Pompeii, an Italian restaurant across from the Forrest Theater on Walnut Street, has been supplanted by Joe Pesce, an Italian-inspired place with a lower-priced menu. Same owner: Robert Liccio. He's brought in his brother Joseph Tucker, who's had quite a run here. Ten years ago -- yes, 1997 -- the South Philly-bred Tucker opened a grand Italian restaurant called Joseph's on the Avenue at Broad and Spruce, where Ted's Montana Grill is now and across from a vacant lot that years later became the Kimmel Center. Joseph's just didn't make it. Tucker lasted 3 months before he and his old business partner had a falling out. He went back home for a year, until Liccio set him up at Broad and Sansom, where the Commerce Bank is now, in a place called Pompeii. (It was Tony Clark's before that.) In 2000, the brothers opened Joseph's on the Parkway, and he stayed for a couple of years before heading to the Jersey Shore. Most recently, Tucker came up with the concept for Joe Pesce, which was in Ventnor. He's since closed that but thought the style of food would work at 1113 Walnut St. They're also running a "Four for Four" happy hour -- $4 specials from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays. The brothers plan to open a second Pesce in October at a still-unnamed spot in Collingswood.
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Here's Tucker directing traffic in the kitchen at Joseph's on the Avenue in December 1997. Credit: Ron Tarver of The Inquirer