By Stu Bykofsky, Philadelphia Daily News
Jan. 19–IN THE FEW years Barry Sandrow did not operate Dr. Watson’s Pub, his fabled restaurant/bar/hookup joint, it was run into the ground by new owners who turned a gold mine into a coal mine.
Doc Watson’s was a gold mine between 1971 and 1993, when Sandrow, 73, ran the pub at 216 S. 11th St. It was one of the most popular clubs in Center City, attracting an eclectic mix of medical staffers from Jefferson across the street, hard-drinking neighborhood types, writers and journalists. (Full disclosure: I was one of those journalists.)
In 1993, Sandrow sold the business, which passed through the hands of other owners. There were complaints from neighbors about noise, urination in the alley and more. After a Prohibition-style police raid last year, the operator was busted for serving underage kids. Doc Watson’s closed. It had become a nuisance bar.
That embarrassed Sandrow so much he took the business back last year and decided to come out of retirement. His plans included a stem-to-stern renovation of the building and retrieval of his liquor license, followed by a March grand re-opening.
“I’ve been in business since 1956. I ran Doc Watson’s for 20 years with no LCB suspensions,” he said. The LCB confirmed he had not even a single citation. As a longtime neighborhood businessman, landlord and resident, Sandrow figured he’d have no opposition from the Washington West Civic Association.
He figured wrong. At a meeting of the civic association’s governmental-affairs committee last month, “a majority” of speakers opposed the re-opening of Doc Watson’s, Wash West President Judith Applebaum told me.
“No one is questioning Mr. Sandrow’s character,” she said, but in recent years the nature of the neighborhood has changed, it has become more residential and some feel 11th Street is no longer “appropriate for a large liquor establishment.”
While 11th Street hasn’t become a monastery, there are more residences now, including three houses on Quince Street sold by Sandrow to George Mortelliti (remember his name). Attracted by the vibrancy and vitality of the neighborhood, people have moved in. Once in, some want to change what made it attractive in the first place.
This is akin to complaining about the noise from planes after you buy a home in the airport’s flight path.
At a Wash West meeting last week, governmental-affairs chair Sarah Batcheler said her committee was not ready to make a recommendation about Doc Watson’s.
So I was surprised to hear City Councilman Frank DiCicco already had written a letter to Liquor Control Enforcement opposing Doc Watson’s. It wouldn’t be surprising for the councilman to back a civic association’s recommendation once made, but DiCicco jumped the gun. DiCicco is related to the above-mentioned George Mortelliti, whose brother Andrew was on DiCicco’s staff until his death early this month. Mortelliti is one of those opposing Doc Watson’s.
I asked DiCicco if it’s appropriate for him to take sides in an issue in which his first cousin has a financial stake. “Absolutely,” DiCicco said, because Cousin George was not the only person in the neighborhood opposing Doc Watson’s.
A compromise has been offered to Sandrow – a “conditional license” that would restrict liquor to the first floor, mandate only 20 seats at the bar, and prohibit live music or a DJ.
“That is not what Doc Watson’s is about,” Sandrow said, adding, “I can’t make money that way.” He wonders why some in Wash West are opposing him, especially since he has a clean track record.
I wonder, too.
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