Allegro Pizza and Grill, a staple of the Penn food scene and one of the most popular late-night restaurants near Penn’s campus, has eliminated its late-night hours, according to a source close to the pizzeria.
The restaurant, which has previously been open until 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, will now close at midnight seven days a week. The source close to the pizzeria told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the hours reduction was a last-minute decision due to staffing issues and took effect late last week.
Allegro, one of the only and most popular late-night food options for Penn students, did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
The source close to Allegro, who was granted anonymity due to concerns about retaliation, called the hours change “a disastrous f**king decision, not just for the store, but for the Penn community broadly.” They added that, as of now, the restaurant has no plans to reinstate the late-night hours.
The source added that the decision to reduce hours was made “on a whim” on Sept. 5, and that — if employees were not present at the store — they were not informed of the change.
College sophomore Kylee Countryman told the DP that she was sad to hear about the apparent hours reduction.
“I feel like Allegro’s late [at] night is a quintessential experience that you like, have to be there for, especially freshman year,” she said. “I know my friends [and I] are bummed out by it.”
Countryman added that she feels sorry for first years who won’t “experience such a staple of the Penn college experience.”
College junior Noah Milad agreed, saying that — although he understands some of the reasoning behind the decision — “it makes [him] sad that people won’t get to experience that community vibe and the bonding" that happens during 1 a.m. Allegro visits.
He told the DP that he expects other restaurants with late-night hours around campus — including Wawa, Asad’s Hot Chicken, and Raising Cane’s — will get busier now that Allegro’s hours have been reduced.
Allegro has been an important part of the University City restaurant scene since it opened its doors in 1982, and was previously open 24/7. In 2017, the restaurant reduced its hours for the first time and began to close at midnight from Sunday through Wednesday and at 3 a.m. from Thursday through Saturday.
At the time, management told the DP that the reduction was due to quality concerns, staffing issues, and profit loss due to customers falling asleep before receiving their delivery orders.
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