10 Best Philadelphia Restaurants
I loved living in Philadelphia for three years and am excited to share my favorite restaurants, my 10 best Philadelphia restaurants if you will, with you. These are all located in the heart of the city and are easy to get to. I’ve listed them in geographical order from east to west, but if you must know my number one pick, it’s Audrey Claire.
Amada
Amada offers an Andalusian tapas menu plus an extensive wine list featuring Spanish wines. It is Chef Jose Garces’ first restaurant of more than a dozen across the country. Amada is great for groups and has a full bar area plus two dining rooms.
Some must-try menu items include Paella Valenciana (Chicken & Chorizo Paella), Bruselas (Brussels Sprouts) and Cana de Cabra (Goat Cheese). And, if you are going with a large party, you can try their Cochinillo Asado (Roasted Suckling Pig). It must be ordered 72 hours in advance but is absolutely delicious and a fun experience.
Zahav
You may know of Zahav even if you’ve never been to Philadelphia due to their eponymous cookbook, which contains the recipe for their amazing hummus. Zahav serves modern Israeli cuisine with influences from the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. It is a difficult reservation to get, but worth it. The bar offers open seating (and a full menu) so you’ll often find a line forming to snag a bar seat 30 minutes to 60 minutes before opening.
If you do snag a seat, make sure to try some of the following, though I’m not sure you can go wrong with anything on the menu: hummus (of course!), fried cauliflower mezze, and eggplant. And make sure you save room for dessert.
Talula’s Garden
Washington Square West │ American
Website │ Instagram: talulas.garden
210 West Washington Square │ (215) 592-7787
Talula’s Garden is directly across the street from Washington Square Park. It features seasonal American cuisine in a farmhouse setting with a summer garden. The food is served on mismatched (but perfectly coordinated) plates with incredible attention to detail, and everything you eat is fresh and in-season. Talula’s Garden is a great example of the farm to table movement.
Because the menu is seasonal, it is difficult for me to recommended dishes, since you won’t necessarily see my recommendation on the menu when you go. I can recommend that you try as many dishes as your stomach will allow, while still saving room for dessert. And definitely order a cocktail, especially one with fresh ingredients like herbs or fruit. So good.
Final notes: (1) Sit outside if you can. (2) Dinner here is amazing, but if dinner doesn’t work for your schedule try it for weekend brunch instead.
Jamonera
Jamonera is a small, cozy Spanish restaurant and wine bar with one of the largest Sherry lists in the country. It is owned by the dynamic duo of Chef Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran who own a series of business at the intersection of 13th and Chestnut. They are also the owners of Barbuzzo (Mediterranean), more details just below, Lolita (Mexican), Little Nonna’s (Italian) and Bud & Marilyn’s (American comfort food).
I love Jamonera for date night. It’s the perfect place to relax with good food, good wine and good service. Start with one of their inventive cocktails like the Xazerac, a Sazerac take with PX Sherry or the Levante with tequila, guava, fresh lime and smoked chili honey. Then jump in with a meat and cheese board and splurge for the jamon mangalica. Find a few other plates to round out your meal (you can’t go wrong) and finish with dessert and sherry. Or don’t wait for dessert to enjoy the sherry – your server will be able to pair sherry with any of the menu items so take advantage of the sherry collection.
Barbuzzo
As mentioned above, Barbuzzo focuses on Mediterranean food, and is another inviting space from Marcie and Valerie. The thing you need to know before you even start ordering is that you MUST save room for the Salted Caramel Budino. (I mean, I’ll always tell you to save room for dessert, but this is the place you’ll be the most remiss if you don’t.) This dessert has a cult-like following for a reason. It is more delicious than I can sufficiently describe.
As for non-dessert recommendations, I always found myself ordering from the pizza and pasta sections of the menu. If you like a bit of spice, give the Calabrese pizza a try.
Tria Café Rittenhouse
Tria is undoubtedly the restaurant I visited the most times while living in Philly, and there’s a few reasons for that. (1) They have an incredible wine by the glass list because that’s their focus. They want you to take the opportunity to try multiple wines instead of ordering a bottle. (They also have a great beer list.) (2) They’re open daily starting at 11:30am so you can pop in for lunch, dinner or a snack. (3) They have three locations in Philly, which means you’re probably convenient to one of them. (I listed the Rittenhouse location here since that was my regular location.) (4) They’re a great location for a first date. The laid-back atmosphere and by the glass philosophy lend themselves perfectly to everything from a first date that doesn’t go well and needs to be cut short to a first date that goes really well and lasts for several hours. (Tria Rittenhouse was the second stop on my first date with my hubby after the heating lamps died at our first location and we weren’t quite ready for the date to end.)
The café locations don’t have full kitchens but don’t let that stop you from going as their salads and sandwiches are wonderful, if you didn’t already completely fill up on wine and cheese. A few of my favorite options: Pistachio Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta, Truffled Mushroom Bruschetta, Black Mission Fig & Gorgonzola salad, and Koch’s Smoked Turkey Panino.
Audrey Claire
Rittenhouse │Mediterranean
Website │ Instagram: audreyclaire_byob
276 South 20th Street │ (215) 731-1222
So we’ve reached Audrey Claire, my favorite restaurant in Philadelphia, and you’re probably wondering why it’s my top pick. Well, the #1 reason is the food. Audrey Claire’s food is always incredibly fresh and wonderfully delicious. Their website describes them as Mediterranean, but I’d describe them as more seasonal/farm to table. The #2 reason is the hospitality. The staff goes out of their way to make sure you feel like you are the only table in the restaurant. Every time I went, I felt like I was going back to a friend’s house.
A few things to note: (1) Audrey Claire is BYOB so don’t forget to bring your wine with you. (2) They are cash only. (3) When I lived in Philly they didn’t accept reservations on Fridays and Saturdays. It appears they do now, which is great. (4) The restaurant is tiny so make a reservation. There is additional seating outside in the summer and you should snag one of the outdoor tables if you can.
The menu changes seasonally and there are always specials. Here’s what I recommend. Start with some spreads and lafa and ask about the specials. Then move to the Pear & Gorgonzola Flatbread or the Gazpacho if that’s one of the specials. Then pick your main and ask if it is possible to do a side of their mashed potatoes. I’m not 100% positive they’re still making them, but if they are, these are the best mashed potatoes ever. And enjoy the rice pudding for dessert.
Village Whiskey
When you want a great burger and an amazing whiskey selection in Philadelphia, this is the place to go. It’s small so it’s better for groups of 4 or less, and note that they don’t take reservations. But I promise that it is worth it to go. This is another concept by Chef Garces of Amada, but has a very different feel. It is the type of place people in the industry want to go to after work to relax.
I like sitting at the bar where you get the best view of the expansive whiskey selection (over 200 options). You can enjoy your whiskey neat, on the rocks or in a cocktail. They make a wonderful Manhattan. Order the Village Burger with the Duck Fat Fries then sit back and relax.
Vernick Food & Drink
Vernick serves Greg Vernick’s take on new American cooking, and it’s fantastic. Be sure to make a reservation a few weeks in advance because the word is out, and I’m not the only one who is recommending you come here.
Your server will walk you through the current menu and will help you pick the right number of things to order. The dishes change frequently but the menu always has six sections: on toast, raw, vegetables, small plates, large plates and simply roasted. My best advice is don’t ignore the vegetables section, and, of course, to save room for dessert.
Friday Saturday Sunday
Rittenhouse │ New American
Website │ Instagram: friday.saturday.sunday
261 South 21st Street │ (215) 546-4232
Despite what the name might imply, this delicious restaurant is open more than just on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They’re open every day but Monday and you should definitely pay them a visit. The first floor houses the opulent bar and the second floor houses the small, cozy restaurant.
The restaurant changed hands in 2015 and reopened in 2017 wowing everyone with a beautiful space and beyond delicious food. I discovered the restaurant on one of my many trips to visit the hubby (then boyfriend) when he was still in Philly and I was already in Chicago. We made a reservation for my next visit and were completely wowed. We returned several times, including for a birthday dinner. In addition to being delicious, the food is meticulously plated and is just the right amount so you go home feeling pleasantly full not overwhelmingly full.
Start with the Oysters but beware you may never be able to eat oysters without their frozen meyer lemon mignonette again. Then treat yourself to the Chicken Liver Mousse and have your date order something from the Pasta section. Switch halfway through. Try the Roasted Chicken for your main and finish the evening with the Brownie. I promise no matter what you order you won’t go wrong.
If you live in Philadelphia full time or find yourself there for a visit, I highly encourage you to try as many of my 10 best Philadelphia restaurants as you can. And let me know how it goes in the comments.