Penn Dining announces action plan

After Reports Of Health Code Violations At Dining Locations

This announcement comes days after the DP detailed 100 observations of health code violations across campus

JESSICA WU Staff Reporter

Penn Dining will create a new action plan for meeting health and safety regulations in campus dining facilities and pledged to be transparent with its cleaning procedures after inspections found numerous violations of Philadelphia health code.

In an email sent to students and parents on Tuesday morning, Penn Dining said it understood that there was “considerable concern in the campus community” about the inspections. A statement linked in the email described the results of the inspections as “unacceptable” and said that “swift actions” had been taken to address concerns.

The statement comes days after The Daily Pennsylvanian detailed 100 observations of health code violations in Penn Dining locations during their most recent food safety inspections conducted by the Philadelphia Office of Food Protection. Hill House and 1920 Commons were found to not be in satisfactory compliance with the Philadelphia health code.

“As was acknowledged in Bon Appetit’s/ Penn’s collective response to the DP reporter, health inspections are part of a process of continuous improvement and are a snapshot in time to help food service operations identify procedures for ensuring ongoing compliance,” the statement read, referring to its food service contractor, Bon Appetit Management Company.

In the statement, Penn Dining said that its facilities have not had repeated violations that went uncorrected or severe violations. In addition, it said that a majority of the violations cited during the inspection were corrected immediately or soon afterwards.

While 1920 Commons passed its regular annual inspection, according to the statement, the dining hall is up for reinspection after the health department performed an unscheduled visit due to bird sightings within the facility. According to Penn Dining, the birds were found to have flown into 1920 Commons from an open loading dock and were removed by a wildlife trapper. Protective curtains were installed to prevent the incident from occurring again.

City Tap House closes University City location after 13 years

The restaurant’s last day of service was Feb. 26, after opening its first location of the chain in Philadelphia

JASPER TAYLOR Senior Reporter

The University City location of craft beer bar and restaurant City Tap House closed just over one year after it reopened.

City Tap shared in an Instagram post on Feb. 23 that the restaurant’s last day of service would be Feb. 26. The post, which was signed by the location’s management team, did not include a reason for the closure. A representative from City Tap did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Pennsylvanian on the reason for closure by publication.

"It is with a heavy heart that we are informing you that the last day of service will be Sunday, February 26th," the post read. "This was a difficult decision, as this location was the launchpad for our company's growth over the last 13 years."

City Tap was located on 39th and Walnut streets in The Radian. The restaurant opened in 2010 and was the first location of the chain, which has seven locations, including University City. The University City location reopened in January 2022 after nearly two years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University City location was one of two Philadelphia locations, with the other being located in Logan Square at 100 N.18th St. The Instagram post refers guests to visit the Logan Square location.

Outside of Philadelphia, City Tap has other locations in Washington, D.C., Loudoun, Va., Boston, and Nashville, Tenn. The chain — which serves casual American food alongside a large selection of craft beers — was founded in 2010, with the mission of making craft beer more accessible, according to their website.

City Tap is the latest of multiple University City restaurants that have recently closed. Korean restaurant Koreana closed in April of last year, while Mexican restaurant Distrito closed last summer. Fried chicken restaurant Wishbone suddenly closed its doors on Feb. 19 after 10 years of operation.

“We appreciate all of the love & loyalty we have felt over these last 13 years,” the restaurant wrote on Instagram.

Hill House also did not pass its annual inspection and is up for reinspection. To address observations of fruit flies, Penn Dining said that traps have been set and the biodigester — which was determined to be the source of the problem — has been relocated. The facility has

Penn Alumni event attendees reflect on FFP interruption, condemn protest tactics

Current and former class board presidents said that Fossil Free Penn protestors chose both the wrong occasion and the wrong tactics

MAX ANNUNZIATA Staff Reporter

Attendees of the Penn Alumni Class Presidents Event told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they felt “alienated” and “uninformed” by the interruption from protestors at the event.

On Feb. 10, Fossil Free Penn protestors — along with students and community members from the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes — interrupted President Liz Magill during the reception for several minutes. Following the incident, two alumni spoke to the DP about their frustration with the method used by FFP to inform the attendees of the issue. Current and former class board presidents said that protestors chose both the wrong occasion and the wrong tactics.

The event marked the attendees’ first chance to speak with the new University president. The tactics of the protestors, which involved a bullhorn and repeating slogans, meant that “there was not an enlightenment about specifics,” Gregory Suss, class board president of the Class of 1975, told the DP.

Suss said that he felt that the occasion itself made alumni less receptive than they might otherwise have been. Still, having earlier that day been given a presentation on University real estate plans, he thought that the protestors may have been able to take advantage of curiosity among alumni.

Senior Class Board president Derek Nhieu said that some of the attendees were “receptive,” yet the alumni reactions were a “mixed bag.”

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“Overall, I think a lot of people wanted to be receptive. They just didn’t really know how, or they didn’t think it was the right time or place,” Nhieu said.

One of the demonstrators, College senior Gigi Varlotta, had previously called alumni as “angry” and alleged that one person pushed Varlotta’s bullhorn into their face. One alum, who requested also undergone a deep cleaning.

“[W]e recognize that public perception of health department violations is that any violation is critical,” the statement said. “Please know that our goal is always to aim for inspections with zero violations.” anonymity due to fear of retaliation from the University, alleged that this incident did not occur.

The alumni also pointed to an incident in which an alumnus and current professor, recognizing Varlotta as a former student of his, repeatedly offered them the microphone to explain the issue to attendees. Nhieu said that Varlotta’s refusal to switch from bullhorn to microphone was the most “shocking moment of the whole night.”

“When admin refuses to meet any of our demands, we will continue to disrupt and protest. We are not interested in these ideas surrounding what good protest is or is not,” Varlotta wrote in a statement to the DP, citing what they said was a lack of University response to other tactics. “Until Penn acts on its role in this displacement, we will protest by any means necessary.”

Varlotta told the DP that the main target of the protest was Magill, but they said it was an “added bonus” that alumni, particularly class board presidents, were present. They said that the alumni were also influential because of their connections to Magill, Penn, developers in University City, and “other stakeholders.”

Another recent FFP protest where alumni were present occurred at the October homecoming game, which delayed play for over an hour. After that protest, students in Penn Band who participated in the protest were suspended from participation in the band until January 2024. In both cases, the anonymous alum felt that protestors had overstayed their welcome and had lost an otherwise supportive crowd.

Suss also said that the interruption seemed long and the reasons were not made sufficiently clear to attendees.

“What happens is [attendees] just turn off and wait for it to be over so they can continue what they were doing,” Suss said.

Protestors also distributed “leaflets” with information, some of which were accepted by alumni, according to Nhieu.

“I actually got into a conversation with a couple of alumni who were really curious, they didn’t know what was going on,” Nhieu told the DP. “They hadn’t heard about the protesters in the UC Townhomes, so they were asking me if I knew anything about it.”

Nhieu expressed additional concern about how the noise might have affected older attendees, some of whom represented classes as far back as the mid-1950s. While alumni criticized the tactics, timing, and effectiveness of the protest, none went so far as to condemn the protest itself.

“There’s a kind of protesting that is certainly fine and dandy. And there may very well be a genuine issue here that needs to be looked at. And I would appreciate the opportunity to do that,” Suss said.

In addition to the homecoming football game, protestors also interrupted the Convocation of the Class of 2026 in September.

Protestors are demanding that the University commit to putting $10 million toward the preservation of the UC townhomes, according to Varlotta. Penn has said that it has no control over the planned redevelopment, and has no plans to purchase the property.