50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

See the list at a glance here!

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1. Bastia

This Corsican-inspired restaurant blends elements from the Mediterranean in ways you don’t often come across in Philadelphia, let alone at a hotel restaurant. Maine lobster swimming in a lemon butter sauce, swordfish crochettes with walnut pesto and spiced labneh — and just when you thought burrata was overplayed, chef Tyler Akin takes an unexpected approach, pairing it with a bittersweet and nutty combo of blood orange, pomelo, hazelnuts, and dark chocolate. Hotel restaurants typically occupy a liminal space, an uncanny valley of a hip hangout where the dining experience’s peak is its convenience. But Bastia is flipping the script, luring us into Fishtown’s charming new Hotel Anna & Bel with the finest food in the city.

BEST OF THE BEST: Bastia’s signature storzapretti ricotta dumplings are enveloped in a comforting yet complex red sauce, bolstered by the rich, savory notes of guanciale and a kick of arrabbiata.

Fishtown | Corsican
1401 East Susquehanna Avenue
Website | Review

2. Kalaya

It was Marc Vetri in the 2000s and Michael Solomonov in the 2010s. Now in the 2020s, Nok Suntaranon has become the undisputed ambassador for the city’s dining culture. At the transporting, palm-filled second iteration of the restaurant­ named for her mother, the salads crackle with electricity,­ the hypnotic curries suck you in like whirlpools — we love the cinnamon — warmed massaman — and the labor-intensive flower- and bird-shaped dumplings elicit awws and mmms. While there are no misses on the sprawling menu, it would be a mistake to not order the gaeng pae (goat and lamb curry) and anything with giant river prawns.

BEST OF THE BEST: The moo yaang prik is a dramatic centerpiece — a grilled pork chop glazed with a sweet and tangy mixture of palm sugar, tamarind paste, fish sauce, and pickled garlic.

Fishtown | Thai
4 West Palmer Street
Website | Review

3. Royal Izakaya

If by some miracle you get the chance to experience Jesse Ito’s omakase — may the Resy gods be ever in your favor — do not hesitate to take it. Yes, the sushi is outstanding: The fish is flown in from Japan three times a week, and Ito takes ambitious leaps like dry-aging the top loin of Spanish bluefin tuna. But his other bites, like the silky chawanmushi encircled by tiger shrimp and shimeji mushroom in a chilled pool of corn broth, make the omakase even more exciting. If you can’t get a seat at the counter, fear not: You’ll still have a blast at the izakaya with a chirashi bowl, some shochu, and your favorite episode of Dragon Ball Z projected on the wall.

Queen Village | Japanese
780 South 2nd Street
Website | More about Royal Izakaya

4. Ambra

Chef Chris D’Ambro knows how to work a kitchen and the room. His sense of humor, enthusiasm for hard-to-source ingredients, and storytelling prove that fine dining doesn’t have to be all pomp and circumstance. Between sips of Clos du Tue-Boeuf La Guerrerie, he’ll share stories about his grandmother through a modern take on her pasta e fagioli recipe, and nerd out about the morels he foraged while pouring a fermented mushroom jus over wild venison. You’ll walk away from this meal with a satisfied belly and a heart full of nostalgia.

Queen Village | Italian
705 South 4th Street
Website

5. Mawn

Over the past few years, this “no rules” noodle house has transformed from a neighborhood spot into a food destination, with diners from all corners of the city (and farther afield) sliding in for night market noodles, spicy prahok dip, and lightly battered head-on soft-shell shrimp served with a salty-sweet fish sauce caramel. It’s no surprise reservations are booked out a month in advance. Can’t snag a reservation? Go for lunch when it’s walk-ins only.

BEST OF THE BEST: The all-star seafood fried rice, studded with uni, lump crab, bay scallops, shrimp, crab fat butter, and trout roe piled high, is a mouthwatering mountain worth summiting.­

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

6. Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday Saturday Sunday is the kind of place you go when you’re open to surprises. Year after year, this nationally celebrated spot that still feels like a neighborhood secret delights us with an ever-changing menu. One visit you could be having roasted halibut in lobster sauce; the next, pork shoulder in tortellini with braised collard greens and potlikker. Whether you’re heading upstairs just to see what’s new on the tasting menu or bellying up to the Lovers Bar for a plate of smoked herring spaghetti to go with your glass of Trebbiano, this is a place where you can trust the process.

Rittenhouse | New American
261 South 21st Street
Website

7. Her Place Supper Club

In just a few years, chef and owner Amanda Shulman has accomplished something here that many restaurant owners spend their entire lives chasing: the feeling of eating in the warmth of a home. Every dish is a playful, approachable, nostalgic interpretation of haute cuisine classics: pork sausage-stuffed quail hit with a zesty apple mustard and cider jus, savory sheep’s-milk ricotta agnolotti, and, for dessert, a speculoos silk pie with figs and a pretzel crust. Dishes are shared with the table, which gives the whole experience a dinner-party feel — it is a supper club, after all.

Rittenhouse | New American
1740 Sansom Street
Website

8. Kampar

Ange Branca’s original Saté Kampar was one of those restaurants that define how cool, how fun, and how delicious Philly restaurants could be, and when it closed, it was hard to imagine anything being so good again. And yet, with her new Kampar, Branca has managed to make something even better. All the old favorites are on the menu (like the beef rendang), along with some new diversions. Plus, there’s a bar upstairs, and a whole resident chef program happening in the downstairs dining room that gives space and support to chefs just starting out and cuisines underrepresented in Philly’s scene.

BEST OF THE BEST: Wrapped in a banana leaf, nasi lemak is a fragrant coconut cream-soaked rice dish topped with sambal, roasted­ peanuts, crispy anchovies, and a hard-boiled egg.

Bella Vista | Malaysian
611 South 7th Street
Website | Review

9. Meetinghouse

We fell in love with Meetinghouse because they had Sister Act on. Now, it’s entirely possible that this just happened to be on TV, but we suspect a decision-maker here came up through the Philly Catholic school system in the ’90s and can quote Sister Mary Clarence just like we can. Because Meetinghouse is so devoutly Philly, the perfect expression — no, the perfect evolution — of the city corner taproom, and the unpretentious cooking from Drew DiTomo is as sharp as a Sister Mary Patrick high note. For the perfect fries, saucy clams, and architectural salad, we defer to the St. Katherine’s choir: We will follow him.

Kensington | New American
2331 East Cumberland Street
Website | Review

10. Illata

Illata is simple. Small. Unpretentious. Unpredictable. It’s a place where you can eat hazelnut-­dusted ricotta gnudi, collard greens with clams, and a mind-blowing salad (yes, salad) all off the same menu, on the same night. It is welcoming even when crammed with tables and diners coming and going, warm even if the menu reads like a minimalist poem. And as a chef-driven BYO in a DIY-rehabbed space on Grays Ferry Avenue with a long reservation list and a former doorway made into a pass, you couldn’t invent a more Philly restaurant if you tried.

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

11. Zahav

Restaurants age like dogs, making Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook’s flagship, which blew out 16 candles last year, relatively ancient. But instead of shaking a these-kids-today cane at the newcomers, Zahav matches their energy, packing the house with equally thrilled tourists and locals, turning up the volume — will we ever tire of bopping to “No Scrubs” while going to town on the creamy hummus-tehina and laffa bread? — and executing a consistently excellent menu that also happens to be a very strong value at $90.

BEST OF THE BEST: It takes hours of brining, smoking, and braising to make the pomegranate-lacquered lamb shoulder, and though the tender meat will be enjoyed within minutes, the smoky sweetness will stick with you forever.

Society Hill | Israeli
237 St. James Place
Website

12. Cantina La Martina

Originally from San Mateo Ozolco in Puebla, Mexico, chef Dionicio Jiménez is cooking up a living culinary history of barbacoa slow-cooked in a traditional pit out back and fresh tortillas packed with camarones, carnitas, al pastor, and more, along with a variety of rich moles. In addition to the classics, Jiménez pushes the boundaries of what you’d expect from Pueblan cuisine. Try the chipilín fettuccine served in a rabbit sauce and the siete mares, a feast of seven­ fishes swimming in a smoky, red tomato chipotle broth.

Kensington | Mexican
2800 D Street
Website | Review

13. Vernick Fish

For all the complication, experimentation, and scruffy, charming, DIY enthusiasm that defines certain quarters of the Philly food scene, there are few pleasures simpler or more satisfying than sitting down at a well-tended bar for a cold gin martini, a dozen oysters, and a perfectly cooked piece of fish in a bowl with a little broth, a little beurre blanc, or maybe some sharp greens. This is what Vernick Fish does best — offering a comfortable space for those nights when you want to settle in and dine rather than just show up to eat.

Center City | Seafood
1 North 19th Street
Website

14. Vetri

Marc Vetri’s famed flagship restaurant is cemented as a perfect special-occasion locale in Philly. The choreography of service and impeccable wine pairings accentuate the expertly crafted tasting menu. And though the pasta courses reign supreme, the entire meal — from the seemingly endless procession of antipasti to the dry-aged duck with charred endive and fig — will stay with you long after you’ve taken your last bite. It’s memorable, thoughtful, and delicious. 

Midtown Village | Italian
1312 Spruce Street
Website

15. Tabachoy

“We cook the food that got us made fun of in elementary school,” Chance Anies says on the Tabachoy website. He’s the one laughing now, his snug Bella Vista dining room lively with guests going hard on twangy pork adobo, South Philly-pino broccoli rabe braised in coconut milk, Basque-style pandan cheesecake, and lilac-hued ube soft-serve sundaes.

BEST OF THE BEST: Stirring the egg until it cooks into the citrusy sweet heat of this sizzling pork sisig is as satisfying to watch as it is to eat.

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

16. My Loup

Bone marrow with chanterelles and a gin martini touched with absinthe and orange bitters. Coors Banquet to wash down the caviar service and a half-dozen Cape May salts. My Loup’s strength has always been in its friction, its balance of the unpretentious against the luxurious, the fine against the fun. People love it as much for its pickled shrimp and packaged saltines as they do for its pork-sausage-and-apple-stuffed quail or foie gras terrine, and both sides of its coin are done equally well.

Rittenhouse | Modern French
2005 Walnut Street
Website | Review

17. Ground Provisions

Here, in a sprawling farmhouse-inspired restaurant, Rich Landau, Kate Jacoby, and their crew serve an unapologetically vegan tasting menu that is stunning in its depth, scope, and simplicity. The fall menu had rye sourdough with onion schmaltz, chicory salad with black garlic Caesar dressing and cured tofu, corzetti with chanterelles and fennel cream, and a tarte tatin with thyme-roasted walnuts and amaro caramel, and that’s only half of it. There are far worse places a vegetable can end up than in the kitchen at Ground Provisions — and maybe no place better in the entire country.

West Chester | Vegan/New American
1388 Old Wilmington Pike
Website | Review

18. Laser Wolf

Sometimes the best trick a restaurant can pull is being fun when you least expect it. And Laser Wolf is always fun. Michael Solomonov’s modern take on an Israeli­ shipudiya is basically­ a neighborhood bar and grill that serves Yemenite pickles and skewers of Romanian beef kebabs and merguez sausage instead of chicken­ wings, but then also offers chicken­ wings (with a date-harissa glaze, tehina ranch dressing on the side), french fries, rum and arak cocktails with maraschino and lime, and soft serve for dessert. Laser Wolf is loud, raucous, often crowded, occasionally frivolous, but always a good time. And always delicious, too.

Kensington | Israeli
1301 North Howard Street
Website

19. Lacroix

Among industry insiders, chef Eric Leveillee is known for his uncompromising dedication to French technique. Whether hand-cutting potatoes to the size of a grain of rice for the potato risotto or tackling a sauce that takes three days to make, no task is too tedious. The acute attention to detail pays off. Delicately thin slices of matsutake blanketing chicken confit, wild rose petals placed on harissa-seasoned beef tartare with tweezer precision, and nixtamalized tomato with lobster bisque — every dish that graces your table will be a delicious showstopper.

Rittenhouse | French
210 West Rittenhouse Square
Website

20. Gass & Main

Losing Burgertime — chef Dane DeMarco’s video game-themed ode to cheeseburgers and American excess — was hard. But trading tater tots smothered in chili and burgers jammed between two grilled cheese sandwiches for the (slightly) more refined joys of smoked cheddar deviled eggs, caviar-topped French onion dip, wild boar meatloaf, truffled gnocchi mac and cheese, and other fancied-up touchstones of middle-class American kitchen table cuisine at DeMarco’s Gass & Main makes it a whole lot easier.

Haddonfield | New American
7 Kings Court
Website | Review

21. Andiario

What began as a way to muscle through the pandemic has now just become the Way Things Work at Andiario, where chef Anthony Andiario cooks a multicourse, $80 prix fixe dinner four nights a week for a dining room that often sells out. His menus are never announced in advance. They change with the seasons, availability of products, how many tables he’s serving, and what’s in his pantry on any given morning — and, sometimes, just according to his mood. One day it’s fir-smoked brook trout and another it’s hand-rolled orecchiette, paccheri with veal ragu, or a Seckel pear poached in red wine and dipped in dark chocolate. Take a chance on the unknown.

West Chester | New American
106 West Gay Street
Website

22. River Twice

Every dinner at Randy and Amanda Rucker’s intimate East Passyunk restaurant seems to be more refined, more focused, more flat-out delicious than the last. The 2024 thrills at the chef’s counter (home to the genius built-in silverware drawer) included oysters illuminated with fennel pollen and preserved kiwiberries and crispy-skinned mackerel over Jersey sushi rice. The Mother Rucker, a nonnegotiable Monday night addition to the $75 prix fixe menu, remains unmatched in the city’s burger pantheon.

East Passyunk | New American
1601 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

23. Bolo

The signature sidewalk bar. The evocative interiors. The ebullient music trumpeting onto Sansom Street. Maybe it’s just the frozen Don Q Gold piña colada talking, but Bolo feels like a restaurant from a time when restaurants were not so serious — but with food that is deadly so when it comes to flavor and execution. From the crackliest fried chicken­ in town to Cuban-Sichuan crossover dumplings with black beans and chili crunch to fantastic mofongo in garlicky coconut sauce, Yun Fuentes has claimed Center City’s Nuevo Latino inheritance with exuberance and pride.

BEST OF THE BEST: At the center of Bolo’s Lechonera Sundays tasting menu is a succulent whole roasted pig that will end the weekend on such a high note it’ll stave off the Sunday scaries.

Rittenhouse | Latin American
2025 Sansom Street
Website

24. Zeppoli

While it’s unlikely that a rabbit stew over rosemary-roasted potatoes or a bowl of spaghetti with white clam sauce could change a person’s life, if that kind of thing were going to happen, Joey Baldino’s charming, cozy fantasy of an Italian restaurant on Collings Avenue would be where it did. Here, under the twinkle lights in the back garden with the sun setting and the table crowded with wineglasses and Sicilian antipasti, one can be convinced that all the classics are new again and that a plate of lemon-garlic shrimp with cannellini beans is the most beautiful­ thing in the world.

Collingswood | Italian
618 West Collings Avenue
Website

25. Provenance

This is one of the most ambitious restaurants in Philadelphia right now. The team has attracted top talent from the city’s most reputable kitchens, they work with purveyors of the finest ingredients available (shout-out to Gary the caviar guy), and all this excellence collides in an environment where the staff is encouraged to let their creativity fly on the fanciest equipment money can buy. The seafood canapés are a strong start, and the playful take on the steelhead trout amandine is a high note in a menu that’s almost too rich and, at 25 dishes, slightly overwhelming. But there’s enough intrigue here to make it worth seeing where this ambitious dining experience is headed.­

Society Hill | French
408 South 2nd Street
Website | More about Provenance

26. Irwin’s

Riding the elevator up to the rooftop of Bok, we’re never not mind-blown that in a relatively short period of time, this unloved municipal albatross has again become a vibrant community anchor. As the hive’s flagship restaurant, Irwin’s is a big part of the reason. Its mere existence is a gritty miracle. Its excellence is a credit to Michael Vincent Ferreri and his team’s obsession with esoteric pastas, rigorous sourcing, and an open-minded mentality. In late 2023, we saw the debut of the elaborate Salvatore’s Counter tasting menu and a smart new bar program from award-winning bartender Damián Langarica.

East Passyunk | Italian
800 Mifflin Street
Website

27. Little Walter’s

Yeah, go for the pierogi, absolutely. The pierogi are what gets people through the door. But what keeps them coming back to chef Michael Brenfleck’s biographical­ ode to his mom’s cooking, his grandfather Walter’s kielbasa, and the holiday feasts of his youth is everything else: the plates of smoked sausage; rotisserie pork over smoky potatoes; crisp pickled vegetables; dark rye toasts with poached pear, pickled herring, and horseradish; and smoked monkfish with shrimp kielbasa. It’s the service that’s excited to show you around the tasting menu, and the house cherry nalewka from behind the bar. (And it’s the pierogi too, of course.)

BEST OF THE BEST: The pierogi ruskie is simply a potato and farmer’s cheese dumpling topped with sautéed onions and served with a dollop of sour cream, but it has quickly become the gold standard of pierogi.

Kensington | Polish
2049 East Hagert Street
Website | Review

28. El Chingon

Chef Juan Carlos Aparicio’s cemita game is strong. His fresh-baked sesame seed-topped rolls are the perfect vessel for chicken Milanese, braised beef, and adobo-marinated pork. But the magic of Aparicio’s cooking is in his ability to remix familiar Mexican dishes to create something truly extraordinary. Tuna aguachile with a spicy, floral hibiscus-­habanero base? Rabbit tinga tostadas? Octopus al pastor, hot off the trompo? Yes, please. And don’t forget the mole ice cream — a sweet and savory grand finale to one hell of a performance.

East Passyunk | Mexican
1524 South 10th Street
Website | Review

29. Royal Tavern

Royal Tavern is back! It’s like when your favorite band that broke up announces a reunion tour after three years, and they’re as good as you remember. (Hell, even better.)­ The bar essentials are there: the High Life Citywide and the legendary burger topped with smoked Gouda, caramelized onions, pickled long hots, and spicy mayo. But the real glory of this revival is how chef Nic Macri­ and the team are reimagining the neighborhood bar by elevating the menu. Think marinated clams topped with hot pepper relish, a house-made pâté of roast chicken and pork, and a fried fluke sandwich the size of your plate.

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

30. Rice & Sambal

Chef Diana Widjojo and her life partner, Jennifer Cowden, are bringing Indonesia to East Passyunk with a five-course tasting menu exploring the many cultural crossroads intersecting the archipelago. The menu is constantly changing, but you can trust that every dish, regardless of whether it’s seared scallops in a purple cabbage-dyed fish-bone broth or a ketoprak vegetable salad­ with butterfly pea-blue rice vermicelli, will be vibrant in both color and flavor. Make a reservation, bring a bottle of your favorite wine, and savor the sambal under the fuchsia glow of the neon sign.

BEST OF THE BEST: Saturdays are all about the liwetan feast — a bamboo­ basket brimming with a variety of offerings such as beef rendang, steamed river prawn, fresh fruits and vegetables, and, of course, their sambals for dipping.

East Passyunk | Indonesian
611 South 7th Street
Website

31. Lark

There are few places we’d rather be than on Lark’s rooftop terrace with a fig leaf negroni in hand, indulging in a bowl of clam bucatini followed by grilled Iberico pork with sambuca-braised fennel and red wine pear mostarda. Chef Nicholas Elmi continues his dedication to impeccable sourcing, and it shows in a menu that always exceeds our expectations. Come for the food, but stay for that incredible view from the top of the Ironworks at Pencoyd Landing, overlooking the Schuylkill River.­

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

32. June BYOB

Francophiles who remember the days of Le Bec Fin and Bibou, where chef Richard Cusack honed his craft, will find echoes of their legacies here. In fact, the escargot is a faithful re-creation of chef Pierre Calmels’s recipe, down to the spiral plates Calmels gifted to Cusack after Bibou closed and June BYOB relocated to Collings­wood. But don’t be fooled by the fine dining pedigree. June BYOB keeps things approachable, especially on Sunday nights, when for $55 you can get a four-course tasting menu featuring a generous choucroute garnie packed with Berkshire pork chop, garlic sausage, and cured smoked ham along with Calmels’s escargot.

Collingswood | French
690 Haddon Avenue
Website`

33. Mish Mish

There’s a moment at Mish Mish — somewhere between the first few sips of Arneis and breaking the lightly fried exterior of the Armenian string cheese — when you get pulled into the romance of dining on East Passyunk. The coziness of the low-lit dining room, the view of twinkling string lights over the Singing Fountain, the wine list that’s as carefully curated as the playlist, the fun way seasons collide in unexpected ways (like how spring’s pickled rhubarb mingles with fall persimmons tucked between slices of raw, dry-aged red snapper). When the opposing forces of low-key vibes and jovial energy create that undeniable gravitational pull, you’ll want to be part of Mish Mish’s orbit.

East Passyunk | Mediterranean
1046 Tasker Street
Website | Review

34. Laurel

If you haven’t been to Laurel lately, you’re really missing out. In its current incarnation, Nicholas Elmi’s first restaurant is a French-ish à la carte operation, larger than ever after its absorption of sister restaurant ITV. There’s shrimp spiked with beef fat and cassis, oyster mushrooms with potato and caviar, and cherry sorbet for dessert, but the most notable change might be the renewed comfort of the place. There was a time when Laurel and ITV were Philly’s coolest hang — all forcemeats and shot luges and drunk restaurant crews arguing about football. And while this version of Laurel might not quite be that, it’s certainly a big step back in that direction.

East Passyunk | Modern French
1617 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

35. Mount Masala

Anchoring the corner of a South Jersey strip mall that also offers a cigar shop and a beauty supplier is a humble spot serving up the best Himalayan food you’ll find in the region. Dry-rubbed goat masala, sweet and creamy chicken korma, and sizzling plates of saucy momos (watch all the heads turn as the platter crosses the dining room) are a few of the must-try favorites on this extensive menu of Chinese-influenced Indian, Tibetan, and Nepali dishes that never miss.

Voorhees | Himalayan
300 White Horse Road East, #1
Website | Review

36. Stina Pizzeria

Long before La Llorona, Cafe Nhan, and Brewery ARS, the chipped beef at the Melrose was peak culinary excellence for this stretch of West Passyunk. Now this is a vital restaurant corridor, with Stina playing the part of the friendly, reasonably priced, heirlooms-on-the-brick-walls BYOB with cooking that wildly overdelivers: delicate manti anointed with Aleppo pepper oil, vivid salads, Turkish pide stuffed with merguez crumbles. The regular pizzas coming out of the wood-fired oven make Stina a sneaky-good neighborhood pizzeria and takeout spot too.

Point Breeze | Mediterranean
1705 Snyder Avenue
Website | Review

37. Forsythia

Forsythia is fine French dining with the attitude of a cabaret variety show. Happy hour boasts bourgeoisie bites at proletariat prices (ham and cheese beignets, beet deviled eggs, and a glass of bubbly — all $10 and under), the 10-day dry-aged duck à l’orange dinner for two is an absolute extravaganza, and the French AF dinner series is a tour de force, pushing the limits of French ingredients and technique in a way that’s impressive and a little bit absurdist in its decadence.

Old City | French
233 Chestnut Street
Website

38. Little Fish

Little Fish just celebrated its 30th anniversary — a testament to the enduring success of this intimate corner BYOB. The focus has shifted over the years, but right now, chef Alex Yoon’s ever-evolving Asian-influenced seafood menu is what’s driving diners through the front door. Whether you get the five-course prix fixe or order à la carte (available Monday through Thursday), the handwritten menu is a dynamic expression of the ocean’s bounty. Prime example: the toast loaded with raw scallops and drizzled with chili oil, a fan favorite that’s always on the menu.

Bella Vista | Seafood
746 South 6th Street
Website

39. Le Virtù

Patience is, well, a virtue. After a few heads-down-keep-grinding years, this East Passyunk stalwart has emerged into a new era with ingredient-obsessed chef Andrew Wood, who himself is just off a few heads-down-keep-grinding years. The shoe fits beautifully, with wonderful pastas like the culurgiones filled with potato and ricotta and cappellacci hats wearing guinea-hen ragu and chestnuts.

BEST OF THE BEST: The scrippelle ’mbusse is a sleeper hit. Porcini ragu, ricotta, Mycopolitan mushrooms, and spinach, all tucked in a delicate crepe nestled in a shallow pool of melted saffron butter.

East Passyunk | Italian
1927 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

40. Fork

Fork has always been a pioneer in sourcing local ingredients for its sophisticated menu. We’re talking roasted Green Circle chicken, salads with tangy Birchrun Hills blue cheese, and mustard greens served with a chili-rubbed pork chop from Green Meadow Farm. You may be dining in Old City, but between the truly farm-to-table menu and the mural on the wall evoking a sunset through the trees, Fork will bring you back to the land.

Old City | New American
306 Market Street
Website

41. Hên Vietnamese Eatery

It’s easy to find great Vietnamese restaurants specializing in giant bowls of pho, crispy bánh xèo, or bánh mì. What’s harder to find is one spot that executes all of the above under one roof. Enter Hên Vietnamese — a strip mall restaurant cooking up consistency. There’s no wrong order here, but we recommend branching out from the classics. Dig into the fish sauce-smothered wings; kick back some street-style sizzling clams topped with peanuts, shallots, cilantro, and peppers; and if you can’t decide between the sugarcane shrimp, grilled beef, and pork lettuce wraps, get all three with the ba v combo.

Cherry Hill | Vietnamese
2087 Marlton Pike East
Website

42. Parc

From the French onion soup to the steak frites to one of the best bread services in Philly (be sure to stop by their bread window), it’s easy to see why Parc has remained a Philly staple. Nestled right next to Rittenhouse Square, where the verdant views complement the Parisian atmosphere, Parc exudes a European flair that’s hard to resist — and hard to find elsewhere in the city.

Rittenhouse | French
227 South 18th Street
Website

43. Paffuto

The shoebox on the corner of 8th and Kimball is a reservoir of positive juju, having previously hosted Pif and Bibou before the trio behind this pandemic pop-up moved in and showed the city they were no one-act panzerotto. Jake Loeffler, Danny Griffiths, and Sam Kalkut’s deep-fried, finely bubbled pizza pockets got us in the door, but the ethereal maritozzi, the cutlet sandwich flooded in vodka sauce, and most recently the deft dinner menu have kept us in our seats. Now in a tasting format, the Italian American-ish supper sees bass crudo paired with spicy fennel preserves, house-made cavatelli glossed in pepperoni butter, and crinkle cookies made with your favorite bartender’s handshake, Fernet-Branca.

Bella Vista | Italian
1009 South 8th Street
Website

44. Kim’s Restaurant

The scent of Kim’s should be preserved in a Yankee Candle and sold to the masses. There’s nothing like the fragrance of galbi hitting the charcoal grill in the middle of your table. (That’s right — no induction burners here.) Enjoy the show as the table fills up with banchan — Korean side dishes like cucumber salad and kimchi — and the fire from the coals dances under sizzling cuts of pork belly, skirt steak, and other marinated meats. Masisseoyo!

North Philly | Korean
5955 North 5th Street

45. Sorellina

There’s Italian hip-hop on the stereo, a pop-art Sophia Loren in the dining room, and, in the kitchen, Joe and Angela Cicala and their crew of pizza anarchists slinging leopard-spotted Naples-style street pies with fat, high-hydration crusts and whole rounds of burrata in the middle — pizzas that come with twisted star points stuffed with ricotta or topped with potatoes, sausage, smoked mozzarella, and long hots. They are wickedly good pies, served alongside potato croquettes, ’nduja fritters battered like Chinese takeout sweet-and-sour chicken, and simple, amaro-heavy Italian cocktails from the bar. Sorellina may operate on Broad Street, but it lives and breathes in Naples. And to get a little taste of that for yourself, all you have to do is show up.

BEST OF THE BEST: The Bronte balances the bold flavors of garlic, pistachio pesto, creamy burrata, and savory mortadella in a pie you won’t want to share.

Poplar | Italian
699 North Broad Street
Website | Review

46. A.Kitchen + Bar

Trying to create a something-for-everyone restaurant is typically a recipe for disaster, but chef Eli Collins strikes the balance between approachable comforts (don’t sleep on the cheeseburger) and decadent luxuries — and he does it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Stop by for a silky breakfast omelet, lunchtime oysters from Sweet Amalia, and the barbecued lamb on a bed of green lentils drizzled with harissa jus, all served in the sophisticated ambience of a casual yet refined bistro worthy of Rittenhouse Square.

Rittenhouse | New American
135 South 18th Street
Website

47. Middle Child Clubhouse

Go ahead and tell yourself the giant malted pancake drenched in citrusy honey butter is “for the table.” The affable staff of MCC will go along with it, even if you’ve pulled up a stool solo at the counter looking out at the trusses of the El. It was formerly a two-toque operation, but chef and hotcake creator Edwin De La Rosa began leading this day-to-night kitchen this past summer, with a menu (okonomiyaki-style latkes, single-serve lasagna crocks) that’s equal parts winking millennial charm and professional precision.

Fishtown | New American
1232 North Front Street
Website | Review

48. Doro Bet

From the explosion of hot-chicken joints in the Northeast to the continued expansion of Federal Donuts, there’s no doubt we’re in the middle of a Philadelphia fried-chicken boom. And while those are all great, they pale in comparison to the teff-battered beauties churned out in Doro Bet’s kitchen. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and bursting with Ethiopian berbere and turmeric lemon, these are wings worth traveling across the city for. Go big and get the whole bird with an arsenal of dipping sauces, and rotate between bites of garlic aioli and Ethiopian mustard. Your future self will thank you for the leftovers.

University City | Ethiopian
4533 Baltimore Avenue
Website | Review

49. China Gourmet

In Chinese, dim sum means “touch of heart”; it was originally meant to showcase a chef’s ability to pack as much technique and flavor as possible into a single, ultra-satiating bite. China Gourmet carries on this tradition in a cavernous dining room bustling with staff seamlessly navigating dim sum carts through a labyrinth of tables covered in bright-pink cloth. Gather everyone you know and order fan favorites like steamy shrimp shao mai, char siu bao, chicken feet, and baked Snow Mountain buns stuffed with barbecue roast pork. Now put that lazy Susan to work.

Northeast Philly | Chinese
2842 St. Vincent Street
Website | More about China Gourmet

50. Georgian Bread

This plainspoken retail bakery and extremely jazzy dining room is no secret to the city’s food-obsessed, yet the staff eternally regards diners outside its ex-Soviet base with how-in-the-world-did-you-hear-about-us confusion, which quickly turns to delight when you won’t shut up about the ridiculously flavorful chicken, slumping off its bone into the crock of garlicky milk it was braised in, and the chubby, hand-pleated khinkali dumplings, and, of course, the adjaruli khachapuri, a canoe of house-baked bread filled with egg, cheese, and butter you scramble the bejesus out of before tearing and dipping, tearing and dipping, until you roll yourself out into the harsh shopping-plaza glow of Bustleton Avenue. The Great Northeast indeed.

Northeast Philly | Georgian
10865 Bustleton Avenue
Website | Review

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50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia at a Glance