Bootsie's at 38 S. 19th St., one of the oddest Center City eateries, is down and out. For now, anyway.
The restaurant, a partnership between restaurateur Yair "Bootsie" Butz and TV writer Michael Conforti, started out in August 2006 as an upscale hot dog/hamburger shop.
That didn't fly, so a few months later, it was converted into more of a sit-down restaurant, with Mediterranean-continental cuisine. It shut down over the weekend. Its website says it's closed. Conforti says it suffered from an "identity crisis." Butz told me today that they're tying up loose ends and that they're planning to open a new restaurant elsewhere.