Two new restaurants near Penn’s campus will open their doors later this month.
Puyero — a Venezuelan eatery — and Gouldsberger’s — a popular burger joint — will join the Shop Penn lineup of popular stores and restaurants surrounding campus. Puyero will open on Sansom Street, while Gouldsburger’s will open a stall at Franklin's Table Food Hall.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Puyero to the Shop Penn family,” Executive Director of Real Estate Ed Datz wrote in a press release. “Their delivery of authentic flavors and the creation of a joyful dining experience aligns well with our vision for our retail district.”
Shop Penn is a “curated collection of retail offerings” that features restaurants and stores in the blocks surrounding Penn’s campus, according to its website. Their retail stores include restaurants, shops, and Penn facilities like Amazon@Penn and the PennCard center.
In a separate press release, Datz said that Gouldsburger’s “will provide a fresh take on local favorites for both meat eaters and vegetarians, and it will be a great addition to this popular dining destination with stalls catering to every craving.”
Puyero co-founder Gilberto Arends said that University City is ideal for expanding the restaurant’s mission of sharing Venezuelan food and culture.
“We’ve always wanted to open up a second location,” Arends told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Penn had always been one of the options we had looked at. We get a lot of students from Penn at our current location, and we do a lot of catering in the area. We thought it would be appealing to bring this actually to campus.”
Established in 2017 by a family of Venezuelan immigrants, Puyero is rooted in its founders’ passion for sharing their Venezuelan heritage.
“Each time we went out to eat, we were always thinking, ‘Hey, it’d be so awesome if we could bring Venezuelan food to Philly and share our story’,” Arends said. “Philly is a big city, and we wanted to create a home away from home for the growing Venezuelan population.”
The founders see the Penn campus as an ideal place to introduce students to authentic Venezuelan street food. “Venezuelan street food is all about that — fast, fresh, grab-and-go — and I think that’s perfect for a campus setting,” Arends said. “We always wanted to bring Venezuelan culture and identity to the city and tell our story as immigrants. Now, we’ll get to do the same thing at Penn.”
Engineering sophomore Jada Hembrador said that she is “looking forward to mass ordering tequeños, empanadas, and tostones” and trying a new cuisine on campus.
Gouldsburger’s, another beloved local establishment with existing locations in Logan Square and New Jersey, will open a University City location this month as well. The stall will offer an “express model” to best cater to patrons” busy schedules, according to the press release.
“We are excited about joining the high quality restaurants at Franklin’s Table and bringing our food to the University City area,” Gouldsburger’s co-owner Walter Gouldsbury wrote in a statement to the DP. “This is a prime opportunity to not only gain new customers, but offer our current customers another convenient way to satisfy their Gouldsburger’s craving.”
Co-owner and chef David Murray added in the press release that it is “an honor to be a part of the Penn community and expand our presence in Philadelphia.”
The restaurant is set to take over one of the new vacancies in Franklin’s Table following the recent closures of Delco Steaks and High Street Hoagies.
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