The best restaurants in Philadelphia to book right now

Friday Saturday Sunday was already a time-worn Philadelphia dining institution, but husband-and-wife duo Chad and Hanna Williams put the Rittenhouse restaurant on the national radar, winning the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2023. Dining here feels both elegant and comfortable, and the popular tasting menu stands out with multicultural influences from places like the Caribbean, France and the American South. Reserve a table upstairs, go full tasting menu or pull up to the bar for á-la-carte plates.

Matt Cahn has built a naturally fun team that knows good food, so it’s no surprise that Middle Child Clubhouse is seeing success beyond just sandwiches these days. The sit-down restaurant has a comforting and nostalgic vibe where you can get a bucket of Budweisers or an expensive bottle of Champagne with your meal. Try the Cubano with Dominican pernil or big-as-your-face Olivia’s Pancake on the daytime menu, and come back for dinner to try the wet Caesar salad, salmon crudo or Peruvian-style brick chicken.

There’s perhaps no better restaurant to splurge at than chef-owners Alex Kemp and Amanda Shulman’s My Loup. The French-Canadian menu is over the top in the best way, and the bar program run by Jillian Moore adds to the infectiously good energy with drinks like a Dark and Stormy with house-fermented ginger beer and dark rum. Recent hits include cauliflower and sweetbreads with shaved black truffles, caviar with pork rinds, sour cream, and onion, and softshell crabs smoothed in hollandaise.

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Port Richmond’s Meetinghouse is a shining example of the city’s dynamic hybrid bar/sit-down restaurant culture. One of the newest kids on the block, the small luncheonette menu with hot roast beef sandwiches, fries, turkey clubs, broiled fish, and Tonewood house beers already shows promise. Plus, they’ve got collab menus every Monday with other beloved spots like Elma, Poison Heart, and Human Robot.

Vernick Food & Drink remains decisively an influential restaurant for many local chefs. This cozy, two-level space boasts one of the most knowledgeable and hospitable teams (ask about a wine club membership from their shop next door). Dishes like sea urchin with scrambled eggs, wood-fired roast chicken with lemon and herb jus, and foie gras and persimmon jam toast remain legendary for a reason.

One of the city’s most intimate tasting menu experiences is set in a candle-lit communal dining room on the corner of Fourth and Bainbridge Streets. Here, chef Chris D’Ambro and his team celebrate seasonal farm-to-table cooking that true food lovers will cherish. To make the evening more special, opt for the kitchen counter seating.

Former food journalist-turned-restauranteur Alex Tewfik has designed a polished and cool contemporary space that’s become an East Passyunk staple, despite Mish Mish being only a few years old. Swing by for Sunshine Hour on good weather days from 5 to 7pm for $8 small plates and $10 wines from across the Mediterranean to be enjoyed outside while people-watching. The menu changes often, and being amongst all the bustle, chatter, and flowing wine makes it feel like an easy-breezy dinner party.

One of East Passyunk’s iconic dining destinations for over a decade, executive chef Kevin McWilliams and chef-owner Nick Elmi champion Mid-Atlantic cuisine, with an emphasis on fresh seafood. Guests can choose their own dining experience: tasting menu or a la carte, at the bar, or in the dining room—there’s no wrong way to enjoy this refined neighborhood restaurant.

This corner restaurant has been a staple in Rittenhouse for over a decade and continues to set the bar for what a destination restaurant should be—one that neighbors and star chefs frequent for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The seasonal French/New American menu features crave-worthy plates, such as a double patty cheeseburger with pickled relish, alongside special-occasion dishes like smoked duck breast served with seasonal fixings. Plus, don't miss one of the country’s finest natural wine lists.

With its packed sushi/sashimi bar in the front, and posh reservation-only omakase suite in the back, Royal Izakaya continues to set the bar as a destination restaurant. The menu is rooted in Japanese cooking and culinary tradition that welcomes adventurous eaters (kids love it here) for hamachi ponzu, salt-broiled Norwegian mackerel with grated ginger and daikon, broiled Japanese eggplant with sweet miso glaze, and karaage wings with soy chili vinegar sauce, red onion, and scallions. Amp up your meal with a frozen cocktail or ask sake pairing.

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Filipino food is taking off in Philly thanks to hit restaurants like Tabachoy. Chef Chance Anies brings his favorite childhood dishes to the Italian Market, like soy and citrus marinated beef steak with lemony onions and scallions, Pancit Palabok made from traditional boiled rice noodles topped with a soft-boiled egg, poached shrimp and chicharrones, and sisig (try the vegetarian version with mushrooms and tofu). The whole menu is family-style, so go wild!

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Thanks to chef Yun Fuentes, Puerto Rican and Latin American food isn’t just in North Philly anymore. At this casita-style Rittenhouse restaurant, you can snack on cuchifritos like skewers of fish and pork belly with fried and sweet plantains during happy hour and share a whole roasted pig (aka lechon) alongside traditional and seasonal accompaniments on Sunday evenings. Plus, nothing beats drinking a rum cocktail at their ventanita on a warm, sunny day.

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Chef Alex Yoon’s tiny seafood BYOB in Bella Vista is extra charming with its hand-written menus and two-person kitchen that cranks out fresh, expertly prepared fish dishes. Open since the nineties, it’s developed quite a following for good reason. Caviar on oysters, scallop toast with tons of chives, branzino filet with whitefish ragu and potatoes, tagliatelle with squid ink sauce, and blue crab are just a few of our favorite things.

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Chef Carlos Aparicio has gained national recognition for cultivating traditional cooking styles and flavor-packed recipes from across Mexico. Expect cemitas stacked with a variety of meats and veggies between delightfully fluffy pieces of bread, carpaccio-style beef tenderloin with ancho chile and avocado leaves, aguachiles with peppers, lime, garlic, and hominy, and tacos served on house-made sourdough tortillas. The BYOT menu offers a range of Mexican cocktail makings, so you only have to bring the tequila.

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Chef Nok Suntaranon, winner of the 2023 James Beard award for best chef mid-Atlantic, moved her beloved Italian Market BYOB to a spacious tropical-designed spot in Fishtown. The concept is the same—preparing wonderfully flavorful dishes the way she saw her mom do it when she was growing up in the south of Thailand—but now you can dine here for dinner and lunch on the weekends. There’s a full bar cranking out innovative tropical cocktails, a beer slushy, and a full list of whites, reds, rosés, and oranges.

The newly re-opened High Street 2.0 on Ninth Street is all about artisanal pizzas, pasta, breads, and salads. Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, it’s a comfortable neighborhood restaurant to stop at any time of the day. Check out their morning pastries, house Reuben with pastrami, tahini Caesar salad, and any of their seasonal pies.

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Chef-owners Cybille St. Aude-Tate and Omar Tate are educating Philadelphians about Black foodways one plate at a time. Everything on their small cafe menu in West Philly is made from scratch or sourced from Black purveyors, with vegan options aplenty. But the fried chicken biscuit and Haitian-inspired Cubano (called “The Haitian”) easily elevate this city’s sandwich game. What’s more: Now you can experience a new dinner service tasting menu inspired by their Afrocentric lineage and humble beginnings.

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Philly has long flourished as a vegan hot spot and Pietramala is one of the more exciting additions to the plant-based scene. Inventive dishes like tortelloni with cultured cashew ricotta, arugula rabe, and green garlic and parsnip piccata with garlic, lemon, and tomato shio koji showcase complex Italian flavors. We can’t wait to see what else Chef Ian Graye has in store in the future.

The best chef's counter in Philadelphia is at this corner deli in southwest Philadelphia. At Heavy Metal Sausage, lunch is a multi-hour BYOB affair where off-shift chefs, power diners, sommeliers, and old timers share plates of Zungenblutwurst sandwiches, beef tartare, pig head lasagne, pâte en croûte, and bottles of rare wines are poured in plastic cups. Thursday and Friday nights, the space transforms into an intimate seated trattoria dinner with seasonal dishes and handmade pasta courses.

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In a city full of amazing pizza and BYOBs, this small Greek restaurant on Snyder Avenue is an unlikely but formidable competitor. Their ‘roni cups and soppressata pies are sleeper hits but chef Bobby Saritsoglou also dishes out top-notch wood-fired Mediterranean fare that keep locals coming back for lunch and dinner. Watermelon and feta salads, fried smelts, shawarma and gyros, merguez, lamb manti are all must-order plates.

In a city full of amazing Italian BYOBs, A Mano stands out for its modern take on classic dishes like prosciutto and melon, burrata salad, chicken Milanese and tiramisu. This Townsend Wentz spot is hip and fun and great for bringing out-of-town guests.

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The Good King Tavern shines as an oasis for affordable French tavern fare. Diners often go full-on Euro with Marseillaise panisse chickpea fritters, escargots in herb butter, steak frites with red wine sauce, or the duck of the day. Plus, their bar is an excellent space to dive into a briny, dirty martini, a glass of natural wine, or a mood-fitting cocktail. Come in for a solo dinner or date night, no matter the occasion, dining here always hits the spot.

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This stylish Israeli grill, or “shipudiya,” is perfect for group dining. Start your meal with succulent charcoal-grilled meats (lamb, beef, chicken), fish (salmon, branzino), or veggies (eggplant, royal trumpet mushroom) along with ten salatim, or add on shawarma-spiced cauliflower with spicy tzatziki and pine nuts from the grill and French fries with tehina ketchup on the side. Don’t leave without the crazy-good soft serve.

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Nestled on the lofty eighth floor of the Bok Building, an abandoned technical school in South Philly, Irwin’s offers not only a charming setting from which to enjoy sweeping views of Philadelphia from every direction but an A-grade menu of Sicilian food helmed by Philly veteran chef Michael Vincent Ferreri, the former owner of the dearly missed Res Ipsa. Thankfully, we get a taste of that magic here, with Ferreri’s menu of divine mezze and pastas, and three shareable entrees —a whole fish of the day, pepper- and pistachio-crusted swordfish, and a half chicken roasted in a sweet and tart agrodolce sauce.