In Philadelphia, food deserves its own section. The restaurant scene is booming, from Philly’s famous BYOB's to casual fine dining to many bar options with both excellent drinks and food. Pennsylvania’s restrictive (read: antiquated) liquor license regulations helped create a thriving BYOB scene. These establishments, as opposed to most restaurants, must make all their profits on food sales. This means that if the food isn’t outstanding, the place fails. The result is a wonderfully diverse and ever-changing collection of reasonably priced restaurants with truly tasty food. This is by no means a comprehensive list of restaurants, but here’s a few we love most!

  1. Farm to table
    • Urban Farmer - 1850 Ben Franklin Pkwy
    • The White Dog Cafe - 3420 Sansom St.
    • Supper - 926 South St.
  2. Mediterranean
    • Spice Finch - 220 S. 17th St. 
    • Barbuzzo - 110 S. 13th St.
  3. Asian
    • Han Dynasty - university city and old city (Chinese)
    • Ginza - 801 Montgomery Ave., Narberth, PA (Japanese)
    • Dim Sum Garden - 59 N 11th St.
    • Nan Zhou Noodle House - 1022 Race St.
  4. American/Other
    • Joe's Steaks - 6030 Torresdale Ave
    • Village Whisky - 118 S. 20th St.
    • Sidecar - 22nd and Christian St.
    • Twenty Manning Bar and Grill - 261 S. 20th St.
  5. Tapas
    • Amada - 217 Chestnut St.
    • Tinto - 114 S. 20th St.
  6. Italian
    • Via Locusta - 1720 Locust St. 
  7. Belgian
    • Monk's Cafe-264 S. 16th St.
  8. French
    • Parc - 227 S. 18th St.
  9. Israeli
    • Zahav - 237 St. James Place
  10. Markets
    • Reading Terminal Market - 12th and Arch St.
    • Italian Market - South 9th St.
    • Farmers markets (around the city)
  11. Bars
    • L'etage in Bella Vista - 624 S. 6th St.
    • Franklin Mortgage Company -1715 Schubert Aly
    • Bob and Barbara's - 1509 South St.
    • Beer Garden at Opa - 1311 Sansom St.
    • Devil's Alley - 1907 Chestnut St.
    • Smiths - 39 S. 19th. St.
    • Cherry Street Tavern - 129 N. 22nd St.
    • Grace Tavern - 2229 Grays Ferry Ave
    • Bauhaus Schmidt - 718 South St.
    • Hop Sing Laundromat - 1029 Race Street
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