50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

50. Megobari

Georgian food is one of the most underappreciated comfort cuisines. But come here just once for the chicken satsivi in cold walnut cream sauce, fried potatoes with dill, lamb stew with soft plums, and khinkali soup dumplings the size of a child’s fist and you’ll be part of the fortunate few who understand. Come back a second time for the amazing Imeretian khachapuri — a round loaf of soft dough, stuffed with stretchy, briny sulguni cheese and baked a perfect golden brown — and you might never want to leave.

Georgian | Northeast Philly
13328 Philmont Avenue
Website | Review

49. Dante & Luigi’s

This white-tablecloth throwback — one of Philly’s oldest Italian restaurants — is an epicenter of Italian American cuisine, where the old-world traditions of cucina povera meet new-world abundance to create escarole with pungent greens in a garlicky broth, succulent braised osso buco with saffron rice, and meatballs that have been stewing in Sunday gravy for so long they practically disintegrate when you tap them with your fork. Yes, we appreciate modern Italian restaurants maintaining the integrity of the old country’s regional cuisines, but sometimes we crave the old-school, nonna-style cooking that Dante & Luigi’s has been serving up since 1899 — and has perfected.

Italian | Bella Vista
762 South 10th Street
Website

48. Cafe Nhan

This pillar of the South Philly community is built on the most loving Vietnamese comfort food you’ll find in the city. Its foundation has been cemented on the soul-soothing bún bò huế, the tender pieces of marinated shaken beef, and the smile on owner Nhan Vo’s face as she offers you a sample of a new recipe she’s been tinkering with. The nine-year-old restaurant is snug but never cramped, and it’s lively, always humming with a cacophony of Vietnamese and English speakers gathering over warm bowls of pho, and perennially crowded — though there’s always, miraculously, a table waiting for you.

Vietnamese | South Philly
1606 West Passyunk Avenue
Website

A spread of Ethiopian dishes at Alif Brew / Photography by Gab Bonghi

47. Alif Brew

Comfort comes in many forms, but at this all-day Ethiopian cafe it comes as tender cubes of berbere beef tibs, spicy braised lentils, vivacious collard greens, and other stewed delights dotted on a bed of injera like paint on an artist’s palette. The platters are, of course, meant to be enjoyed with others, but if you’re not in the mood to share, get the injera wrap instead. It’s everything you want from an Ethiopian meal tucked into the spongy embrace of Alif Brew’s mildly tangy teff-flour flatbread — house-made, of course, like everything on the menu.

Ethiopian | University City
4501 Baltimore Avenue
Website

Alif Brew owner Hayat Ali

46. Barclay Prime

There’s a confidence, a sense of occasion, to Barclay Prime that few other restaurants possess. For almost 22 years, that aura has kept us coming back, along with the assured service; the packed-even-on-weeknights dining room, all amber and library-like under grand chandeliers; and the extremely steady cooking. Whether you choose a steak from the house dry-aged program or from the American or Japanese Wagyu selections, BP delivers a crusty, well-seasoned exterior and an interior perfectly cooked to your specs (medium-rare, obviously) every time. The non-beef portion of the menu gets just as much attention. Barclay Prime is a steakhouse, sure, but it’s also a popover-house, a wedge-house, and a strawberry-sorbet-centered-pavlova-house — and it’s all the more satisfying and remarkable for it.

Steakhouse | Rittenhouse
237 South 18th Street
Website

45. Baby’s Kusina + Market

Baby’s is a lot of different things, all crammed together into one bright, sky-lit, multilevel space. It is a breakfast spot, a coffee shop, a neighborhood lunch destination, a takeout spot, and an occasional market that’s also a modern Filipino cafe doing sit-down dinner service four nights a week and brunch on the weekends. There are breakfast sandwiches, strawberry bibingka in the pastry case, longganisa dumplings, tamari-pineapple-tinged chicken and rice tocilog, and an absolutely brilliant vegan mushroom pinakbet, proving that Baby’s can be anything it wants to be.

Filipino | Brewerytown
2816 West Girard Avenue
Website | Review

44. June BYOB

The beef Wellington, the escargot, and the extravagant canard à la presse carved and flambéed in a dramatic table-side performance are staples at this petite French throwback, and always worth adding to the meal. But aside from the duck press (a dazzling display worthy of milestone celebrations), sticking solely to those classics means you’d be missing out on the seasonal dishes. Spring’s shrimp-and-crab-stuffed black bass on a bed of wax beans, summer’s arctic char crudo with cubes of watermelon dressed in passion fruit juice, the creamy earthiness of fall’s roasted honeynut squash soup, and the cozy warmth of winter’s beef bourguignon — all of which grace the menu only for fleeting seasons — are where chef Richard Cusack’s artistry really shines.

French | Collingswood
690 Haddon Avenue
Website

43. White Yak

The best things about White Yak are the momo dumplings and the small, warm, close-set dining room where you eat them. But the next-best thing is the way that, over time, the menu opens up and teaches you how to approach its offerings. Eat here often enough and you learn tricks, like dragging starchy potato momo through the firecracker sauce to blunt its sharp heat, or using the steamed tingmo bread to mop up the beef curry. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book where there are no bad endings.

Tibetan | Roxborough
6118 Ridge Avenue
Website | Review

A variety of dishes at Sang Kee

42. Sang Kee

Chinatown’s legendary duck house has been through it. In late 2024, through no fault of its own, the restaurant was shut down because of steam escaping from underground utilities. We’re glad to report that Sang Kee came back without missing a beat. Same with its peerless Peking duck, enveloped in lacquered mahogany skin that shatters like stained glass — a specialty unchanged since 1980. In fact, the mantra here is consistency, not just for the duck but for the spiced roast pork shingled over rice, and for the steamed greens, whose stems seem too thick to be that tender, and for the ethereal dumplings drifting through the tureens of soup like little ghosts.

Chinese | Chinatown
238 North 9th Street
Website

41. Lark

With its suburban address, easy parking lot, beautiful sunset views off the patio, and legit celebrity chef (Nick Elmi) overseeing the kitchen, Lark could’ve easily gotten by on a menu of roasted half-chickens, dull crudos, simple pastas, and charm. But that’s not how Elmi and his team operate. Are there crudos? Absolutely. But with a chilled honeydew consommé and toasted hazelnuts. Pastas? Of course. But cavatelli with escargot and bone marrow, or a rich pork cheek agnolotti with Taleggio. There’s hardly a dish that isn’t simultaneously approachable and elevated, showcasing Elmi’s talent for delivering more than anyone expects.

New American | Bala Cynwyd
611 Righters Ferry Road
Website | Review

40. Forsythia

Through the endless parade of zhuzhed-up mother sauces, past the audacious riffs on classics, there is a glimmer of traditional French fine dining at Chris Kearse’s suave yet casual restaurant gastronomique. But Forsythia is more about letting loose than tradition (no white tablecloths here), to great effect. Tempura frog legs served in a golden pool of saffron aioli and Aleppo oil instead of the usual butter and parsley, and a tender duo of grilled bavette and 48-hour short rib with a sake glaze and a black trumpet puree (as opposed to red wine sauce and some kind of root vegetable accompaniment) exemplify a menu that is still haute cuisine … but with a laissez-faire attitude.

French | Old City
233 Chestnut Street
Website | Review

39. Rice & Sambal

The rice is fluffy jasmine, and the sambal comes in three different versions — ask for extra of the spicy green garlic with lime leaf — at this pink neon–lit Indonesian BYOB belonging to Diana Widjojo and her wife, Jennifer Cowden. Sunday is for brunch. Saturday is for the family-style Liwetan feast spread out on a canvas of banana leaves. And on Thursday and Friday, the couple serve a monthly changing (but always memorable) five-course, $90 prix fixe that might include succulent beef-neck rendang cuddled in bao buns, “Oma’s” pumpkin soup swirled with coconut and warmed with chili, and luscious roasted Balinese pork belly that practically dissolves in your mouth.

Indonesian | East Passyunk
1911 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

38. Tabachoy

You never forget your first Tabachoy adobo. The vinegary pucker and epic umami come in waves as you get into the bowl of braised chicken. It’s the best thing on the menu at Chance Anies’s spunky Bella Vista BYOB — and, really, one of the best chicken dishes in the city. But don’t let its greatness stop you from exploring the rest of the flavor-packed menu: the Caesar enhanced with bagoong (Filipino fermented fish paste); the broccoli rabe (a South Philly shout-out) simmered in spicy, garlicky coconut milk; and impossibly tender kare-kare pork cheeks.

Filipino | Bella Vista
932 South 10th Street
Website | Review

37. Le Virtù

One candle shy of its 20th birthday, Le Virtù is firmly in its most grounded, confident era. We love that it feels like a genuine neighborhood restaurant, thanks to its reasonable prices ($9 desserts, formerly thought to be an extinct species), its hours (open every day), and its first-name-basis regulars. The food, directed by chef Andrew Wood for the past few years, has never been better. With everything from the delicate house-cured coppa to the vibrant pomodoro sauce with fat triangoli or Abruzzese sausage and stone-ground polenta, rustic presentations mask intense precision and virtuosity. This, more than any obscure amaro or cheese on the menu, ties Le Virtù most closely to Abruzzo, that remote repository of generational craftsmanship.

Italian | East Passyunk
1927 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

Mish Mish owner Alex Tewfik

36. Mish Mish

Alex Tewfik spent years as a writer (including time working for Philly Mag), but the man was born to host. He bops around his East Passyunk dining room, chatting up regulars and uncorking intriguing skin-contact wines. The Mediterranean-ish menu, now under the direction of chef Zev Flores, matches the restaurant’s vibes: easygoing enough for a weeknight pop-in; interesting enough to sustain date nights and visiting in-laws. A swipe of hazelnut butter hides under a salad of leafy greens, sliced apples, and a wad of Fat Cat cheese. Green peppercorns and date barbecue sauce add spice and sweetness to a gorgeous pork loin. Meanwhile, to the devotees of the place: Don’t worry. The fried Armenian string cheese is still a staple.

Mediterranean | East Passyunk
1046 Tasker Street
Website | Review

Roasted chicken with gem wedge salad

35. Royal Tavern

There are a lot of great restaurants in this town. There are very few that can make a burger and a Citywide (and maybe some crab puffs) feel like a fancy night out. But at Royal Tavern, chef Nic Macri and his cooks lavish the kind of attention generally reserved for fine-dining kitchens on their board of burgers, fries, cherry BBQ wings, house-made mortadella, roasted half-chickens, and grilled cheese sandwiches. The result? A bar menu that can hold its own against some of the best high-end restaurants in town, all served in a narrow, glowing space that feels welcoming to anyone who wanders in.

New American | Bella Vista
937 East Passyunk Avenue
Website | Review

34. Char

Yes, yes, we’ll get to the pizza. But can we talk about the meatballs for a minute? The best ones in the city — gnocchi-soft, assertively spicy, so loosely packed a stiff breeze from Master Street might blow them apart — are made by chef Viraj Thomas, a scrappy 22-year-old from Delco. Thomas, Char’s owner and primo pizzaiolo, makes truly excellent pies with balanced arrays of toppings and flavorful crusts that taste deeply of fermentation and more char than most. (Hence the place’s name.) But it’s all the other things he does well (the meatballs, a kale Caesar that eats like a treat rather than a penance, earnest service, good soft serve) that make it a destination. Word is very much out. Go early.

Pizza | Kensington
310 Master Street
Website | Review

33. Little Fish

For years, Alex Yoon’s ever-changing handwritten menus made this seafood-centric BYOB an intensely personal experience for diners. Now, with Jacob Trinh settled into his position as chef de cuisine, the menu offers a choice of a five-course prix fixe or weeknight à la carte showcasing a broad spectrum of modern, Asian-influenced flavors — from the familiar raw scallop toasts glazed in chili oil to comforting shrimp wonton soup in a green tea dashi, nori pappardelle, and octopus in a pork ragù spiked with Sichuan peppercorn. Even after all these years in the game, it’s this combination of old favorites and new flavors that makes Little Fish exciting.

Seafood | Bella Vista
746 South 6th Street
Website

32. My Loup

Wander in. Sit at the bar. Share space with those willing to embrace the chaos of trying to snag a walk-in seat at one of Philly’s busiest spots. Discuss cocktails with the bartender and go with something heavy on the brown liquor. Then follow your appetite down the menu, through the East Coast oysters and the little jar of pickled shrimp and packaged saltines that defines Alex Kemp and Amanda Shulman’s jumped-up French-y American gastropub, down to the extra-sour sourdough, then to the rabbit terrine, and the hanger steaks with blood-dark sauces. My Loup is made for following your most primal hungers. Don’t think. Just dine.

Modern French | Rittenhouse
2005 Walnut Street
Website | Review

31. Bolo

There’s a point between tongue-tingling sips of daiquiri and bites of tuna ceviche when you forget you’re in a vibrant, Latin-inspired rum bar on Sansom Street and not on Calle de la Fortaleza in Old San Juan. Bolo is a welcome reprieve from the hectic pace of Northeast living, where your plate of vaca frita is dappled with sunshine from the skylight during the day and the soft glow of the bar at night is as alluring as Puerto Rico’s bioluminescent bays. It’s an escape to the Island of Enchantment, complete with unrivaled piña coladas.

Latin American | Rittenhouse
2025 Sansom Street
Website | Review

Southwark’s smoked pumpkin tortellini with Maine lobster

30. Southwark

Nestled on the southeast corner of 4th and Bainbridge, this neighborhood staple feels like the kind of casual bar where you’d meet up with a colleague after work — and it is. But it’s also a place where you can get a bowl of rigatoni with pheasant ragù, saffron, chestnuts, and mushrooms — a dish worthy of any of the top tasting menus in the city (it does, after all, share a kitchen with Ambra); modern twists on classic cocktails; and one of the best wine lists in the city. And it’s all served up in a low-key bar with an old-school wooden back bar and low lighting that has an almost gas-lamp glow, making Southwark the perfect place to unwind.

Modern Italian | Queen Village
701 South 4th Street
Website

29. El Chingon

Now twice the fun! This year, Carlos Aparicio exported the salsas-and-sourdough charm of his South Philly shop to a second outpost, a Fishtown garden shaped like a pizza slice and strung with brightly colored papel picado flags. There’s been no daylight between the two in terms of quality and consistency, with the jovial Aparicio overseeing East Passyunk in the morning and Frankford Avenue at night. While we prefer the former for its larger menu and table service, you can’t go wrong with a crunchy Milanesa cemita or tacos arabes swaddled in sourdough tortillas at either.

Mexican | East Passyunk and Fishtown
1524 South 10th Street; 1431 Frankford Avenue
Website | Review

28. Vernick Fish

The Four Seasons valets’ winter uniforms (cappuccino turtlenecks under tobacco overcoats) set the tone for quiet luxury. They’ll nod to you as you breeze into Vernick Fish, where Greg Vernick’s mostly seafood restaurant follows the hotel’s frictionless cues. The long bar with comfortable stools, the square linen cocktail napkins, the gracious tables by the windows — everything is just so, down to the oyster accoutrements and refreshing crudos. Pomelo and serrano chili brighten yellowtail, for example, and brown butter and Asian pear add umami and crunch to amberjack. But surprisingly the best dish doesn’t come from the sea; Don’t miss the eggplant katsu, which gets roasted whole, smashed, breaded, fried until super crunchy, and paired with aromatic Japanese curry.

Seafood | Center City
North 19th Street
Website

27. Fork

Hospitality never looks more effortless than it does in the dining room of Ellen Yin’s flagship restaurant. Plates are cleared from the table at exactly the right time, glasses of water magically refill without you even noticing, and the pace of the meal is set simply by how long you want to linger over the fluke crudo and sorpresine with braised squid. And, oh, how you’ll want to linger over this menu. Sam Henzy, whose résumé includes Vernick Food & Drink and Noma, has been executive chef for a little over a year now, and his is a menu that deserves your undivided attention. So savor the wild essence of roasted lamb and pickled cranberries, relish how the Calabrian chili plays off the smoked squash in the fagottini, and let Fork’s attentive team handle the rest.

New American | Old City
306 Market Street
Website

26. Gass & Main

Chef Dane DeMarco’s style at this unassuming spot captures a certain millennial zeitgeist, with a menu full of ’90s-kid favorites, grown up and cranked to 11. Think rich and gooey gnocchi “mac and cheese” with truffle; a Wagyu hot dog with your choice of sweet heat mustard and pickled shallots or peanut butter and Fritos (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it); smoked cheddar and horseradish deviled eggs that evoke suburban potlucks (only these are topped with salmon roe); and, of course, the signature burger, made with grass-fed beef. It’s your fond food memories elevated with the best possible ingredients in the hands of one of Philly’s most imaginative chefs.

New American | Haddonfield
7 Kings Court
Website | Review

Michael Brenfleck of Little Walter’s, roasting pork

25. Little Walter’s

Philly does casual, chef-driven neighborhood restaurants better than almost any other city in America. And chef Michael Brenfleck’s boozy, loving ode to the pork sausages, soups, and pierogi of his youth is a perfect example. At Little Walter’s, the day’s produce is sometimes still stacked in the dining room when you show up for dinner. The staff have strong opinions on how best to approach the Polish comfort food that fills the menu — suggesting the stunning, smoky pierogi, sure, but balanced against house-pickled vegetables, toasted rye bread with horseradish and poached pear, and pork shoulder off the rotisserie. And if you’re not careful, the drinks will put you on the floor.

Polish | Kensington
2049 East Hagert Street
Website | Review

24. La Baja

We may have lost chef Dionicio Jiménez’s beloved Cantina La Martina (for now …), but his Ambler restaurant — a bold, sometimes stunning experiment in biographical fusion — is more interesting anyway. Here, he and his crew play with influences in ways they never did before, mixing chile rellenos and Thai curry, mounting short ribs braised in Mexican chocolate over Italian risotto, doing whole roasted duck bao buns and foie gras and mole with smoked egg yolks. It’s daring work, but the experience is memorable for sure, and unlike anything else you’ll find in Philly — or anywhere else, for that matter.

Mexican | Ambler
9 North Main Street
Website | Review

23. Zeppoli

In an age when most menus change as frequently as a teenager’s mood, there’s something to be said for a restaurant that simply sticks with what works. Where rabbit still collapses into tomatoey magma that tastes strongly of oregano. Where the punchy lemon tagliatelle still draws its bite from guests’ choice of prosciutto or grated Sicilian bottarga. Where you have the same server you had last year, and the year before that. Quietly excelling in an obscure storefront for more than a decade, Zeppoli delivers soulful, gutsy Sicilian cooking and, perhaps just as important, consistency.

Italian | Collingswood
618 West Collings Avenue
Website

22. River Twice

The four-course prix fixe menu at River Twice changes constantly. One day it’s crab claws in koji butter with golden Ossetra caviar swimming like boba. The next it’s tomato sandwiches, oysters with buttermilk ponzu, or hiramasa with white asparagus and Japanese ginger. On Mondays, there’s a burger that has a cult following. Frequent collabs and event dinners mix up the entire formula. River Twice is an atelier where chef Randy Rucker in­dulges his ingredient obsessions and lets the seasons guide him toward unique, thrilling, and (often) one-of-a-kind menus.

Seafood | East Passyunk
1601 East Passyunk Avenue
Website | Review

21. La Jefa

With its tiled turquoise floors, earthy wood furniture, and abundance of houseplants, La Jefa looks like it just beamed in from Guadalajara. The restaurant, located in the back of the post-fire Tequilas, blurs the line between cafe and cocktail bar, with breakfast old-fashioneds made with local chai and matcha and limon avocado leaf soda. The cooking, meanwhile, keeps pace with the complex beverage program. The luminous ceviches, black-and-white zucchini quesadillas, and triangular tetelas filled with subtly sweet plantain puree stand out on the hand-illustrated menu.

Mexican | Rittenhouse
1605 Latimer Street
Website | Review

The countdown is on! This week, we are releasing the 50 Best Restaurants for 2026, unveiling 10 of our top picks each day, starting at #50 and working our way up to #1. Check back throughout the week to see who made the list and where they rank.

And don’t forget to join us at our annual Wine & Dine event where you can taste premium wines from around the world paired with dishes from top local restaurants hand-selected by Philadelphia magazine editors.