Kennett Square's Other Main Street Is Birch Street Now

The building at the corner of Birch and Broad has been a bar and restaurant under several owners, and it was once home to Hank's Place before that diner reopened in Chadds Ford. Since September it has had porch seating out front, a cocktail bar inside, and more than 30 curated art pieces on its walls. Its name is Opus, and it began serving on September 11, 2026.

One new restaurant would be a nice addition to a side street. Opus counts for more because it fills out a block that already had a hotel, a beer garden, and a community event hall, all run by the same owner. That owner has a stone event venue booked into 2027 and a speakeasy still to come. State Street remains the borough's front porch. Birch Street now has a calendar of its own, and the two overlap on several nights between now and Christmas.

The corner that used to be Hank's Place

Opus is big for Kennett: 5,100 square feet and 125 seats, right next to Artelo Hotel. The menu is New American and changes with the seasons, with small plates, bar snacks, entrées and cocktails. Before opening, the restaurant listed planned dishes including Kennett Square mushroom bisque, a local artisan bread board with roasted garlic, butternut squash agnolotti with pomegranate molasses, Parisian herb gnocchi with local mushrooms, seared dayboat scallops, and apple tarte tatin. VISTA Today confirmed that the bisque, agnolotti, gnocchi and scallops were on the opening menu.

The kitchen leaders already have ties to the area. Executive Chef Matthew Anderson previously ran culinary programs at Longwood Gardens and Winterthur. Chef de Cuisine Kris Stover has cooked at Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, and The House of William & Merry. General Manager Beau Fournier comes from 15 years in hospitality, most recently at Sovana Bistro and The Pear. The Daily Local adds that Fournier grew up in Kennett Square and still lives in the borough.

The art is local too. Inside are hand-painted murals by Jacintha Kruc and Freiman Stoltzfus, plus rotating work by area high school students. A large exterior mural by Phillip Adams, about the history of Birch Street, was planned for the weeks after opening. The Daily Local said in late September it would go up "this fall." As of this writing, no report has confirmed it is finished, so the outside wall may still be in progress when you walk by.

At the ribbon-cutting, Square Roots Collective co-CEO Stephanie Almanza described the restaurant to ChaddsFordLive as "the latest evolution of Birch Street, where its post-industrial past is gaining new life as a cultural and dining destination." To see why the whole street is changing at once, look at who owns it.

One owner, and where the money goes

Square Roots Collective, led by co-CEOs Mike Bontrager and Stephanie Almanza, owns Opus, Artelo Hotel, The Creamery of Kennett Square, and The Francis Hotel & Suites. The Francis sits off Birch at 205 South Union Street. In March, ChaddsFordLive reported it was getting ready for its first guests, which made it the group's second boutique hotel downtown.

What sets the model apart is where the profits go. According to the Daily Local, the group returns 100% of business profits to the town's nonprofits and has given more than $750,000 in grants since 2022. Opus profits are earmarked for Family Promise of Southern Chester County, United Way of Southern Chester County, and Brandywine Red Clay Alliance. So dinner at Opus or a weekend beer at The Creamery partly funds work across southern Chester County.

The group's reach also goes past hospitality. It incubated Kennett Trails Alliance, which is building the Kennett Greenway, and it has partnered with Brandywine Red Clay Alliance on restoring waterways. Bob George, who co-wrote a book about the town with Joan Holliday ten years ago, told the Daily Local that "the south end of town has so much potential and here it is being actualized." He pointed to new sidewalks and native plantings along the road as signs of the change.

The Creamery after the Daiquiri Shack closes

The Creamery at 401 Birch Street started out about a century ago as a condensed milk and dairy processing plant. Today it is the street's community center, beer garden and arts hub. It has hosted Juneteenth celebrations, Hispanic Heritage parties, Día de los Muertos and Three Kings Day.

Summer is officially over there, since the Creamery's website lists the Daiquiri Shack as closed for the season. The posted patio hours are:

• Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.
• Friday, 4 to 11 p.m.
• Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.
• Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.

The patio bar is listed for Friday 5 to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday 2 to 10:30 p.m., and it is closed Thursday and Sunday. The page isn't dated, so check it before heading over as the weather turns.

The calendar keeps going even as the patio season winds down. The Creamery lists a Halloween Bash on October 31 and a Trivia Night on November 5. Longwood Gardens runs a series called Longwood at The Creamery, with Plantology on Tap evenings on October 15 and November 19 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. In December, the Holiday Village Market takes over the site on December 5, 6, 12 and 13, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Longwood is also holding Holiday Village workshops there those weekends, including a kissing-bough workshop on December 12 and an evergreen-swag workshop on December 13, both from 1 to 3 p.m.

What's still behind the construction fence

Much of the stone on the Creamery campus is still being rebuilt. BPGS, the contractor on the 401 Birch Street project, describes it as stabilizing the historic stone structure and converting it into a multi-use event venue. The plans include a main event room, private dining and cocktail areas, patios and decks, new mechanical systems, and an elevator and stair tower.

That building will become Stonehaven, an event space for weddings and corporate gatherings of up to 300 guests. VISTA Today reported in June that it has 6,341 square feet and is planned to launch in 2027. Stonehaven's own site says it is booking events for 2027. The two sources don't quite match on timing. BPGS lists completion as September 2026, but the Daily Local said at the end of that month that the campus was still under renovation. Either way, the public side of Stonehaven starts next year.

Star & Lantern is the least defined piece. It's a planned speakeasy celebrating African American stories through food and drink. It will support Voices Underground, a nonprofit that uses storytelling for racial healing, and another Square Roots Collective initiative. The latest coverage still calls it "coming soon" and gives no opening date or address.

Two streets, one season

The Birch Street and State Street calendars now run side by side, and on some nights they overlap. On October 15, Third Thursdays fills State Street with outdoor dining, late shopping and family activities from 5:30 to 10 p.m. That same night, Plantology on Tap runs at The Creamery from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Opus is open at Birch and Broad.

Clover Market brings antique, vintage and handmade vendors, food trucks, wine and beer, and live music. The Holiday Light Parade ends with Santa lighting the community tree. Tinsel on the Town adds a festive train, Santa, vendors and seasonal treats to State Street a week before Christmas.

State Street has a new spot coming too. Top Dog Cocktails has planned a fall opening at 110 East State Street. It will be a 750-square-foot tasting room, bottle shop and vinyl-listening space for founder Ken Smukler's ready-to-drink margaritas, espresso martinis and whiskey lemonades. PhillyVoice reported the plan in July with no exact opening date. If it opens before December, a Tinsel on the Town crowd could stop at a bottle shop on State Street and then walk down to Birch for dinner at Opus.

Whether you've lived in Kennett for decades or just heard about Opus's mushroom bisque, the team at Keller Williams Main Line likes to keep up with how the borough's streets are changing, from Birch and Broad to State Street. If you want to talk about the south end of town or what's ahead there in 2027, Contact Us.