Neither Ice Nor Snow Keeping Restaurant Patrons Away on Valentine's Day
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Is this week's snow -- and the expectation of more this weekend -- having an impact and those romantic Valentine's Day dinner reservations?
Ellen Yin, owner of Fork restaurant in Old City, says one day makes a huge difference.
"I thought with all the ice and snow downtown (yesterday) that we would have cancellations," she said today, "but, actually, we are full."
A few blocks away, Rennie Goldberg, manager of restaurant Cuba Libre, says business is shaping up very well this Valentine's Day.
"I think people want to get out of the house," he reasons. "Maybe they're a little stir crazy and they want to enjoy it. And also, it is a Friday night, so they want to be able to be out and about."
John Poulos, owner of Revolution House, nearby at 2nd and Market, agrees.
"People are still going to come out," he tells KYW Newsradio. "I mean, it stopped snowing out. People want to get out. They're gonna come out!"
"And we're actually getting a lot of phone calls for last-minute reservations," adds Goldberg, of Cuba Libre.
Do they anticipate people being able to get walk-in dinner seating tonight?
"It's going to be difficult, "Goldberg says. "We're trying not to do that because we want to make sure that all of our reservations are taken care of and the waits aren't too long, but I'll never say no."
"You never know," concurs Yin. "If you're open to sitting at the bar and maybe waiting a little bit -- even though we call and confirm all of the reservations -- there are always last-minute changes."
