One of Philadelphia’s most acclaimed Sichuan restaurants is expanding beyond Chinatown. With his purchase of the landmark Marra’s Restaurant & Pizzeria on East Passyunk Avenue, EMei owner Dan Tsao has set his sights not only on South Philadelphia but also to the Main Line and beyond.
Several months ago, Tsao purchased the former John Henry’s Pub property on Cricket Avenue in Ardmore, where hopes to open another EMei next summer.
Tsao said the East Passyunk EMei would roll out in phases, with takeout and delivery launching in February during renovations and full dine-in service targeted for summer 2026. He said he wants to become part of the Passyunk Avenue community for decades to come.
Real estate broker Greg Bianchi, who represents the family that owned the Marra’s building at 1734 E. Passyunk Ave., called the deal “a win-win for everybody. [Tsao is] going to bring more people and business to the other businesses. People don’t realize what a force he is in the Chinatown community.”
Besides operating EMei, Tsao — who immigrated from China after high school and graduated from Penn State in 1999 — has been a newspaper publisher for 18 years. His New Mainstream Press operates Metro Chinese Weekly and Metro Viet News, offering deeper news coverage than the typically ad-heavy publications that had dominated the local Asian-language media.
EMei (pronounced “E-may”), which Tsao’s mother-in-law opened in 2011, draws a loyal base of native Chinese patrons for its Sichuan specialties, including mapo tofu, Chongqing spicy chicken, dry pot, tea-smoked duck, dan dan noodles, and whole fish. Its accolades include a 2024 placement on The Inquirer’s 76 most vital restaurants list and the top ranking in the Daily Pennsylvanian’s Best of Penn student survey. Recently, chef Amanda Shulman cited EMei in Food & Wine as her favorite restaurant.
EMei on the rise
The kitchen at 915 Arch St., entirely in the basement, is now at capacity. Even after recent upgrades, including six new wok stations, 18 new kitchen staffers, and robots delivering foods to the tables, “growth requires new space,” Tsao said.
Tsao analyzed sales data and found that many customers hail from Lower Merion, where he lives with his family — hence the opening in Ardmore. He also noticed that EMei is especially popular in South Philadelphia, whose four ZIP codes account for more than 20% of delivery volume.
This made East Passyunk a natural site for expansion. He said he was immediately drawn to the Marra’s building and was surprised that it had been on the market for more than four years.
When Tsao learned that co-owner Robert D’Adamo — a grandson of Marra’s founder Salvatore Marra — was preparing to retire, Tsao saw parallels in his own experience: Before the pandemic in 2020, his mother-in-law, Jinwen Yu, and her business partner, chef Yongcheng Zhao, were looking to step aside; Tsao became an unlikely restaurateur, buying out partners and taking on responsibilities he had not expected.
“My father spent his entire career as an executive at a food enterprise in our hometown in Zhejiang, and in college I worked every position in a Chinese takeout restaurant,” Tsao said. “Through my newspaper and digital platforms, I’ve also worked with more than 200 restaurant clients. I always knew this was a hard business. But I didn’t fully understand the challenges until I took over EMei.”
He recalls fixing sewage backups until 2 a.m., working overnight with contractors to maneuver a 1,200-pound wok station into the basement, and spending hours after service refining the menu with chefs. “The industry is brutal,” he said. “If you stay mediocre, or stay in the comfort zone of only serving a niche customer base, you will struggle — even if the restaurant doesn’t close. I knew we had to evolve EMei into something much bigger.”
In 2019, he and his wife, Ting Ting Wan, closed the restaurant for two months to renovate. During the first two years of the pandemic, when sales dropped 50%, the entire family worked more than 60 hours a week to keep the business alive.
Tsao also pulled two assistants from his media company to build formal back-office systems that later enabled EMei to scale. During the pandemic, Tsao launched RiceVan, a delivery and distribution service that transported Chinatown meals to suburban households and provided jobs for refugees and new immigrants.
EMei has since grown from 11 full-time employees to 37, and sales have increased more than 300% compared with pre-pandemic levels, Tsao said.
Tsao credits the restaurant’s founders — Yu and Zhao — for staying involved. “They still come in every day, even now,” he said. “Part of it is that retirement can be boring. But it’s also because once we took responsibility for operations and finances, they were able to relax, work fewer hours, and focus purely on the culinary side.”
A historic building reimagined
The Marra’s building will undergo substantial structural and mechanical upgrades, Tsao said. Plans include a first-floor restroom to resolve long-standing ADA issues; full replacement of HVAC and electrical systems; and removal of window units in favor of central air.
The vintage booths will be reupholstered. The bar will shift to the Pierce Street corner to improve flow. The second-floor private dining room will get new lighting and finishes; the third floor may be converted into a multipurpose or staff area. Tsao said he intends to address minor structural concerns while preserving the historic masonry and architectural character.
One open question is the fate of Marra’s nearly century-old brick pizza oven, which Marra’s family member Mario D’Adamo said was failing. EMei will test whether it can be used. If removal becomes necessary, Tsao said the bricks, sourced from Mount Vesuvius, would be saved and possibly given to the D’Adamo family, the East Passyunk Business Improvement District, or incorporated into the renovation.
“Our model has evolved — instead of putting over half a million dollars into leasehold improvements that don’t belong to us, we’d rather put that money into a building that becomes part of the company’s foundation,” Tsao said. “Restaurants come and go, but great restaurant buildings with stories — like this one — can last generations. We want to be the next chapter in that story, not just a tenant passing through.”
What to expect on EMei’s menu
The East Passyunk menu will reflect the Chinatown original while serving as a testing ground for contemporary Sichuan cooking – “lighter, seasonal, more ingredient-driven interpretations that show how Sichuan cuisine continues to evolve,” Tsao said.
Roast duck and possibly Shanghai soup dumplings are under consideration, filling a void left by the closure of Bing Bing Dim Sum nearby. Some heritage dishes removed from the Chinatown menu will return there, helping differentiate the three locations while keeping them unified. EMei’s gluten-free program, including a separate fryer, will continue.
Tsao said the neighborhood feels like home to his family. “I took my three kids — ages 6, 14, and 17 — to the East Passyunk Fall Fest again this year, and they instantly connected with the neighborhood’s energy,” he said. “They spent nearly 30 minutes exploring Latchkey Records, each leaving with something they picked out themselves. Watching them fall in love with the street the same way we did really made it feel like home.”