Rex 1516 is Philadelphia’s destination for elevated Southern-inspired comfort food. Soon, Rex 1516 will be toasting to six wonderful years in business with a back-to-back weekend Southern-style extravaganza, including the Annual Crawfish Boil from Thursday, April 26, to Saturday, April 28, and a Kentucky Derby Celebration on Saturday, May 5. Plus, the eatery is launching a new menu!
Executive Chef Justin Swain is bringing back his extremely popular crawfish boil this Thursday, 4/26, through Saturday, 4/28, which features two pounds of fresh crawfish, andouille sausage, corn and red bliss potatoes for $30. The dish will be accompanied by buckets of four Narragansett Pounders for $10. For those craving delectable crawfish and Southern sides, be sure to make reservations, as this annual meal is highly sought after!
“Our guests look forward to the Crawfish Boil every year,” said Jill Weber, owner of Rex 1516. “We offer an authentic Louisianan Cajun experience, and Chef Justin has a lot of fun preparing it.”
While guests enjoy the traditional Southern spread, local jazz musician, Adrian Hutson, will set the mood with live tunes from 6–9 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.
The celebration continues the following Saturday, May 5, with a Kentucky Derby Bash. Guests will enjoy $9 mint juleps created by Bar Manager Lou DiNunzio, and they can nosh on $5 happy hour bites, including pimento grilled cheese, shrimp po’boy and Alabama smoked turkey tails. And, of course, no Kentucky Derby party would be complete without watching the Derby, so Rex 1516 will be presenting the live broadcast of the race.
In addition to these two previously mentioned special events, Chef Swain will be launching his new menu this week, including seasonal dishes such as the spring onion hushpuppies seared with Tabasco aioli; spring farro salad with buttermilk cheese, spring greens, radishes and Meyer lemon-parsley vinaigrette; buttermilk poached pork loin, served with seasonal mushrooms, roasted carrots, duck fat confit potatoes and pork jus; and collard green spaetzle with roasted tomatoes, herbed crème fraiche, cornmeal lavash, chili oil and charred spring onions.
“I had a lot of fun curating the new spring menu,” said Swain. “Guests can expect to see hyper-seasonal ingredients and dishes such as the spring onion hushpuppies. Insider tip: the hushpuppies make for the perfect addition to any seafood entrée.”
Find Rex 1516 at 1516 South St. in Philadelphia; phone: (267) 319-1366.
- Photos: Rex 1516
