Forget lovers, Philly is for foodies. The much-photographed Love sculpture in Love Park needs a fork and spoon creation next to it to honor the City of Brotherly Love’s love for great food as well.
Year in and year out, Philadelphia restaurants and chefs make the cut for major culinary awards, lists, and recommendations. It’s been my goal to make sure I try as many of the acclaimed spots as I can.
My good friend Elaine and I travel regularly to Philadelphia to see modern dance shows. Just as important to us is to cross another top-rated restaurant off our growing list. Last year, we set out to eat at as many of the Top 25 Restaurants in Philadelphia as noted by the New York Times as we could. We’ve tackled almost a third of the list, and a new list is out, which has only whetted our appetites to keep going.
Along with that delectable list, the New York Times also publishes “The Restaurant List: Our 50 favorite places in America right now.” The restaurants are spread across the United States and the list is updated each year. In 2023, Philadelphia had three restaurants make the list: El Chignon, My Loup, and Kalaya. The new list, which came out in September features just one Philadelphia restaurant, a Polish restaurant located in Fishtown called Little Walter’s that opened only this past June (* also making the list: Passerine in Lancaster!).
Philadelphia’s restaurant scene is huge and one blog might not be enough to cover all of the deliciousness, but I’ll do my best.
South Philly favorites
Well before we started eating our way through the New York Times list of favorites, Elaine and I made pilgrimages to South Philly for the Italian delicacies. We bought fresh ravioli; meats, cheeses, breads, and spreads from DiBruno Brothers; olive oils and vinegars; spices; amaro; biscotti; fruits and veggies; coffee; and of course, pastries. The James Beard nominated Isgro’s Pastries at 1009 Christian Street, just a block off the Italian Market on S. 9th Street, has the best cannoli on earth, not to mention Italian spritz cookies, ricotta cookies, Torrone, rum cake, and so much more. It took 120 years for this Philadelphia institution to make it to the semifinals for the Beard Outstanding Bakery this spring.
Both DiBruno Brothers and Isgro’s ship their delicacies to those who can’t make it to South Philly. I’ve included their charcuteries and Cannoli tins to our Christmas spreads.
The Italian Market is home to many restaurants that make the best lists, too, including the ageless Villa di Roma – go for the gnocchi or eggplant parm – and the pizza/cheesesteak spot, Angelos (another Top 25 restaurant), where the lines loom large, but the wait is faster than expected. We stuck with the classic margherita with pepperoni and took it to the outdoor eating spot on the corner of 9th and Montrose streets for a scrumptious picnic.
Of course, South Philly is also known for the giant soft pretzels that fans can buy at and around the stadiums. Then there’s the cheesesteak wars with tourists always wrongly steered to Geno’s or Pat’s. Hey all, the best cheesesteaks can be found at Jim’s at 400 South Street (reopened this past May after a tragic fire in July of 2022). Jim’s West at 431 N. 62nd Street is now under new ownership and not related to the Jim’s at Jim’s South Street. Regardless of which cheesesteak place pulls someone in, the important thing to know is that a real Philly cheesesteak uses whiz (as in Cheez Whiz), not provolone. Don’t be afraid. It’s great.
Also, in the far south of Philly, many organizations note Philly as a foodie capital thanks to the Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park located near the stadiums, which Food & Wine magazine designated as one of the top food markets in America. More than 70 vendors from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and other countries offer both prepared food and fresh foods to take home every Saturday from April through October. Tantalizing scents waft through the park pulling visitors in for a cultural culinary immersion.
The Beard awards
The James Beard awards are to chefs what the Oscars are to actors, and Philadelphia dominated the nation in 2023. Friday Saturday Sunday was named outstanding restaurant, Ellen Yin of High Street Hospitality -- which runs Fork, a.kitchen + bar, and High Street -- was named outstanding restaurateur, and Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon won best chef, Mid-Atlantic for Kalaya, now in Fishtown, which won Eater’s 2019 Restaurant of the Year.
The quail course at Friday Saturday Sunday
Elaine and I quickly made sure to get to these top spots. Friday Saturday Sunday was part of the early Philadelphia restaurant renaissance more than 40 years before it was bought in 2015 by Chad Williams and his wife Hanna, who brought new life to the prix fix establishment. While reservations can be hard to snag, it’s possible to just walk in to the bar for unique and exceptional cocktails. We enjoyed eight courses of exquisite American fare including a crudo, sweet corn, beet, sweetbreads, fish, quail, and New York strip steak as part of our tasting menu. It made our taste buds sing.
I’d been to Kalaya two years into Covid when it was still located in South Philly and enjoyed dining outside on spicy Thai main dishes and the most photogenic and tasty dumplings I’d ever had. This is Thai with a twist – forget about pineapple fried rice. It’s a place to be adventurous, trying duck, goat, crab, and fish in a variety of different curries.
The stunning dumplings at Kalaya
A.kitchen+bar is a great spot to share small plates and unique cocktails. Here, you can try the delicious cheesy French pastries called gougères, oysters, oyster mushrooms, chicken liver toasts, wagyu beef tartare, squash, beets, octopus, and more. You get the picture. They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner.
Moving to new menus
Every time my daughter moves to a new spot in the city, I explore the neighborhood eateries. That’s how I found the creative breakfast place, Café Lyft, and Prohibition Taproom, which serves the tastiest drinks from the 1920s and ’30s along with some fun food like sweet potato poutine and creative roasted brussels sprouts. These are both in the Callowhill neighborhood, which is also home to Love City Brewing (great food trucks outside) and Yards Brewing Company.
Prohibition Taproom
When she moved to Pine Street, it was easy to amble over to Green Eggs Café or Winkel for breakfast or Bud & Marilyn’s for a fun dinner and drinks. Winkel, at 1119 Locust Street, which means “Little Shop” in Dutch, offers a variety of omelets and benedicts along with deep fried bread pudding, French toast and a spicy chicken toast called Hete Kip. They serve breakfast and lunch.
In the Hawthorne area, where she also lived, I discovered Hawthornes Café and Bar at 738 S. 11th St. They serve unique Sandos, Brekkie, and salads all day long and offer lots of fun outdoor dining.
Now, she’s in Germantown, which features many multicultural dining choices as well as a cidery called Young American. A variety of tasty dry ciders go perfectly with the unusual hand pies stuffed with cheesesteak ingredients, buffalo chicken, or spinach. Their corn bread and either pulled pork or tofu are also not to be missed. If it’s beer you’re after, Attic Brewing in Germantown not only offers some great IPAs (among other styles), but it also has walls filled with art by a local artist -- who is often wandering the premises -- and a great outdoor space. I bought one of the unique pieces from Dean Golphin who goes by Artist Disco.
A bit east of Germantown in North Philadelphia, Tierra Colombiana offers a diverse Latin American menu that helped the decades-old restaurant to land on The Inquirer’s “The 76” – an annual list of what it calls “the most vital restaurants in Philadelphia right now.” I dined there recently and enjoyed grilled shrimp with black beans and yellow rice. Delicioso!
Eating through the list
Other restaurants I’ve tried from the New York Times Top 25 in Philadelphia list include Doro Bet, a relatively new Ethiopian place in West Philly where a spicy chicken stew called Doro Wat eaten with a spongy bread sells for just $12. Known for their fried chicken, shawarmas, and falafels, this spot is special on a list of restaurants that often drain the wallet. Elaine and I also loved trying the Phoagie, a hoisin eggplant, avocado, fresh and frizzled onion, cilantro, pho sauce, and seeded hoagie bun sensation at Middle Child at 248 S. 11th St. in Center City for just $14.
We also ventured to Middle Child’s hip Clubhouse in Fishtown to sample cocktails like Clarified Spicy Punch made with cachaca, passionfruit, pineapple, serranos, and coconut. Fishtown is also home to Evil Genius where I can always find time for a sip of the Stacy’s Mom Citra IPA or #Adulting, the guava IPA. Elaine’s son also introduced her and she in turn brought me to Next of Kin, a new cocktail bar where the owners definitely know their liquor and drinks include a Neapolitan Milk Punch with bourbon, strawberry, vanilla and saline clarified with chocolate milk, along with a Smoke & Barrels with rye, mezcal, amaro, and cherry. Cheers!
The spicy sangria at Middle Child Clubhouse
When in Fishtown, another top 25 restaurant beckons. Suraya, a Lebanese restaurant at 1528 Frankford Ave., offers brunch, lunch, and dinner menus, but Elaine and I opted for the Taste of Suraya for $75 each, which was well worth the price for the huge quantity of food we got to try. It started with a shared table offering of hummous, baba ganoush, muhammara, labneh and taboule, all of which offered a range of amazing textures and tastes. We could each pick one cold or hot mezza like makanek, a spicy lamb sausage, or arnabeet mekle, a crispy cauliflower. We could also each select one mashawi, such as kafta kebab (ground beef kebabs) or abu sayf (yogurt marinated halibut). Finally, we had a chef’s selection for dessert. We shared everything allowing us to try and savor many different flavors of Lebanon.
Back to this year’s Top 50 places in the United States and our trip to the other new Fishtown restaurant of Little Walter’s. I’m not going to lie – the thought of Polish food didn’t really get my taste buds watering, but Little Walter’s take on Polish food – yes, please! We shared the pierogi ruskie, which was a potato, farmer cheese, caramelized onion, and sour cream comfort bomb before I all of my Polish food stereotypes were turned upside down by the wieprzowina z rozna, a rotisserie pork and herb potatoes stew and Elaine loved the kotlet z kurczka, which was a chicken cutlet that looked like schnitzel. Since getting the shout outs by New York Times and other outlets, servers say business has been crazy.
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The pierogi at Little Walter’s
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The pork stew at Little Walter’s
Too much to eat, too little time and space
I could keep writing forever, but I can’t so here’s a few last places to consider. Of course, you’ve heard of Zahav, the highly acclaimed Israeli restaurant by star chef Michael Solomonov. He also owns Lazer Wolf in both Philly and Brooklyn, as well as Goldie (you’ve got to try the tahini shakes), K’far Café, Dizengoff (best hummus and selection of amaro anywhere), Lilah, and Federal Donuts and Chicken.
Here's a quick nod to all the great eateries and food stands within the Reading Terminal Market, and further up the street closer to the Convention Center and Chinatown, one will also find great spots like Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House at 1022 Race Street, where I learned to slurp the perfectly seasoned shredded pork stir-fried noodles with my chopsticks, and Vietnam Restaurant at 221 N. 11th St., which won a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2024 to honor “locally owned restaurants that serve quality food, have timeless appeal, and reflect the character of their communities.” Huge servings of the Bun Dac Biet, the house special vermicelli featuring a crispy spring roll, grilled meatballs, grilled chicken, grilled pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber, and more was great to share with our table of four.
When I go to Philadelphia, I usually stay at the Motto by Hilton on Rittenhouse for its location, location, location; relatively good prices; and great restaurants and bars. In the lobby, Condesa offers a great selection of rotating cocktails as well as some fancy Mexican specialties as does the rooftop bar, El Techo, which becomes more nightclub late night with an open roof when the weather is nice.
The retractable roof at El Techo in Motto
Then, there’s speakeasies. I’ve been in one designed like a bookstore, one that I had to access via a barbershop, one that specializes in soju, and one behind a nondescript door called the Ranstead Room where we had to wait for at least 15 minutes before given special entry to a dimly booth for cocktails with gigantic ice cubes. Do not go to the highly rated Hop Sing Laundromat where a bully bouncer asked for our IDs, then disappeared with them for a good 15 minutes before re-emerging and rudely denying us entry. It shows up on lists of best bars in Philly, but honestly with Laundromat part of the name, it seems that the only thing this cash-only money pit launders is money.
A cocktail at Ranstead Room
Don’t forget coffee. Philadelphia is the home of La Colombe (recently purchased by Chobani), Elixr, Dript Coffee Co., Cultura Coffee, High Point Café, and many other local roasters and coffee shops. No one ever needs to go into a Starbucks here. The Philly Coffee Festival in October showcased dozens of local coffee businesses.
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The best thing about the great food choices in Philadelphia is that even some of the best are affordable. Philadelphia best showcases its brotherly love via a rich food culture that everyone can enjoy.
For more on the New York Times best dining lists, see https://www.nytimes.com/article/best-restaurants-philadelphia.html and https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/dining/best-restaurants-america.html or The Inquirer’s “The 76.”
For more of my blogging, see my website at https://www.debelynch.com.
