so bitter about? Even the most successful restaurants last an average of five years, he got nearly 25 out of this one! Old City in particular is wiped out? Tell that to Han Dynasty and High Street on Market.

             Well, the place has been up for lease since last December and after 10 months is still empty. Let's bring it back. This is a 1,500 square foot space. This street has tons of foot traffic-- during the day by tourists and nearby office workers and at night by drunken revelers who won't even notice when you jack up the price after 10pm. This location is very accessible to public transportation, located on a whole mess of bus lines and close to an El stop. There are numerous hotels nearby as well, one on the storefront's very block. 

            The space is leasing for $6495 a month and is handled by US Realty of Ardmore, PA. Here's the listing. You do this place right and you can't lose. FILL THIS FRONT!!