What makes this modern French spot in East Passyunk the best restaurant in Philly? Well, it’s like a chameleon. The mirror-lined space works for a big deal date, but it’s still casual enough to sit at the bar by yourself and blend in. The real reason Laurel is at the top of the list, though, is that we’re always blown away by the originality of the dishes, which are now offered a la carte instead of strictly via tasting menu. Try the mussels under shiso leaves and scallops in an oyster cream.
When we want excellent Thai food, Kalaya is the first place we think of. The Fishtown restaurant's busy industrial space includes a full bar and lounge area, booths for large groups, and 14-foot Thai palm trees reaching up to an atrium glass ceiling. From their innovative cocktails to excellent dishes like umami-rich wok-fried pork belly, flower-shaped dumplings, and sweet-spicy-sour grilled squid, it's an experience unlike anywhere else in the city.
This Queen Village Japanese restaurant has a walk-in izakaya in front, where you can sit in a booth, drink a balanced cocktail, and eat chirashi and fried fish collars like a happy kitten. The room is dark, the bar is always bumping, and we rarely spend fewer than three hours loitering here. But if you want to feel like the princess of Philadelphia, try to book the 17-piece sushi omakase in the back. Both dining options are memorable in their own ways.
Her Place serves a four-course, $90 tasting menu that changes every two weeks, and to get a reservation, you’ll need to be ready when they drop them on every other Sunday at 6pm. You'll eat lobster ravioli and brown butter profiteroles while harmonizing with the chefs to a Destiny’s Child song, all while they put the finishing touches on a plate of housemade pasta. Energy-wise, a meal here is more like hanging at a chef’s house than dining in a tiny Rittenhouse restaurant. It's a ton of fun.
This two-story American spot in Rittenhouse has an incredible, slightly casual first-floor bar and a formal dining space upstairs with candles, leather booths, and stained glass windows. It’s an atmosphere that’s somehow both relaxing and sophisticated, and no matter where you sit you’ll have an unforgettable meal. They serve an eight-course, $165 tasting menu. Expect perfectly executed beef tartare, charred octopus, crudo with caviar, and New York Strip with cinnamon-y yams.
Few things in life will train you for the rejection you’ll face when trying to reserve a table at Zahav. Only going to the DMV on a Saturday can come close. But when you do get a chance to eat at this Old City Israeli icon, you’ll get to taste a rotation of small plates like fried carrots, fluffy laffa bread, and silky hummus. Everything on their $75 five-course tasting menu is good, but their pomegranate-glazed lamb shoulder and swordfish coated with earthy kale tzatziki are the headliners.
The Center City Italian spot has a tasting menu that includes things like a Dungeness crab budino with a gnocco fritto, a pasta lineup featuring spinach gnocchi and corzetti with pistachio tarragon, and a few mains like poached halibut. It’s the kind of place that starts to feel like home after a few courses, especially since the servers make you feel so at ease that you may end up telling them your life story. While a meal here will run you $165, a night at the intimate spot is so worth it.
Attentive service and white tablecloths make this Rittenhouse steakhouse experience feel like you’re living in a real-life version of Billions. But what sets this above any other steakhouse in the city is their $140 cheesesteak that comes with wagyu beef, truffle whiz, and a mini bottle of champagne for the table. The soft and crispy bread and tender beef merge to make a sandwich that we, in no way, were prepared to believe is worth the cost—even though it 100% is.
It's wild that one cash-only spot in Bella Vista makes the city's best pizzas and cheesesteaks. But that's Angelo's for you. Come when you want the best of both worlds, like their cheesesteak on crackly bread (baked in-house), the signature Upside Down pie that buries a layer of cheese beneath mounds of tomato sauce, and a margherita with the creamiest fior di latte in the city. People care a lot about cheesesteaks and pizza in this city, and after you eat at Angelo's, you'll understand why.
River Twice thrives on details. Each menu is stamped with the date. Every dish in the $75 four-course tasting incorporates a delicate sauce or an infused oil that someone probably lost sleep over. These facts would normally point to a boring restaurant. But between the inventive food—often made with East Coast seafood and produce, Japanese and French techniques, and maybe some Texas flair—and the handful of cooks scurrying around the open kitchen, you'll be pleasantly locked into your meal.