These Are the 50 Best Restaurants in Philly Right Now
New this season: A restaurant in — gasp! — West Chester (and it debuts really high), plus some other shake-ups.
Homemade pasta at Andiario | Will Figg
It’s gross out. Wet, dead leaves are stuck to the bottom of your shoes. It’s chilly. It’s gray.
Nature is not exactly welcoming us to fall this year, but we have something for you that will more than make up for it — the latest refresh of our 50 Best Restaurants.
Usually when we revamp the 50 Best, it means a couple of restaurants fall off, a couple move up and down on the list, and a couple of new ones get added. But this particular update was a bit strange because while a lot of stuff happened over the summer on the food scene, only one restaurant fell by the wayside: Nick Elmi’s ITV.
ITV? Great spot. Cocktails are great, wine is great, food is great. I really like it there. Despite the very serious black/gold/white marble design of the space, it’s a fun place to hang. To drink and snack. Perfect for date nights and pit stops. What it is not, however, is a place to dine. At least not since they pared down their menu a bit. You can eat there, sure, and the food is delightful. But with only six plates on the menu (all of them small) and three “snacks” (even smaller), ITV is more of a bar with great food than a restaurant with a great bar.
So that’s that. ITV is out, and Andiario in West Chester — the restaurant we’ve fallen head over heels for — is in. Up high because it’s that good.
And the rest? It’s just a lot of … updating. Rooster Soup Company turned into The Rooster, a Jewish deli–style restaurant that’s still doing fantastic stuff on Sansom Street. El Compadre is back to being South Philly Barbacoa. And Helm in Kensington was replaced by its boozed-up sister restaurant, Helm Rittenhouse.
So dust off your fall jackets, arm yourself with an umbrella, make your reservations, and get out there. Fall is here — and that’s a very good time to eat out in Philadelphia.
