Delilah's Southern Cuisine, a staple at the market since 1985, is shut down. It is the result of heavy debt, including unpaid back taxes.
But its popular and highly regarded owner Delilah Winder has left notice that her restaurant here will be back.
"I like the fish, the sweet potato pie, the greens and cabbage; it's good food," Maceo David of Pennsbury Township said.
Delilah Boyd Winder, born and raised in Germantown, gained national acclaim back in 2003 when she won Oprah's mac and cheese competition.
Her name became synonymous with scrumptious soul food.
It seems her financial troubles began around that time as a flood of financial claims started pouring in for non-payment of bills to banks and, of course, taxes.
They kept piling up over the years even as she expanded her ventures.
She did not return phone calls today, but the Reading Terminal Market's General Manager Paul Steinke got encouraging words from the trustees.
"They were optimistic that the shutdown would be temporary, somewhere between one and two weeks," Steinke said.
Delilah's enterprises declared bankruptcy last summer and have been under chapter 11 protection, but this past Friday, the court shut her down at the market and at her high rent landmark spot in 30th Street Station..
Considering Delilah's talent and reputation and the nature of the eatery business, it's easy to believe she'll be back in business somewhere, someday real soon. That's what the people at the Reading Terminal Market are hoping for.
