We were purchasing some affordable yet stylish Swedish furniture over the weekend, and figured, hey, why not take a quick jaunt down to Oregon Ave. to see what's going on at the South Bowl site? You may recall that way back in November of 2011 we told you that plans were in the works for a bowling alley, a bar/restaurant, a music venue, billiards, an arcade, and batting cages at 19 E. Oregon Ave., right next to I-95. For many years, this location was home to Thomas Colace Co., a company that processes and distributes produce to food service businesses.
The building looks a little different these days.
The concept, as commenters suggested back in 2011 and we detailed in March, comes from North Bowl owner Oron Daskal. The place isn't officially named South Bowl (yet) and will be like a North Bowl Plus, with added features we mentioned above. With tons of space and plentiful parking in the area, we can easily see this location becoming a popular destination for people from all over town and even <gasp> from New Jersey. And with plans for an indoor mini-golf place just a few blocks to the north, according to Passyunk Post, people could soon be flocking to this area for multiple reasons. Who'd have thunk it?
One thing that remains an interesting variable in all of this is the possibility of a new casino opening nearby. Of the five remaining casino applicants, three have proposals in South Philly that would be a hop, skip, and a jump from this location. If one of those three ends up with the license, this part of South Philly could see even more traffic in the years to come. Which could mean that "South Bowl" could have even more customers than they expect.