Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

Felicia D'Ambrosio

NOW SEATING

Stephen Starr's latest restaurant draws aesthetic inspiration from the gritty Mexicali roadside bars in flicks like From Dust Till Dawn. (For our safety, the servers rock natty plaid shirts and not double-cylinder revolver codpieces.) Situated in the former Midtown IV Diner, El Rey's walls are filled with trippy Mexican prison art and various kitschtastic flea-market finds. Chef Dionicio Jimenez (ex Xochitl) has put together a largely traditional Mexican menu (leave the mod flash-n-dash to El Vez) — tortas, cemitas, tacos, moles, chiles en nogada. In the back of the restaurant sits the Ranstead Room, a covert cocktail bar (check out Spirit Sister). More photos, and the full menus, on Meal Ticket.

This combo takeout, bar and restaurant is owned by Savvas Navrosidis, proprietor of the nearby Fairmount Pizza as well as Alessandro's at Broad and Wallace. The collegiate-friendly space, which opens early as a breakfast café/coffee spot (with free WiFi) and goes till last call, offers a huge selection of brick-oven pizzas, stromboli, sandwiches and salads, plus a full bar. Don't miss Navrosidis' wife Maria's homey Greek specialities, which include souvlaki, stuffed peppers and revithia, a vegetarian lemon broth-based soup with braised chickpeas and baby spinach. More on Meal Ticket.

LITTLE VITTLES

>> Renaissance Sausage is the name of the brand-new food truck making its debut this Sunday, May 2, at Headhouse Square Farmers Market. It offers four varieties of sausage made from scratch using locally sourced, organic ingredients. More on Meal Ticket.

>> Munish Narula has opened a new Tiffin location in the Wynnewood Shopping Center at 50 E. Wynnewood Road. 

>> Kraftwork (Girard and Montgomery), from Sidecar's Adam Ritter, opens next Friday, May 7.

>> David Arrell, owner of Good Karma at 331 S. 22nd St., is working on a second café at 928 Pine St. It's up for a July opening.