50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20. Ogawa

No two meals at this sleek, minimalist omakase counter are ever the same. One night you might get a dazzling display of sashimi otsukuri served in a conch. Another, “surf and turf” sashimi of Miyazaki Wagyu and foie gras with a crown of Kaluga caviar. The only thing that is the same every night is the encyclopedic knowledge chef Carlos Wills shares with every bite, and how it will forever change the way you think about omakase. Because the experience is elevated when you understand that male uni is creamier than female uni, and the fat percentages of chutoro versus otoro tuna and that whether it was caught in the winter as opposed to the summer lends itself to the fish’s richness, and that quality rice cooked to perfection makes all the difference.

Japanese | Old City
310 Market Street
Website

19. Little Water

No one walks away from Little Water unchanged. Maybe it’s the clean lines of the crab salad and deadly rich uni mounded atop architecturally perfect rectangles of hash browns. Maybe it’s the bright room, the smooth service, the Grateful Dead on the speakers, or the kitchen’s ability to trim and sear simple fillets of halibut perfectly, then mount them on clouds of aerated potatoes, making even the most overlooked pieces of fish into something unforgettable. Whatever it is, you’ll carry the memory with you because Little Water is a deeply personal tribute to those places where the land and water touch, written in the form of one of the city’s best seafood menus.

Seafood | Rittenhouse
261 South 20th Street
Website | Review

18. Amá

Chef Frankie Ramirez’s gorgeous, crowded, modern Mexican restaurant is a surprising exploration of his native cuisine that hit Philly like a tornado of mezcal, heirloom corn, chapulines, and whole octopus. Every dish on this menu exists to either glorify some aspect of regional Mexican cuisine (from lamb neck birria and milpa salads to the tomato shrubs and agave-heavy cocktails at the bar) or honor the other cuisines (French, Japanese, American) Ramirez has loved all his life. The result is a vision of how the traditional and the modern intersect, and a delicious look at where Mexican cuisine is headed.

Mexican | Kensington
101 West Oxford Street
Website | Review

17. Laser Wolf

Welcome to the strange, mesmerizing urban luau that is Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Laser Wolf. The cocktails are tropical, the neon is pink, the servers’ shirts are Hawaiian-ish, and the scent of spice-rubbed proteins smoldering on the grill carries through the noisy, energetic room of big groups gathered around whole dorades and shawarma-spiced cauliflower. The menu, on which the entrée prices include family-style hummus and salatim and a dessert per person, remains such a good value that you shouldn’t feel guilty about adding some extras. May we suggest the almost caramelized halloumi with figs and the incredible French fries plunged into tahini ketchup?

Israeli | Kensington
1301 North Howard Street
Website | Review

16. Provenance

The bathroom may be a strange place to begin when dissecting the merits of Provenance. But the hand towels rolled just so, the dramatic florals, the Pep-O-Mint Life Savers, the low lighting accented by a flickering Jo Malone candle that fills the room with the scent of gardenias — it all speaks to the detail-oriented hospitality that chef-owner Nich Bazik knows a Michelin star hinges on. (Provenance nabbed one in November.) Much has been made of the price of a Provenance meal ($225 for 20-ish plates) and also of Bazik’s bold proclamations of what his ambitious restaurant adds to Philly, but at the heart of this sleek little sanctuary, the chef has created some extraordinary combinations: figs with steelhead; polenta with Ossetra; liquefied heirloom tomatoes with uni, bluefin, and hand-pulled gamtae that we’re still meditating on. Friendly, carefully synced service carries these plates, and the hospitality, along.

French | Society Hill
408 South 2nd Street
Website | Story

15. Her Place Supper Club

A newly minted Michelin star is among the many accolades Philly’s favorite supper club has received in recent memory. But if we know chef-owners Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp, they won’t let the fame go to their heads, and Her Place will still be the homey haven where friends gossip over a delicate plate of scallop crudo, where laughter fills the intimate dining room between Shulman’s backstories about the farmer who raised the beef or the inspiration behind the cozy farfalle and white beans, and where stepping in from Sansom Street feels like stepping into a … well … supper club.

New American | Rittenhouse
1740 Sansom Street
Website

14. Bastia

Everyone raves about the storzapretti — the pillowy ricotta and semolina dumplings drenched in a complex arrabbiata sauce of fiery Calabrian chilis and savory guanciale. And rightly so: Tyler Akin’s signature dish is truly a spicy love letter to the Corsican city (and his restaurant’s namesake) Bastia. But Akin’s passion for the island’s spirit comes through in nearly every other detail of his place, too. The warm, radiant dining room feels like a walk along the coast; the swordfish brochettes, kissed with fire and served with a dollop of citrus labneh, hark back to the island’s citrus orchards. Close your eyes, take a sip of your spritz, and you’ll swear you feel a sea-foam breeze off the Mediterranean.

Corsican | Fishtown
1401 East Susquehanna Avenue
Website | Review

13. Pietramala

The list of small, locally owned food purveyors from which Pietramala sources its ingredients is longer than the menu itself — not such a surprising revelation considering that chef Ian Graye’s vegan alcove was just awarded a Michelin Guide Green Star for sustainable sourcing. He shows that you don’t have to look far for an exceptional meal: Corno di Toro peppers stuffed with a lobster mushroom, farro, and smoked black walnut filling; golden beets tossed with a fermented chili aioli; silky eggplant slowly cooked overnight in a hearth. That this is all made with ingredients grown within 200 miles of Philadelphia suggests that Pietramala is not just intriguing and inventive — it’s a proof of concept for the future of dining.

Vegan | Northern Liberties
614 North 2nd Street
Website

12. Roxanne

There was a moment when Roxanne, chef Alexandra Holt’s unpredictable supper club, was Philly’s wildest night out. This newer, more polished version looks back on that from a more mature, stable place, capturing the manic essence of the original in a more controlled, fine-dining meal. And it works. There’s an à la carte menu now, perfect fans of roasted pork laid on white plates, Caesar salads, and matching silverware, but to see these offset against dishes like a sculptural haystack of apple and leek gnudi sprouting tiny wildflowers and whimsical desserts made to look like rain clouds serves as a reminder that art lives in balance and restraint as much as it does in chaos.

New American | Queen Village
607 South 2nd Street
Website

11. Meetinghouse

A corner bar serving baskets of fries, crab dip, and turkey cutlets to the neighbors and standing-room crowds of Eagles fans on game day getting named one of the best restaurants in the entire country? No one outside Philly could have predicted the ascendance of Meetinghouse. But no one who’s spent a night here, with a couple of house pales and a remarkable, tender hot roast beef sandwich smeared with horseradish, could ever doubt that this place has cracked the code. A fierce attention to detail, cooking only what people want to eat with no concern for fads, and a focus on honest hospitality are what elevates a place from a simple neighborhood joint to a national destination that still makes you feel at home.

New American | Kensington
2331 East Cumberland Street
Website | Review

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10. Zahav

Yes, it is still as beautiful as you remember. Yes, it is just as special. Yes, the food is as surprising as always (fried halloumi with ground cherries and pistachios, lamb carpaccio with sumac) and just as comforting (grilled swordfish with tomato and olives). Since 2008, Michael Solomonov’s flagship has remained a must-visit restaurant in a city that has seen a hundred of them come and go. But Zahav persists, standing as a reminder that longevity is guaranteed to no one in this industry and has to be earned with every service.

Israeli | Society Hill
237 St. James Place
Website

9. Royal Sushi & Izakaya

Jesse Ito’s omakase is an exquisite experience. Everyone knows this — even if, like most mere mortals, they haven’t been able to get a seat at his sushi bar. What not everyone knows is that the down-to-earth izakaya side of this two-in-one Queen Village corner is also excellent. The drinks list is comprehensive, the prices are reasonable, and there’s nowhere in town that makes vegetables taste so delicious: cucumbers and radishes salted into crunchy, punchy pickles; miso eggplant that melts into sweet-and-savory pudding; the pillar of spinach gomaae wearing a gothic cloak of black-sesame sauce. Ask to sit in the back, in the cozy, alcove-like dining room with a view of Ito’s counter. The menchi katsu bao and bowl of spice-dusted fries soothe the FOMO remarkably well.

Japanese | Queen Village
780 South 2nd Street
Website

8. Vetri Cucina

Heading into its 28th year, Marc Vetri’s temple to culinary excellence still delivers a flawless fine-dining experience. As always, the grand gestures — popping champagne for the recently engaged, presenting you with a welcome cocktail, writing “Happy Birthday” on a ribbon of white chocolate to go with dessert — — eel special, but it’s the smaller details that make the evening magical. Like how the well-versed server knows that the 2023 bottle of Gulfi Nero d’Avola will carry you all the way from the silky pastrami foie gras to the rustic venison tenderloin. And how the temperature of the molten pistachio cake is hot enough to enhance the texture but not enough to burn your palate. It’s proof that every little detail — no matter how small — counts, an ethos that has made Vetri one of the brightest stars in Philly’s culinary universe.

Italian | Midtown Village
1312 Spruce Street
Website

7. Illata

Once upon a time, stellar mom-and-pop BYOBs were the batteries that powered our restaurant scene. Alas, one by one, the Djangos, the Bibous, and the Tre Scalinis died off; in their place rose up restaurants with liquor license lawyers and the investment partners to pay them. We still have our fair share of BYOBs, but few of them are as excellent as before. Illata is an exception. Aaron Randi could serve nothing but the tawny sourdough, house-baked every day, and the Caesar-esque salad of bitter chicory fuzzy with grated Comté, and we’d come running. But the rest of the succinct menu — featuring simple yet elegant dishes like shrimp served with late-summer peaches and subtly salty coppa — shines without being showy, and the spare, candlelit room echoes our favorite BYOBs past.

New American | Grad Hospital
2241 Grays Ferry Avenue
Website | Review

6. Emmett

According to the Philly Mag Restaurant Zodiac, 2026 is the Year of the Duck. The bird appears on virtually every menu we’ve scouted, and no one does it with more verve than Evan Snyder at Emmett. Dry-aged, perfectly cooked breast, sliced into a row, and dates stuffed with confit leg share an earthy oval casserole with sour plums, parsley leaves, and deep, glossy, chili-flamed sauce. The dish reflects an exuberant menu that revels in tangy fruits, off-center pastas, woodsmoke, and spices. Snyder has a sparrow’s taste for nuts and seeds, a French aristocrat’s taste for foie and roe, and our undivided attention. We know where he came from (Redcrest Kitchen), but really, where did he come from?

Mediterranean | Kensington
161 West Girard Avenue
Website | Review

5. Friday Saturday Sunday

Chad and Hanna Williams’s townhouse restaurant embodies the best of what contemporary American cooking is right now: technical, seasonal, and steeped like tea in a personal point of view. On the à la carte menu at the Lovers Bar downstairs and the tasting menu upstairs, caramelized coconut, plantains, oxtail, and peanuts meet sweetbreads, pasta, bei­gnets, and some of the most deeply flavorful sauces you’ll encounter in the city. Recently awarded its first Michelin star, Friday Saturday Sunday hits on all levels, including the smooth and kind service directed by Hanna, the clever beverages by Paul MacDonald, and the desserts from pastry chef Amanda Rafalski, whose powerhouse strawberry tart with duck-egg semifreddo, sorrel gel, and strawberry-top tea was the undisputed dessert of the year.

New American | Rittenhouse
261 South 21st Street
Website

4. Ambra

Breaking bread with strangers has never been more fun than at Ambra’s communal table, where some of the most interesting and influential Philadelphians end up convening. We’ve gotten travel advice over lobster scrippelle ’mbusse from a retired biochemist who’s dined at every three-Michelin-star restaurant in France, and swapped stock tips between bites of saffron tagliatelle with pheasant ragù with financiers who ride the waves of market trends. As for the gossip? The tales of Union League drama and the secret lives of residents in the Barclay high-rise are as juicy as Ambra’s venison with fermented mushroom jus, and flow as freely as the esoteric wine pairings curated by Best of Philly–winning wine director Jamie Harrison Rubin.

Italian | Queen Village
705 South 4th Street
Website

3. Mawn

Every night out at Mawn feels like a party. The best nights feel like a party in your best friend’s living room: loud, raucous, closely packed, and a little bit chaotic. With music humming from hidden speakers, bottles being passed, and tables filling up with cold night market noodles, head-on soft-shell shrimp with fish sauce caramel, and Wagyu beef noodle soup spiked with chili jam, this little 32-seat BYO — with its shelf full of the biggest awards in the industry — always feels like it’s operating with opening-night energy, even though owners Phila and Rachel Lorn (and their crew) have been throwing this same party for nearly three years now.

Cambodian | Bella Vista
764 South 9th Street
Website | Review

2. Honeysuckle

For owners Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate, everything is a story. The bread course, the handcrafted table inspired by restaurateur Thomas Downing (referred to as the “New York Oyster King”), a fried mushroom amuse presented as a box of McNuggets? It’s all about presenting a narrative of Black foodways, culinary excellence, and just-watch-what-we-can-do élan in the form of an unforgettable meal. And while the work done in the kitchen and on the floor is remarkable (their take on seafood alfredo is the best version we’ve had all year), what truly sets Honeysuckle apart from its contemporaries is its ability to balance the vital, personal story it wants to tell with a commitment to feeding people. At this moment in Philly’s edible history — when so much of our story seems yet to be written — what’s more important than setting the tone with such a strong pair of voices?

African Diaspora | Poplar
631 North Broad Street
Website | Review

1. Kalaya

Thai food isn’t all fiery curries and stir-fried noodles, as Nok Suntaranon shows us at Kalaya, her beautiful ode to the Peranakan flavors of her childhood. Rather, it’s ornate flower-shaped dumplings once reserved for Thailand’s royal court, bowls of tom yum soup adorned with river prawns in a dramatic display of abundance, and palm sugar–caramelized pork belly mixed with pillowy jasmine rice and crudités. The trick to making the most of your meal here is to order all you can and switch things up — to bounce between bites of sweat-inducing gaeng gai khao mun chicken curry and heat-building yum nam khao tod pork salad, with umami breaks of khao mun klone seafood over squid ink rice in between. This was Suntaranon’s vision for her lofty palm tree–filled restaurant — and what she does so exceptionally, unfailingly well: showing Philadelphia, and now the world, the expansive range of Thai cuisine.

Thai | Fishtown
4 West Palmer Street
Website | Review

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50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia at a Glance