Credit: Chris English/NewtownPANow.com
A new Árdana Food and Drink will soon open in the space once occupied by Solstice in the Village at Newtown Shopping Center in Newtown Township.
The township’s board of supervisors voted 4-0 at Wednesday night’s meeting to grant conditional use approval for the operation. Michael Christou, whose family owns six restaurants – including one other Ardana at the Valley Square Shopping Center in Warrington – said he didn’t have an exact opening date for the Newtown Township establishment but hoped it would open by the end of this month.
He described Ardana as “Mediterranean, Greek heavy with a lot of Italian food” and added the menu will be very similar to what is offered at the Warrington restaurant, but with some possible “detours” depending on what people in the Newtown area want.
Christou said the name Ardana comes from the village in Cyprus where one of his grandmothers grew up.
Joseph Blackburn, the attorney representing the family on the project, said the new 6,700 square-foot Ardana will have 250 total seats, including 90 seasonal outdoors. The total seating is one less than Solstice’s 251, he added.
And while the capacity is technically 250, Blackburn said he imagined the biggest crowds on any given Friday or Saturday night throughout the year would be about 160.
“The kitchen would probably be screaming in a scenario where they had 250,” he noted.
Credit: Chris English/NewtownPANow.com
Hours for the new Ardana will be 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Supervisors’ Chairman Dennis Fisher and fellow board members Phil Calabro, Elen Snyder and Kyle Davis all voted to grant conditional use approval, though Calabro and Snyder did express some concerns about the number of seats and parking issues at the shopping center. Supervisor John Mack was unable to attend the meeting.
Solstice, which offered a varied menu and emphasized ingredients in season, opened in March of 2020 just when the coronavirus pandemic was hitting full force. It struggled to be successful thereafter and closed in June of 2022 after a little more than two years in business.
The new Ardana, at 2948 South Eagle Road, will be one in a cluster of restaurants in that section of the Village at Newtown, including Chipotle, MOD Pizza, Chopt and the Iron Hill Restaurant & Brewery.
