Image via Lamberti Pizza & Market.

Lamberti Pizza & Market is one of many downtown restaurants adjusting to the return to more in-person work throughout downtown.

Restaurants in downtown Philadelphia are hoping for a rebound as more commuters return to on-site work and are working to adapt to customers’ new expectations, writes Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza for WHYY

Family-run Lamberti Pizza & Market was forced to close its doors at the height of the pandemic. When it was time to reopen, the company decided to adapt its business model and offer more prepared foods like grilled chicken, salmon and roast beef.

The new concept was launched in April 2021 with gourmet pizza and ready meals for commuters who want to pick up their dinner on the way home.

Things have been steadily improving, especially as more Center City employees work hybrid hours. To attract new customers, the restaurant is offering discounts to hospital and city office workers for the rest of the year.

“The people who work in the city are the guests who drive our business,” says Rosita Lamberti, restaurant manager of the Aldo Lamberti Family of Restaurants.

The numbers are promising: In June, pedestrian traffic reached 86 percent of 2019 levels. Commuter traffic is now at about 60 percent of 2019 levels.

Read more about downtown restaurants and how downtown continues to recover from the pandemic in WHYY.

_____