Rittenhouse Square | Spanish | Entrées: $13-$20
Last Year’s Ranking: 22

Tinto, Jose Garces’s Basque-themed Rittenhouse restaurant, has a neighborhood-y feel, especially during happy hour, when the bar fills with solo drinkers knocking back glasses of Spanish red while reading the paper. But that only adds to the warm, clubby vibe here. The food is from a region that straddles France and Spain, and whose proximity to the ocean means a more seafood-focused menu than at Tinto’s sister restaurant, Amada (though offerings can be overseasoned). Luckily, the places share a commitment to excellent Spanish cheeses and charcuterie, as well as an interesting selection of Spanish wines. Before the restaurant’s 2008 expansion, the cramped quarters and high-top tables made it a little uncomfortable, but now, with plenty of room to spread out, this is a cozy, grown-up place for a leisurely, authentic-feeling meal. Order: Moules Basque. 114 South 20th Street, 215-665-9150.

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Photograph by Jason Varney