In the Where to Eat: 25 Best series, we’re highlighting our favorite restaurants in cities across the United States. These lists will be updated as restaurants close and open, and as we find new gems to recommend. As always, we pay for all of our meals and do not accept free items.
A.Kitchen
Rittenhouse Square | American, French
On Sunday afternoons at this restaurant, you might find perfect French omelets, plates of chickpea panisse and some of Philadelphia’s best chefs eating lunch on their day off. Across from Rittenhouse Square, this all-day restaurant has been open since 2011, quietly maintaining an essential place in the local dining scene thanks in part to the efforts of the chef, Eli Collins. His longstanding relationships with the region’s farmers are a boon to the menu, reflected in dishes like crispy oyster mushrooms grown in nearby Kennett Square, and chicken liver toast topped with red wine-preserved cherries he picks up from the farmers’ market. Dinner should start with airy gougères and a bottle from one of Philly’s most extensive natural wine lists — try a chilled Chambourcin from the local winery Camuna Cellars. REGAN STEPHENS
135 South 18th Street; 215-825-7030; akitchenandbar.com
Ambra
Bella Vista | Italian, Tasting Menu
Well before the dessert course, when you’re scooping pumpkin tiramisù from the depths of a hollowed-out gourd, you’ll get the feeling that Ambra isn’t a typical fine-dining experience. Despite all the hallmarks of a lofty occasion meal — the seven-course menu, the $350 price tag (which includes a wine or alcohol-free drink pairing, tax and tip) — the Modern Italian boîte run by the chef Chris D’Ambro and his wife, Marina de Oliveira, lacks all stuffiness. From one of just 14 seats — four of which are in the working kitchen — guests are treated to a parade of bites that might include cacio e pepe gougère, and a mosaic of cured fluke with osetra caviar and tart beet granita, served alongside carta di musica — Sardinian crackers, paper-thin and pressed with herbs. REGAN STEPHENS
705 South Fourth Street; 267-858-9232; ambraphilly.com
Angelo’s Pizzeria
Bella Vista | Pizza
Philadelphians are spoiled for choices when it comes to cheesesteaks and pizza, making it all the more remarkable that so many choose to jump through hoops to get their hands on those at Angelo’s. (Epic lines, cash only and no seating. When they’re especially busy, they just stop answering the phone.) Order the heavy-as-a-brick upside-down pie. Get an array of cheesesteaks and hoagies, all built on rolls that the owner Danny DiGiampietro bakes from scratch, stuffed with a gooey meld of frizzled beef, Cooper Sharp cheese and long hot peppers, or layers of juicy chicken cutlets with fresh mozzarella (available only on Thursdays). Join the crowds eating on the surrounding stoops and sidewalks. REGAN STEPHENS
736 South Ninth Street; 215-922-0000; angelospizzeriasouthphiladelphia.com
Càphê Roasters
Kensington | Vietnamese
Càphê Roasters has all the usual trappings of a third-wave coffee shop: a sunlit space with potted plants, tables covered with laptops and lattes, branded merch. But the owner, Thu Pham, has also made the city’s first Vietnamese specialty coffee roaster into an exciting dining destination. Dishes are both comforting and exhilarating, including the sweet and salty tamarind fries, and bánh mì xíu mại, with tangy tomato sauce-coated pork meatballs tucked in a baguette from local institution Ba Le Bakery. (Order it with cheese, which recalls a classic Italian meatball hoagie, for a delightful meld of Philly flavors.) The drink menu, too, stretches far past the typical: fizzy espresso tonics animated with housemade watermelon syrup and affogatos with Vietnamese espresso poured over condensed-milk soft serve. REGAN STEPHENS
3400 J Street G1; 215-690-1268; capheroasters.com
Doro Bet
University City | Ethiopian
A handwritten sign on the front door of Doro Bet in West Philadelphia asks patrons to be patient: Chickens are fried to order and will take at least 15 minutes. They’re dredged in a buttermilk batter made with teff flour, imparting a crackly crunch, and either fiery berbere (a family recipe that includes black cardamom, cumin and sun-dried chiles) or a mild version coated in tart lemon and turmeric — dreamed up by the co-owner, Mebruka Kane, to appeal to her kids’ tastes during the pandemic while incorporating spices from her own childhood in Addis Ababa. The shop also serves traditional Ethiopian recipes like spicy doro wot and cardamom-scented tibs with injera, but the fried chicken will indeed come out last. And it’s thoroughly worth the wait. REGAN STEPHENS
4533 Baltimore Avenue; 215-921-6558; alifamilyrestaurants.com/doro-bet
Fiore
East Kensington | Italian
When the married chefs Justine MacNeil and Ed Crochet downsized their sprawling Italian restaurant, they gave up a wood-fired oven and half of the menu. What they gained, though, was freedom to sharpen their focus in tiny cafe form. Ms. MacNeil, the former pastry chef at Del Posto in New York, pulls from her exhaustive knowledge of Italy’s regional baked goods for abundant stacks of Roman maritozzi overfilled with vanilla-scented whipped cream, Piedmontese torta di nocciole, and schiacciata, a Tuscan-style flatbread threaded with Cheddar and hot honey. These sweet and savory delights are served alongside bright, seasonal salads and some of the city’s most memorable pasta dishes, like a flawless cacio e pepe, and the thin, ridged malloreddus shells clinging with saffron sausage ragù. That newfound freedom extends to the cafe’s freewheeling format, too — pastas are offered (and eagerly ordered) as early as 8 a.m. REGAN STEPHENS
2413 Frankford Avenue; 215-339-0509; fiore-finefoods.com
Fiorella
Bella Vista | Italian
More than 25 years ago, Marc Vetri introduced a city already well-versed in Italian cuisine to the pleasures of handmade pasta in a fine-dining setting. Early in 2020, the chef made the same pasta more accessible when he opened this snug restaurant in a former sausage shop in the Italian Market neighborhood. He kept its name, and uses the family’s fennel sausage recipe for his ragù. While Fiorella may lack the special-occasion luster of Vetri Cucina, plates of that ragù poured over chewy curves of rigatoni, or clouds of ricotta gnocchi in a pool of brown butter paired with glasses of Lambrusco at the cozy pasta bar make for an equally memorable night out. REGAN STEPHENS
817 Christian Street; 215-305-9222; fiorellaphilly.com
Friday Saturday Sunday
Rittenhouse Square | Modern American
When Chad and Hanna Williams purchased Friday Saturday Sunday in 2015, the well-worn mainstay had been chugging along for more than 40 years. The couple has managed a feat few others have: maintaining a beloved neighborhood restaurant while finding national renown. In the second-floor dining room, Mr. Williams, the chef, showcases his singular perspective in dishes like coco bread, the Jamaican staple, adorned with jerk quail and a swipe of curried pâté. In the stylish, newly revamped downstairs barroom, you can order smoked herring spaghetti or shrimp cocktail with yuzu koshu and Marie Rose sauce from the more casual menu, or just pop in for some of the city’s most sublime cocktails. REGAN STEPHENS
261 South 21st Street; 215-546-4232; fridaysaturdaysunday.com
Gabriella’s Vietnam
East Passyunk | Vietnamese
The presentation of the food here is as thrilling as the flavors, and a meal can quickly turn into a party. Bánh bèo chén, or water fern dumplings, arrive open face and in individual bowls topped with crackled pork and shrimp, with nước mắm on the side. Bánh bột lọc comes in the form of chewy tapioca sheathed in banana leaves that you unwrap like a gift. A catfish hot pot is housed in a tureen with tomatoes and okra bobbing at the surface of the tangy, sweet broth. The restaurant is minimally decorated — perhaps because the food does all the talking. PRIYA KRISHNA
1837 East Passyunk Avenue; 272-888-3298; gabriellasvietnam.com
Hardena
South Philadelphia | Indonesian
A steam table filled to the brim with rendang and gudeg (jackfruit stew) is the heart of this warm Indonesian spot, where the scent of coconut and turmeric and the family photos taped to the walls give the feeling that you’ve been invited into someone’s home. Ena Widjojo got her professional start cooking at the Indonesian consulate in New York before moving to Philadelphia in 2000 to open Hardena. Nowadays, her daughter Maylia is the one behind the counter, adding a few crispy-edged vegetable fritters to heaping platters of curries over rice. The first scoop of sambal comes with your order, but any extras are 50 cents apiece, a small price to pay for a chile sauce that boosts everything it touches. REGAN STEPHENS
1754 South Hicks Street No. 2217; 215-271-9442; instagram.com/hardenaphilly
Her Place Supper Club
Rittenhouse Square | French, Italian, Jewish
Step inside Her Place and you’ll often be told to choose whatever table you’d like — a sort of invitation to make yourself at home. The chef Amanda Shulman is an unflappable host, describing each course of the ever-changing prix fixe menu to her 24 guests as she and her team buzz around the open kitchen adding finishing touches. Corn ravioli gets a lavish shave of truffles, for example, before it’s passed around the room on charmingly mismatched floral dishes. Long before Ms. Shulman began her professional culinary career, she hosted dinner parties in her college dorm. The effervescent spirit of those gatherings live on at Her Place, and will stay with you long after you’ve finished the sourdough chocolate chip cookies she’ll hand you at meal’s end. REGAN STEPHENS
1740 Sansom Street; no phone; herplacephilly.com
Illata
Graduate Hospital | Modern American
Sometimes simple is best. Or perhaps it’s just the illusion of simplicity that gives this tiny restaurant in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of South Philly its winning formula. Whatever the case, Illata is hosting a dinner party five nights a week. And like any good guest, you’ll want to bring your own wine. A fizzy white will pair beautifully with slivers of mussels marinated in miso and chile oil, as well as with the chicory salad, though you’ll want a red for the New York strip. And order plenty of bread; this is the type of place where every plate is aswim in a sauce or reduction you’ll want to swipe the tangy sourdough through. NIKITA RICHARDSON
2241 Grays Ferry Avenue; no phone; illataphl.com
Kalaya
Fishtown | Thai
Chutatip Suntaranon left her flight-attendant career and found the national culinary stage in 2019, when she started serving head-turning southern Thai food at a 39-seat B.Y.O. restaurant. As of last year, that Kalaya is no more, but the new version is as dazzling as the original was modest. Palm trees tower over 140 seats inside the new location, which opened last November in the Fishtown neighborhood. Ms. Suntaranon’s business partnership with Defined Hospitality, a local restaurant company, hasn’t muted her forcefully spiced, luminous cooking. Be sure to order the flower-shaped shaw muang and the goong phao, with its grilled freshwater prawns — and while you eat, marvel at the realization that this preternaturally gifted chef and owner didn’t open her first place until age 50. BRETT ANDERSON
4 West Palmer Street; 215-545-2535; kalayaphilly.com
Little Walter’s
Fishtown | Polish, American
With Fishtown already overrun with boutiques and chic restaurants, it was only a matter of time until the overflow spread to nearby East Kensington. Navigate the tight residential streets and you’ll find this dimly lit, low-slung corner restaurant serving robust and deftly executed Polish cuisine. The pierogies are a nonnegotiable, of course, but there are other equally appealing dishes: the rustic sourdough served with dill butter and smalec (lard); the wieprzowina z rożna, sumptuous rotisserie pork on a bed of hearty kapusta (stewed cabbage with onions and sauerkraut); and because this is Philadelphia, a seasonal take on water ice, which at the time of this writing featured blueberries and sour cherry. NIKITA RICHARDSON
2049 East Hagert Street; 267-239-2228; littlewaltersphilly.com
Mawn
Belle Vista | Cambodian, Pan-Asian
The pinnacles of the menu at this modestly self-described “noodle house,” like the wild boar prahak and banh chow crepe salad, tend to lean into the Cambodian cooking the chef Phila Lorn grew up eating at home. But a tour through the whole roster of bright, salty-sour salads, curries and hot and cold noodles is to experience Southeast Asian cuisine as fenceless terrain. There isn’t a dish you won’t ache to eat again, one of the reasons reservations at Mawn are in such high demand. Another is that the restaurant embodies so much of what’s appealing about Philadelphia’s B.Y.O. restaurant scene; walking in with a bottle or two under your arm underscores how much the dining room — overseen by Rachel Lorn, Mr. Lorn’s business partner and wife — feels like a domestic space. Love that raw shrimp and chile oil special? Look out for Sao, the Lorns’ oyster and crudo bar, about a mile away. BRETT ANDERSON
764 South Ninth Street; no phone; mawnphilly.com
Meetinghouse
Olde Richmond | American tavern
One look at the Meetinghouse menu and you might wonder how such a basic menu could possibly warrant such high praise. But here, nothing is basic: An expertly dressed green salad is stacked high enough to become the stuff of restaurant legend, the hot roast beef sandwich tastes as if it were invented in the kitchen mere minutes ago, and humble pork-and-beans takes on new life. Meetinghouse is “just” a tavern, but it’s the tavern you might have fantasized about while reading historical fiction as a kid, where even the simplest dishes taste divine because of every arduous moment that led up to this meal. No need to fantasize any longer. NIKITA RICHARDSON
2331 East Cumberland Street; no phone; meetinghousebeer.com
Middle Child Clubhouse
Fishtown | Breakfast, Sandwiches, All Day Café
Don’t be confused by the framed photos of Princess Diana in Eagles gear or the neon green “Never Grow Up” sign at this impish all-day restaurant — Middle Child Clubhouse is serving serious food. Morning diners hover over plates of thick malted pancakes and the fluffiest egg sandwiches in town. Midday, the Clubhouse serves sandwiches made with fine-dining precision. (The So Long Sal, an updated take on an Italian hoagie, instantly entered the pantheon of Philly sandwiches when the original Middle Child lunch counter opened in 2017.) At night, the menu remains both of-the-moment yet timeless, with dishes like New York strip steak au poivre and mint-flecked charred snap peas atop whipped tofu — best enjoyed with one of the creative, seasonal cocktails. REGAN STEPHENS
1232 North Front Street; 267-858-4325; middlechildphilly.com
Mish Mish
East Passyunk | Mediterranean
A glossy, larger-than-life apricot hangs above the entrance to Mish Mish, your first cheeky sign that this place isn’t taking itself too seriously. The owner, Alex Tewfik, is a former food editor. (Full disclosure: We were colleagues at Philadelphia magazine.) He opened the restaurant last winter after years of wishing the city had something like it — a place that felt elegant and thoughtful but breezy and fun. (The name means apricot in Arabic, the language spoken by Mr. Tewfik’s Egyptian father.) An evening in the dimly lit dining room might kick off with fizzy wine in a maraschino-cherry-spiked coupe. Plates of torn-herb salads and tomato-butter-drenched crab toast are spread over white tablecloths, and the effervescent dining room is set to a playlist of Egyptian hip-hop and French crooners. It’s all signaling that it’s not just a nightly service at Mish Mish, but a real soiree. REGAN STEPHENS
1046 Tasker Street; 267-761-9750; mishmishphilly.com
River Twice
East Passyunk | Modern American
To anyone paying attention, small details will tip you off to the kind of meal you’re about to have at River Twice, the modern American restaurant run by the chef Randy Rucker and his wife, Amanda. Linen napkins are hand-sewn by Ms. Rucker and the open kitchen at the center of the minimalist space, buzzes with a choreographed precision. The intentionality extends to the whole of Mr. Rucker’s seasonal set menu, from the first dish of the seasonally changing prix fixe, say bluefin tuna under a cloud of Burgundy truffle shavings, to the triumphant final bite. Lest you think the attention to detail makes River Twice stuffy, they’re also serving the Mother Rucker, a messy, two-patty burger on a buttery milk bun that’s among Philly’s best. REGAN STEPHENS
1601 East Passyunk Avenue; 267-457-3698; rivertwicerestaurant.com
Royal Sushi & Izakaya
Queen Village | Japanese
Sitting at the counter here, a spectator while the chef Jesse Ito crafts each bite, feels a little like watching an ice skater land a triple axel. There’s so much skill in his technique, which he learned from his father, yet his assembly looks effortless — no wasted movements, no hesitations. The The intimate omakase is a mix of composed plates and nigiri — Kumamoto oyster over glistening toro tartare, king salmon belly precisely scored and kissed with a blowtorch — each bite a perfect balance of salt and fat and flavor. Those who can’t get a spot at the coveted eight-seat counter can take solace in the connecting izakaya, where walk-ins feast on gyoza and torikatsu sandos with peach katsu sauce, while anime is projected on the wall. REGAN STEPHENS
780 South Second Street; 267-909-9002; royalsushiandizakaya.com
South Philly Barbacoa
South Philadelphia | Mexican
Christina Martinez’s beloved taqueria recently relocated two doors away, to share a space with its sister restaurant, Casa Mexico. Still, as early as 6 a.m. on weekends, this bright spot in the Italian Market neighborhood is alive. A crowd is gathering, music is blaring and someone is tending the lamb barbacoa, hacking off impossibly succulent hunks to add to freshly pressed tortillas. Guests are gathered around tables, dipping quesadillas stuffed with housemade Oaxacan cheese into colorful salsas. As much as South Philly Barbacoa has (rightfully) been heaped with praise from all corners of the country, it’s still a place you’ll find the city’s broadest cross section, and still a place that underscores what makes Philly’s food scene special. REGAN STEPHENS
1140 South Ninth Street; 215-694-3797; instagram.com/barbacoachef
Suraya
Fishtown | Lebanese
Just through the doors of this sprawling Lebanese restaurant, you’ll find a cafe and market peddling turmeric-spiced lattes and specialty olive oil. A little farther in there’s a dining room decked with ornate tiles and chandeliers, and in the back, an enchanting garden with a canopy of Persian ironwood trees. Each of the three distinct spaces at Suraya — named for the grandmother of Nathalie Richan and Roland Kassis, two of the owners — offers a consistently memorable array of Lebanese delights, including delicate rose-scented crullers, fall-apart lamb, fattoush sprinkled with tart sumac, a crisp kenafeh drizzled with rose blossom syrup. Each feels thoroughly transportive. With a glass of arak in the garden, surrounded by glowing firepits, it’s easy to feel like you’ve left Philadelphia altogether. REGAN STEPHENS
1528 Frankford Avenue; 215-302-1900; surayaphilly.com
Vedge
Washington Square West | Vegan
In a city where cheesesteaks are almost a mascot, Vedge burst onto the fine-dining scene more than a decade ago, bringing a fresh perspective on what vegetable-forward cuisine could be. Transforming rutabaga into an unctuous fondue for dipping soft pretzels and pickled carrots is the kind of magic trick that the chef-owners Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby perform on a spectrum of plants with the same extraordinary success. In 2022, the couple opened Ground Provisions in the suburbs, bringing a new bag of tricks — like morphing a basic portobello into a basil-smoked, Bordelaise-coated thrill. REGAN STEPHENS
1221 Locust Street; 215-320-7500; vedgerestaurant.com
Vernick Fish
Logan Square | Seafood
With a sweep of the terrazzo floors and orbed light fixtures floating like futuristic buoys, the ground-floor restaurant anchoring the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia has all the trappings of an enclave for expense accounts. The menu showcases skills that the chef Greg Vernick honed over years of working for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and later at his own Rittenhouse Square restaurant, Vernick Food & Drink. But it also harks back to Mr. Vernick’s teenage summers spent working at the Jersey Shore. After a feast of flavorful ceviche, a deceptively simple toast of sardines on thick sourdough, and branzino roasted with guajillo chiles, the meal ends with a slice of pie from the glossy pastry case that belongs in a Jersey diner, and a fistful of saltwater taffies with the check. REGAN STEPHENS
1 North 19th Street; 215-419-5055; vernickfish.com
Zahav
Society Hill | Israeli
Nearly 17 years after the chef Michael Solomonov and his business partner, Steve Cook, opened this modern Israeli restaurant, scoring a reservation is still a uniquely Philadelphian triumph — like finding street parking in South Philly or meeting Gritty. Still, walk-ins can arrive a few minutes before the 5 p.m. opening to score a seat at the chef’s counter or the bar. While the à la carte menu is offered at the bar, opt for the $85 four-course tasting menu to sample the greatest hits (impossibly tender pomegranate lamb shoulder, crispy Persian rice) alongside seasonally changing mezze and desserts, like the poppy seed m’hencha topped with glossy, lavender-scented blueberries, that keep things fresh and exciting after all this time. REGAN STEPHENS
237 St. James Place; 215-625-8800; zahavrestaurant.com
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Nikita Richardson is an editor in the Food section of The Times.
The post The 25 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia Right Now appeared first on New York Times.
