The Han Dynasty is about to get even closer to Penn.
Eater Philly reported yesterday that Chinese restaurant Han Dynasty will open another restaurant at 37th and Market streets — the University City Science Center.
The space is the former site of MidAtlantic Restaurant & Tap Room, which closed Feb. 24.
UCSC Vice President of Marketing Communications Jeanne Mell could not confirm the new restaurant’s opening, but Eater Philly reported that owner Han Chiang said he “closed a deal on the space.”
Chiang did not return a request for an interview as of press time.
The BYOB restaurant currently has locations on Front and Chestnut streets and three other locations in Pennsylvania. The restaurant is known for its spicy menu and specialty dishes such as Dan Dan Noodles.
Customers are able to choose from a variety of sauces and degrees of spiciness.
Students are excited for a potential new eating option near campus.
College senior Andrew Lum is pleased with a new Han Dynasty location close to campus. The restaurant is one his favorite Chinese restaurants in Philadelphia, as its food is authentic Szechuan Chinese.
“Spicy food at some restaurants makes your mouth burn to the point where you can’t taste anything. Han Dynasty changes the taste,” he said, adding that he hopes it will open before he graduates.
Lum would like to see the restaurant do more with the 37th and Market space.
“MidAtlantic had a bar, so I’m wondering that when Han Dynasty takes over, if they will expand. I think it’d be interesting if they [had] a happy hour. I don’t know any Asian restaurants that have happy hours, and they could do a really good job at it.”
For College and Wharton junior Chenxi Lin, Han Dynasty is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area. “Currently, Chinese food is so common here. It’s all about the same quality and selections,” he said, adding that he would go to the restaurant pretty frequently if it opened on Market street.
Though Wharton senior Alex Marcus is happy to hear that Han Dynasty may be closer to campus, he is not sure how long it would survive in this new location.
“No one is in that area past 6 p.m. A lot of business for restaurants comes from people walking by, but there’s nothing near there besides offices,” he said, adding that a restaurant would probably fare better in that area if it was a lunch place.
“MidAtlantic’s destination was pretty much the chief reason why it closed,” he said.
This story has been updated to clarify that Han Dynasty has a location near the intersection of Chestnut and Front streets.
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