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The Piazza at Schmidts — Bart Blatstein’s long-in-coming eat/drink/shop space, built on the former site of Schmidt’s Brewery in Northern Liberties — is throwing their Opening Day festivities this Saturday. Amongst the 80,000 square foot Italian-style piazza, 500 apartments, and 50,0000 square feet of office space, will reside 4 restaurants and bars that have the Phoodie staff very interested:

· The Swift Half is a gastro-pub that comes from the owners of The Good Dog. That information should be enough to get some Good Dog worshippers (and there are many) over there, but there’s more. Owners David Garry and Heather Gleason promised their new venture will be more than just a Good Dog sequel. (Good Dog II: The NL Chronicles, perhaps?) The Swift Half is going to have a bit more of an upscale feel with a “Western European twist.” The name of the pub refers to an English saying that refers to the “swift half” of a pint that you say you’re going to grab at a pub which inevitably turns into a drawn out affair. We’ve all lived the namesake, can’t wait to see what the restaurant has to offer.

· Darling’s is going to fill the Northern Liberties diner void with some gusto. Located on the first floor the Piazza’s “Egg” office building, the once cheesecake-only restaurant has taken giant steps into the world of American comfort food. Their menu (complements of Thrillist) left this writer licking the computer screen (sorry, Joey). It boasts homemade sausage, pancake flavor combos that you wish you thought of, and entrees that smack of traditional diner fare but also promise much more. All that being said, this place looks great, and much like its menu promises to do, it somehow captures the 50’s diner feel with a stylish edge.

· Nightlife promoter Tommy Up is getting his hands in the Piazza as well. He’s opening P.Y.T., a bar and burger lounge that apparently has a retro-cool ’80s feel. P.Y.T. won’t be ready for the grand opening party this Saturday, but it looks to be shaping into a pretty zazzy spot.

· The Piazza will also feature an Italian wine bar called Vino that will offer pizza and pasta. Not a lot of other info out there on it yet.

The Piazza promises to be a pretty cool addition to Northern Liberties. Eventually, developers plan to open even more shop space at the Piazza, aptly named The Shops at Schmidt’s, on Second and Girard. The shops will include a two story, 100,000-square foot supermarket. We can’t wait to see what else the Piazza will have to offer. Until then, we’re excited about these four new spots.