Hey remember The Broad Street Diner, the grey lady of Broad and Ellsworth? It used to be “A Place For Ribs.” Now it’s “A Place Stephen Starr May Turn Into A Chic Restaurant That I Can’t Afford.”

(Sorry, didn’t mean to be snarky. Starr's done a lot for Philly.)

According to Food and Drinq, Mr. Starr has signed a letter of intent, applied for a liquor license, and begun kicking around some ideas of what to do with the old girl (priced at $1.9 million). In the meantime, the restaurant-ista is busy opening Parc at 18th and Locust as well as two new restaurants in AC and a Buddakan in South Beach.

A Stephen Starr establishment at Broad and Ellsworth would be a boon to the area. This Phillyist has been watching the resurgence of SoBro* for a while now. The Cantina on Passy** is a great start, and The Adobe Café at the old Elements Lounge/Jazz & Blu has potential, but we need more businesses that will cater to more than just the neighborhood. (Nothing against the neighborhood, 19148 in da house!)

The East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District is doing a great job luring new vendors to the area (Sweat, Doggie Style) but so far we haven’t seen that linchpin that’ll have people descending on Passyunk on a nightly basis. (Nor have we seen any solution to the biggest drawback to the area: parking!)

Still, this Phillyist has hope and believes the right business will turn the area around just like The Arden Theatre Company turned OlCit*** into the nightlife mecca it has become.

Don’t know if a Starr place will be that linchpin, but it’ll be a nice addition to the neighborhood.

* South Broad ©
** Passyunk ©
*** Old City (You can have this one, it’s pretty lame.)

Photo by Chris In Philly '08