District 611 in Riverton Closes

After roughly six months in business, District 611 in Riverton is closing its doors indefinitely.

According to a statement posted on the restaurant's website Monday, the eatery is shutting down due to a number of factors.

"Though the Riverton community has been nothing short of amazing in terms of its support, our concept is simply no longer sustainable in its current set-up," the statement reads. "With a large number of menu items being offered outside of the brick oven pizza and two fully functioning kitchens, the operation is pretty massive."

Those issues are compounded by the limited customer traffic—"a natural downside of operating in the suburbs"—and "major limitations on the option for pursuing a liquor license," since Riverton is a dry town. 

The statement goes on to say that, though nothing is "set in stone," the founders are planning to re-concept the existing restaurant space, perhaps scaling it back and shifting the focus to the brick oven pizza concept.

For those who enjoyed District 611's take on New American cuisine and its atmosphere, there may still be hope.

"As far as the District 611 concept goes, we are currently in search of a new location that will be more conducive to the large-scale operation that we’ve built," the statement reads. "We’re hoping to find a town that has that same community-minded vibe as Riverton, only with a high volume of potential customer traffic and the option to pursue a liquor license. We’ve begun looking into a few areas in the Greater Philadelphia region and are hoping that some additional options begin to surface once we announce our plans."

A call to the restaurant was not returned Tuesday. The message on the establishment's answering system simply states the restaurant is currently closed.

District 611—the name a nod to both Riverton and Center City's Broad streets—was the creation of a trio of Stephen Starr alumni, opening in November 2012.

The space, located on Broad Street, previously housed two other restaurants: Tara's Cafe and Frankie's Home Cooking.