PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Philly restauranteur Teddy Souris opens his eighth concept this weekend at 114 S. 12th Street, called Sueño. It's next to his popular seasonal pop-up, A Nightmare Before Tinsel.
"We decided to make the nightmare space a restaurant this year," Souris said.
And because of COVID-19, Sueño, which translates to "dream" in English, is also a restaurant.
"It's a Mexican-American restaurant, we're hoping, for the long-term here," he said.
It shares a "parklet" space with its neighbor, the Christmas-themed Tinsel, which is now decorated for Halloween.
Asked why he would open a restaurant now, during the pandemic, Souris said he had no choice.
"We purchased this building right before COVID happened."
To survive, he says, COVID-19 is forcing him to re-think how his restaurants are run.
"No loss of product, you know, changing our prices -- not even on the higher end. We're not trying to raise our prices, because that works against us. If anything, we just change the cocktails and the ingredients in the food for the highest profit margin," he said.
And as the city enters the cold season, Souris says he's just trying to make it through.
"We'll be fine by spring, but the winter is going to be a tough one."
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