Philadelphia, best food city on the east coast? (Pittsburgh, York: 2015, theater)

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

Well, there's a flip side to that. Go too much to the other extreme and you have NYC. I would never want Philly to look like that. I understand what you mean, though, insofar as a place like Fitler Square seems to be all residential without any dining and/or retail options. But I personally like the "neighborhood in the city" vibe that several areas of Philly have and believe that, as cities go, it is incredibly unique. As much as I love going to NYC and walking around, I think parts of it are downright ugly with retail shop after retail shop after retail shop. Come closing time, if you're walking around all you're going to see are a bunch of gates pulled down over the storefronts.

I’m certainly not suggesting any extremes. Variety, somewhere in the middle, is perfectly fine with me.

[Hannah5555]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Not to derail the topic, but my experience has actually been that New Englanders/Bostonians are widely pretty down-to-earth and affable folks. Actually remind me a lot of Philadelphians in that regard.

The insufferable/"Boston is God's gift to the world" types certainly do exist, but they're not nearly as common as they're portrayed.

More to the point, Boston has some fantastic food establishments, but again, not nearly as many approachable ones and not quite as truly unique/creative as in Philly. The "corporate" tech influence has come to dominate that city way too much. It's definitely lost its edge.

Thank you.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

I’m not suggesting that center city should transition to twin housing and tree filled neighborhoods. Streets with trees like Center City are enough. I’m simply suggesting that there could be more variety in many neighborhoods. And while we may not agree that center city is an island, it is distinct from most every neighborhood around it. So I’m not sure how it’s not different.

That is a great way to word it. When I walk around Manhattan Or Chicago the neighborhoods transition seamlessly from one to the other. The character may change slightly, but there is never a transition period, or a period of where am I going?

I would say the only parts of CC that almost seamlessly transition into the next set of neighborhoods are walking west into U City, and walking South, East of Broad St.


For example, walking from the Reading Terminal to Frankford Hall is about 2 miles, 45 min walk, but hardly enjoyable for anyone.

Its actually a longer walk to get from the Flat Iron Building to the Met in New York (3 miles)
And going from Michigan Ave to Lincoln Park (3.5 miles)

And both of those walks are uninterrupted flow of neighborhoods that offer a great variety of structures, parks, shops, cafes, tall buildings, short buildings, etc.

DC is closer to that setup than Philadelphia is.

When you head out from CC in most directions it either transitions into a barren area, dangerous area, rows and rows of houses with no stores, cafes, parks, or vegetation.

And that doesn't mean I am advocating for New York City development in every corner of Philadelphia. People seem to be a bit dramatic with the one or the other scenario. Philadelphia will never be New York and is not even close to approaching New York, but it could certainly use some more density and activity in neighborhoods that aren't in CC.

That being said, I still think Philadelphia's "downtown" is among the best in the nation, it just drops off a lot quicker than other major cities, hence the spillover of crime and flashmobs, you don't see that in NYC, Chicago, DC, Boston because there is a larger barrier between the good and bad, and even the bad neighborhoods have basic amenities. And that might be why outsiders think it feels smaller than it actually is, because 75% of the action is confined to 10-15% of the actual city.

And back to the original topic, Philadelphia is definitely one of the top food cities in the nation.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by KansastoSouthphilly

Maybe I am crazy or have been unlucky when I go south but I think Philadephia has a significantly better food scene than DC. I was just there last month. The only great restaurant experience I have had was at Chez Billy Sud in Georgetown and even that wasn't better than a place like Laurel. I found most of the good restaurants to be at the extreme high end of things and the Mid range restaurants to be down right bland and uninteresting. Philly has more than enough high end restaurants but also has plenty of options for those nights when you don't want to spent $200+ per person. Even extremely popular restaurants like Zahav have pretty reasonable price points.


I have long thought of DC as the land of overpriced expense account restaurants and bad fast casual spots like &Pizza.


New York has many great restaurants and almost certainly many more than Philly. I do think that if you walk into a random restaurant in Greater Center City that chances that it will be good are better than if you walk into a random restaurant in Manhattan. But since that's not how most people choose where they are going to eat it doesn't matter though I do appreciate that I can often get reservations day of in Philly or typically walk in off the street which can be difficult in New York.

I may have been giving DC too much credit, because I have always enjoyed eating out in Philadelphia more than DC, and almost everyone I know agrees. Philadelphia offers ample options for the low end diner, mid end diner, high end diner, street food, food trucks, BYOB culture, and a growing variety of ethnic cuisines.

I did have some nice experiences in more "up and coming" DC neighborhoods like Shaw, but I definitely feel you on the lackluster, sterile, corporate dining that has overtaken a chunk of the city.

I do think Philadelphia (until recently) hasn't gotten the food credit it deserves, and maybe DC got a little too much credit (per usual).

[pure_mercury]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Which is odd that people say DC feels bigger. I think it is because they have a more consistent flow between neighborhoods. I think Philadelphia is doing a great job at closing the gaps, but CC is still confined to its little region. I think the stretch going South from CC is more cohesive than going North (though that gap is improving quickly). Going West is fine because of U City, but those pesky lots on Western Market need to be redeveloped ASAP.

That being said, I still think Philadelphia has a better downtown district compared to DC, it is just a lot more compact.

Some missing links that need to be filled to fully unify CC are western Walnut - JFK, there are projects in the works, but its still pretty barren.
The area around Hahnemann (specifically the land near the Cathedral that the Archdioceses is planning to sell to developers.
Spring Garden where it meets 12th and Ridge going East needs some work, and there is a hard boundary into the Poplar neighborhood, much thanks to PHA.

Those are the only main outliers I can think of. Obviously the continued improvement of Eastern Market St is important, but that area is always busy and connected either way.

I also think Philadelphia needs to continue to diversify its amenities and housing stock. The most bustling exciting neighborhoods are the ones that have variety and not just rowhomes lined up. Northern Liberties and Fishtown are great examples of bustling districts, they are just separated from CC at this point, because its a rather dreary walk between there and CC.

Also, I think Philadelphia is essentially tied with DC as the number 2 food city in the Northeast. New York is obviously in its own league due to the sheer amount of options, but as of late Philadelphia has been creeping up on several cities, DC being one of them. I would place Philadelphia as a top 5-10 food city in the US.

DC isn't even top 3 on the East Coast for food. And Philadelphia has never been ranked below DC. Even the Washington Post put Philly at #6 and DC at #9. Personally, NYC and Philly are at the top on the East Coast, and I would have Charleston ahead of DC. DC is on the Savannah/Atlanta/Miami tier.

[pure_mercury]

Originally Posted by Hannah5555

There's not a lot to do/see in UC aside from the Unis, World Cafe, some nice restaurants and a couple of local parks. Fairmount/Spring Garden and Francisville are mostly residential and if you don't know where you're going, straying beyond the boundaries of Fishtown and No. Libs can get pretty dicey, really fast.

Food here is good, although I have no intention of eating a fried pickle anytime soon (and never ate a pickled egg in London when I lived there either) and so is the music. Only the people who live beyond the limits of CC or "Greater" CC care about those neighborhoods. If I were a young professional and had lived in a larger city like Chicago, DC or New York, Philly would indeed seem like an island which is why it's nice that NYC and DC are not too far away. If you want a city that feels like a small town, then Philly fits that bill.

I think it's a real stretch though to say Philly has the best food on the east coast.

I don't think it is a stretch. Also, Philadelphia is a much bigger than DC. Like, 2.2x bigger.

[Gerania]

My son ate dinner at Kura this evening and has the T-shirt to prove it. He said that the food was very good.

[homenj]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Agreed, however, DC is starting to give Boston a run for its money. But I have never met anyone who considers Boston a top foodie city, new one for me...

Kind of off topic, but I was in Chicago for a festival last weekend, and met people from all over and had so many positive discussions about Philadelphia ranging from the food to the nightlife to the density of the streets. Most notable was a group of friends from LA who did some tech work in Philadelphia and they said it was a gorgeous city.

The only minor quip that kept coming up was that it felt "small" due to Center City still remaining kind of an island.

But Philadelphia could certainly learn from the snobbish ways of Boston and now DC about showing off their town to outsiders.

No. I say keep Philly humble. That’s what gives it its charm.

That’s partly why I love going there so much.

Philly is one of the more humble major cities I’ve seen. Keep it that way.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by Gerania

My son ate dinner at Kura this evening and has the T-shirt to prove it. He said that the food was very good.

Kura is new, right? I've gotta go try it!

[Higherho]

Pittsburgh gives philly a run for it’s money in terms of food city.