Reviews
Do You Believe in Magic? Palizzi Social Club Reviewed
You know it’s open when the neon is on, glowing gently in the window of a rowhouse on 12th Street just off Passyunk Avenue. You […]
Yes, Virginia, There Really WAS a Philadelphia School
You may have heard the term “Philadelphia School” used to refer to a group of architects who dominated, and some say transformed, the city’s built […]
Next Big Thing: Res Ipsa Reviewed
“So, how was dinner?” I get this a lot. Obviously. Life that I live, things that I do, people I know, it’s the most common […]
Chaos Theory: At The Table Reviewed
We forget sometimes that every night at a restaurant is the worst night ever. Not for us, the diners. Not most of the time, anyway. […]
Not Built For Love: 24 Reviewed
On the floor at 24, the servers moved like they were on rails, following paths just a couple months old but already worn into the […]
Aiming For The Middle: Cinder Reviewed
I go to Cinder on a gray afternoon, looking for comfort and distraction, and find it at the bar—two giant TVs showing football on one […]
Dinner At The Fish Riot: Royal Sushi And Izakaya Reviewed
There are restaurants you go to because you’re hungry, and restaurants you go to because they’re cool. There are restaurant you go to because they’re […]
Alpha And Omega: Scarpetta Reviewed
Along the arc of a graph reading “Why Is My Restaurant Not Good?,” two opposite mistakes hold down either end of the bell curve. On […]
The Authenticity Trap: Harp & Crown Reviewed
On a cold night in December, we threaded our way through the crowds on Sansom Street and found the unobtrusive door. We pushed through the […]
A Whole Lot More Of The Same Old Thing: Aqimero Reviewed
Look, I’m not pissed off about my meals at Aqimero. To be pissed—for my experiences to rise to the level of actually making me angry […]
The Three-Umbrella Problem: Bop Reviewed
I ate the mandoo at Bop and they were fine. Tasted like a thousand other dumplings at a hundred other American-Asian restaurants in a dozen […]
Endless Summer: Tiki Reviewed
It’s way too early to be writing this review, and I don’t care at all. Best thing about being a critic? That moment when you […]
A Fish Story: Blackfish Revisited
The dining room at Blackfish in Conshohocken is white, but not cold. Not icy, the way some white, restaurant-shaped boxes can be. The dark wood […]
Breakfast of Champions: The Dutch Reviewed
Breakfast is the last great, untouched frontier. Of all the meals available to us (lunch, dinner, supper, elevenses, fourthmeal, midnight snacks, etc.), breakfast is […]
The Time Machine: Jansen Reviewed
My wife, Laura, hated Jansen as soon as she walked through the door. To be fair, she actually hated it before she walked through the […]