Philly’s Biggest Restaurant Ever — Five Years in the Making — Is Now Open

Photograph courtesy of Liberty Point and FCM Hospitality

1,400 seats. That’s the size of the Liberty Point (the new riverfront property from Avram Hornik and FCM Hospitality), which officially opened on Tuesday, May 3rd.

The space has more seats than the Walnut Street Theater.

Craft Hall, another Hornik joint, used to be the biggest in the city with a measly 500 seats. Now, there’s Liberty Point — taking advantage of the outdoor decks and river views of the Independence Seaport Museum — with its five bars, three levels, food, booze, live music, DJs, landscaped greenery and blooming flowers. If this whole thing is sounding like a supersized “Morgan’s Pier South,” the similarities are not entirely negligible.

Food options / Photograph courtesy of Liberty Point and FCM Hospitality

Liberty Point’s opening represents the hopes of a summer comeback for drinking and dining in a city that’s been (wisely) hesitant to embrace a vision of pre-pandemic normalcy. Even still, Liberty Point was first conceived before COVID. This is a project five years in the making.

“For five years I’ve been working with the management of the Independence Seaport Museum to develop a concept that would utilize the amazing river views from their large outdoor decks,” Hornik says. “The restaurant was scheduled to open in spring of 2021 but was delayed due to COVID. We are thrilled to take things to the next level for outdoor, riverfront dining in Philadelphia.”

Like so many other big restaurant and bar projects, Liberty Point is taking a something-for-everyone approach to food and programming. The kitchen offers everything from spicy Korean BBQ cauliflower to shrimp and grits over yellow corn grit tots, pizza panzanella salad, fried seafood baskets (including “The Whole Jawn” for especially hungry folks) and roast pork sandwiches. Bars are stocked with custom draft cocktails and frozen margaritas, as well as non-alcoholic drinks. But, let’s be honest, the view is the real draw here.

Cocktails and views at Liberty Point / Photograph by Laura Swartz

There’s a permanent stage in the middle of the complex offering live music, and the first level is both family and dog-friendly. Families with small children will likely remain on that level, as the venue’s stairs make strollers difficult, and a rowboat permanently docked on that lower level was immediately commandeered by mini sailors on opening day (as was its intention).

Liberty Point is now open seven days a week, from noon until midnight. As with any of these all-ages spots, expect earlier hours to be more family-oriented, and the vibe to get more adult (and twinkle-lit) as the night goes on.

So if you’re looking for some place new to check out this weekend, we’re pretty sure they’ve got the space.

Photograph courtesy of Liberty Point and FCM Hospitality