Great Restaurants To Eat At In Philadelphia

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

How crucial are reservations on weekends / friday nights in these nicer restaurants? Is it okay to wing it usually or do they often come with long waits?

For "nicer restaurants," yes, they are almost always crucial. Check out Resy to see if they use that app, because for the exceptionally popular restaurants that use Resy, you often have to book weeks or months in advance.

[MarketStEl]

Giving even more props to KansastoSouthphilly's list, which is one of the most comprehensive short lists I've seen both in terms of price range and of variety of cuisines represented.

I'm going to add a good word for Moriarty's, as I'm a huge Buffalo wing fan and that place serves the best in the city (and they're whole, not segmented).

All of the CooknSolo (Michael Solomonov) restaurants are good as well. In addition to Zahav, which is the jewel in that company's crown, these include Dizengoff, Abe Fisher, Goldie Falafel and the Federal Donuts chain.

Two of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown are Vietnamese-run: Vietnam Restaurant on North 11th Street and Pho Xe Lua in the 900 block of Race Street. ("Xe Lua" means "the train," and it has a neon locomotive in its front window. Its menu extends well beyond pho, btw.)

It's hard to find a restaurant in Old City that you won't like for something. Panorama in the Penn's View Inn has the best wine bar in the city, but it also has good Italian fare as well. (The fare at Mac's Tavern is all right rather than great, but I think that place is worth a mention because it's owned by the guys who created "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.")

[Redddog]

I mean....this question is like "what's better...blue or black?"

There are hundreds of amazing places to eat in virtually all parts of town.