50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

Royal Sushi & Izakaya / Photograph by Jesse Ito

As a food and travel writer, I’ve researched culinary traditions across four continents, from following spice trade routes through Israel and Europe to fishing with the Māori in New Zealand. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of people ask me why I stayed in the Philadelphia region — why didn’t I just move to a bigger city or a remote island beach, or live a nomadic lifestyle? Aside from my emotional attachments to this place, my response was (and still is) that I feel so spoiled to live here, because no matter what meal I eat in various corners of the planet, chances are, I can find it in Philly.

What I love most about the Philadelphia food scene is how the communities who come here from around the world keep their nuanced cuisines intact — an inspiring act of resilience and perseverance when you consider that so many restaurants in Philadelphia (many of which are featured on this 50 Best list) have been able to maintain their culinary traditions over generations and thousands of miles.

Zahav reminds me of my travels in Israel, where the tahini-forward hummus is as creamy as what you’d find in Abu Ghosh’s Lebanese Restaurant. Kalaya brings me back to my honeymoon in Thailand, where my husband and I first fell in love with crab curry at Raya Restaurant in Phuket City. And whenever my tastebuds want to return to Mexico, I know the nopales topped barbacoa tacos at South Philly Barbacoa will take me there.

Philadelphia has always known that Philadelphia is an incredible food city. But in recent years, the rest of the country has finally caught on. We’re no longer seen as a cheesesteak pit stop between New York City and Washington, D.C. Thanks to our culinary stars bringing home more James Beard Awards than any other city this year, including two national awards (Friday Saturday Sunday for Outstanding Restaurant, and Ellen Yin of High Street Hospitality Group for Outstanding Restaurateur), we’ve officially been thrust onto the national stage as a world-class dining destination.

I’ve only been Philadelphia magazine’s food editor for a few days, and editing this summer update to our 50 Best list was my very first order of business. Jason Sheehan, Hannah Albertine, Regan Fletcher Stephens and Maddy Sweitzer-Lammé have done an outstanding job highlighting the best dining experiences our city and region have to offer. Whether you want to relive a dining experience from your own travels, dine at a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, impress your friends with a menu that makes a bold statement, or see what flavors emerge when a chef’s creativity is unleashed, you can dine at the restaurants on this list knowing they’ll meet and likely exceed your expectations. — Kae Lani Palmisano

See the list at a glance here!

Grilled quail, coco bread and lamb ribs at Friday Saturday Sunday / Photograph by Ted Nghiem

1. Friday Saturday Sunday

When a restaurant operates a city-defining bar downstairs (with great snacks) and a $155 tasting menu upstairs, the natural question becomes: Do you really need to do the tasting to get what’s going on here? In the case of FSS, you do. You must. That is, if you want to try what is without question the most precise and innovative fine-dining food in Philadelphia right now. That is, if you want elegance without stuffiness or fluff — eight courses that flow like they’re synapses firing in series inside Chad Williams‘s brain: crisped sweetbreads with plantain and mushrooms, followed by gemelli draped in lardo and scallop XO, then sticky jerk-seasoned quail with a side of chicken-liver-stuffed coco bread. FSS doesn’t mark its deluxe territory with parades of truffles and caviar. It shows diners that when food is cooked this close to the soul, luxury — the feeling that you’re truly being taken care of — comes naturally. The James Beard House might’ve singled out FSS for its Outstanding Restaurant award this year. But we loved the place long before it was cool.

Rittenhouse | New American
261 South 21st Street
Website

2. Kalaya

When chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon announced that her beloved Bella Vista Thai restaurant was moving to a 145-seat Fishtown warehouse at the end of 2022, there was a (very valid) concern that the new place might lack the old’s sparkle. But not only does Kalaya 2.0’s food remain faithful to the original restaurant’s practiced balance of sour-sweet heat; there are now even more chili-sprinkled curries and large-format dishes to enjoy. Not to mention a drink menu with Thai beer slushies, and ample space to wrangle a group for dinner. It’s not hard to see why Suntaranon took home this year’s James Beard Award for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Rest assured, skeptics, the new Kalaya succeeds by sticking to its badass roots — only this time, with literal trees in the room.

Fishtown | Thai
4 West Palmer Street
Website | More about Kalaya

A tasting at Her Place Supper Club / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

3. Her Place Supper Club

After years of diners trying desperately to avoid each other, Her Place is the Philly restaurant celebrating what happens when you smush a bunch of strangers together in a room and let the magic of a great meal take over. You’ll be prompted to meet your table neighbors and listen to chef Amanda Shulman’s camp-counselor-esque spiel about the Jersey scallops that will ruin all other scallops for you, or how a brisket croquette with peppers reminds her of a deli sandwich. From the moment you enter this dinner party to the moment you stumble back out onto Sansom with a warm sourdough chocolate-chip cookie in hand, Her Place will be your refuge. Its comfort and charm will remind you why you live in this city — and that there is no Philly without the cobbled-together charisma of its restaurants.

Rittenhouse | French and Italian
1740 Sansom Street
Website | Review

4. Ambra

You could have a blowout meal at a number of Philly’s Italian restaurants, but Chris D’Ambro’s reimagined Ambra is the one to covet this year. At each seating, two to four guests are invited into the kitchen for an almost endless procession of dishes partially based on what Chris grew up eating, like a crab pici al nero inspired by childhood summers at the Shore. At $300 per person (including wine pairing, tax and tip), Ambra is among the most expensive meals in Philly. But the personal touches, intimate setup and, above all else, indulgent food more than justify the price.

Queen Village | Italian
705 South 4th Street
Website

5. Kim’s BBQ

Asking friends if they want to go to Kim’s is like asking them if they enjoy happiness. Each table at this decades-old Olney spot comes with a charcoal grill, which gives your galbi and pork belly a distinct campfire smokiness you just can’t get with gas. Bring at least two buddies, and share the $95 combo that includes plenty of banchan, four cuts of meat, egg custard, and all the ssamjang, garlic, and sliced jalapeño peppers you need to make the perfect lettuce-wrapped bite. There is no better group dining experience in the city.

North Philly | Korean BBQ
5955 North 5th Street
Website

6. Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park

The Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park isn’t a restaurant by any standard definition, but an afternoon spent bopping between vendors selling fried banana, skewered chicken wings and fresh coconut here will stay in your memory long after most restaurant visits do. And thanks to Philly’s prominent Cambodian, Vietnamese and Lao immigrant communities, this is a dining experience you’ll have a hard time replicating elsewhere in the country. It’s open to all, full of heart and stories, and straightforward with no frills. But really, what’s more Philadelphian than that?

South Philly | Southeast Asian
1500 Pattison Avenue
Website

7. Zahav

Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook opened Zahav in 2008 and made it into something few restaurants get to be: a spot that draws devout local regulars and people who buy the plane ticket after they get a reservation. Even now, a decade and a half later, when Zahav’s groundbreaking flavors and techniques are more widely represented in Philly and beyond, each dish still feels fresh, interesting, and enduringly excellent. And we’re still excited to score a table.

Society Hill | Israeli
237 St. James Place
Website

Jesse Ito shaping nigiri at Royal Sushi & Izakaya / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

8. Royal Sushi & Izakaya

Royal will trick you into assuming fun and perfection are a natural pair. They’re not. Otherwise, every restaurant would source, prep and plate with obsessive exactness in a party environment where it’s somehow perpetually 11 p.m. and you’re the coolest version of yourself. Royal’s izakaya warrants monthly visits, what with its projected anime, unrivaled sake program, briny mentaiko fries, and koji-miso-marinated cabbage. But Jesse Ito’s eight-seat omakase is the dining experience you’ll remember a decade from now — somehow effusing that same lack of self-seriousness despite the seriously stunning nigiri.

Queen Village | Japanese
780 South 2nd Street
Website | More about Royal Sushi & Izakaya

9. Vernick Fish, Food & Drink

Every meal at Vernick Fish feels like a celebration. Every meal at Vernick Food & Drink is a comfort — it’s one of those places where you know exactly what you’re going to get before you even walk through the door. That chef Greg Vernick can run two restaurants that have such diametrically opposed emotional elements is remarkable enough. But the fact that both belong on this list makes it almost a miracle. At Vernick Fish, his kitchen anchors stunningly good seafood with the familiarity of hometown flavors and memories of time spent down the Shore — think broiled oysters with crispy Genoa salami and a glossy pastry case inspired by Jersey diner chrome. At Food & Drink, you can end up just as deeply satisfied by the whole branzino or a simple piece of cheese toast — just like you were the last time you were there. They’re very different restaurants, but both make the point that simple food, when done right and treated with care, can absolutely be extravagant.

Logan Square and Rittenhouse| American
1 North 19th Street, 2301 Walnut Street
Website | Review

10. Zeppoli

In a city swimming in Italian restaurants, it’s still worth crossing the bridge to eat Zeppoli’s rustic, generous Sicilian dishes and to experience the care with which every piece of the three- or four-course dinner is designed and presented — from the grilled shrimp with plump cannellini beans to the chunky pesto alla Trapanese to the chocolate-smeared zeppoli. Many of the region’s finest BYOBs run on intimacy, but Joey Baldino’s Zeppoli leads the pack.

Collingswood | Sicilian
618 West Collings Avenue
Website | Review

11. Ground Provisions

If Vedge elevated vegan cuisine into the stratosphere, then Ground Provisions — Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau’s new countrified, back-to-the-land restaurant, cafe and market in West Chester — returns it to Earth and strips it of all pretension without taking an ounce of brilliance from it. Four nights a week, for just a handful of tables each night, Landau and Jacoby’s kitchen cooks a multi-course, seasonal vegan tasting menu that is both restrained and overwhelming. From the simplest smoked summer peach gazpacho to a maitake mushroom reminiscent of backyard burnt ends, Ground Provisions will serve you a meal that you’ll remember long after the seasons have changed.

West Chester| Vegan
1388 Old Wilmington Pike
Website

12. Gabriella’s

Philly dining will always be synonymous with great neighborhood restaurants, and Gabriella’s is the ultimate neighborhood restaurant of our moment, the sort of BYOB you could spend hours in without even noticing time was ticking by. The difference between this Vietnamese restaurant and other feel-good casual spots around town, though, is that Thanh Nguyen’s food is unforgettable. Bring friends for feasts that go down easy: sizzling catfish, banh xeo ready for an herb-wrapped bite, steamed discs of banh beo chen. Order two of the shaken beef.

East Passyunk | Vietnamese
1837 East Passyunk Avenue
Website

13. Irwin’s

We don’t know how else to say this, but Irwin’s is going to make you want to rip your clothes off (ideally, with a date, once you’re already home, not in the restaurant). Blame the combo of comforting but stylized Sicilian dishes — gnocchi sardi studded with melting eggplant, lemon-spritzed fritto misto we’d happily eat buckets of — and the eighth-floor Bok Building views of South Philly. No other restaurant feels this sexy right now.

East Passyunk | Sicilian
800 Mifflin Street
Website

A spread of vegan options at Pietramala / Photograph by Casey Robinson

14. Pietramala

It takes a really good vegan restaurant to inspire Philly’s vegetable enthusiasts to cross the city for a meal. But it takes a great vegan restaurant to inspire any diner to do the same. And we’re so lucky that Pietramala is that restaurant. Layered, savvy dishes like wasabina-spiked caraflex cabbage and green polenta with charred broccolini let vegetables be their own stars (rather than asking them to impersonate meat). And a plant-filled green-and-orange-lit room gives the whole place a moody greenhouse glow.

Northern Liberties | Vegan
614 North 2nd Street
Website

15. Càphê Roasters

Càphê Roasters proves that when businesses are designed to rally a community — rather than to transform a neighborhood — the meal just tastes better. Lounge on the couches with a laptop, and admire the photos of the employees’ families on the wall. Down Thu Pham’s sweet egg coffee and chef Jacob Trinh’s brawny fried chicken banh mi, both items integral to a menu that freely and enthusiastically explores second-generation Vietnamese American cooking. You’ll want to come back just for the food; that a portion of sales benefits Philly education nonprofit 12PLUS is a heart-swelling bonus.

Kensington | Vietnamese
3400 J Street, unit G1
Website | Review

16. Vetri Cucina

Twenty-five years after opening, Vetri Cucina retains its spark. You’ll still go home stuffed with brown butter sauce and twirls of unreasonably good pasta — pappardelle cooked just until each ribbon clings to your teeth when you bite down; a duo of almond tortellini and spinach gnocchi whose flavors banter like they’re in a Meg Ryan rom-com. And it’ll all happen in what feels like a stranger’s nicely kept living room on Spruce Street, with surprisingly little pretension.

Midtown Village | Italian
1312 Spruce Street
Website | Review

17. Down North

You could eat Down North’s Detroit-style pies without context and the takeout joint with its freakishly airy square pies laced with cheese frico and doused in sweet-hot sauce would still deserve its ranking. But to do that would be to ignore the intention behind the pizza: Down North offers fair-wage employment and training to formerly incarcerated workers. More places like this in 2023, please.

North Philly | Pizza
2804 West Lehigh Avenue
Website

18. Tabachoy

Chef-owner Chance Anies wanted his restaurant to feel like home. Or like a particular vision of home — one equally influenced by both the American and Filipino culture that he grew up steeped in. To him, home smells like frying pork and hot vinegar. It tastes like rich adobo, sweet potato and shrimp fritters, pork belly sisig with a fried egg on top. It looks like hot neon and a cool, purple ube sundae for dessert. It’s a place you want to hang out, to bring friends, and one you want to tell everyone about so they can experience it, too.

Bella Vista | Filipino
932 South 10th Street
Website | Review

19. Roxanne

Every week, chef Alexandra Holt throws Philly’s wildest, most unpredictable dinner party, and she does it all by herself. The multi-course tasting menus are innovative, revolutionary, autobiographical, political, and also delicious in ways that are always surprising. You never know what you’re going to get until you show up for dinner, and you never know how a few courses of chicken liver snickerdoodles, ham doughnuts and fried pork belly with gooseberry mustard and salmon tartare might change your life completely.

Bella Vista | American Expressionism
912 Christian Street
Website | Interview

20. Laser Wolf

Meet Zahav’s younger, more reckless shipudiya sibling — the one who wants to go dancing every night and eat lamb for every meal and always listens to slightly grating ’80s rock too loud. You want to hang out with this person. You want to see this person night after night. And once you’ve had your inaugural Laser Wolf meal, come back, sit at the bar, and order your next one sans entrée.

Kensington | Israeli
1301 North Howard Street
Website

21. El Mezcal Cantina

There may be no better example of Philly’s post-lockdown restaurant resilience than chef Eladio Soto’s decision to use a pre-existing pizza oven in the restaurant he opened to turn out his Mexican food. We’re talking beet tostadas, whole fish stuffed with cactus, buttery camarones a la parrilla served over roasted corn. This new spot is all studied, soulful flavors and DIY inventiveness. And it shows that while Philly’s restaurant industry might get knocked down, it’ll always get back up again.

Point Breeze | Mexican
1260 Point Breeze Avenue
Website | Review

Chongquing chicken from EMei in Chinatown / Photograph by Casey Robinson

22. EMei

EMei’s Szechuan plates will ruin your workweek. You’ll glaze over during meetings, distracted by the memory of mapo tofu in a thick, numbing sauce and the salty explosion of fermented black beans. You’ll neglect your inbox because of a whole sea bass, filleted inside-out in a sticky sauce. You’ll wish you’d placed a second order of Chongqing chicken for tomorrow’s lunch and then have no choice but to return for more.

Chinatown | Szechuan
915 Arch Street
Website

23. Angelo’s

Only at Angelo’s can you order the city’s best cheesesteak and a pizza that can compete with the nation’s finest pies. Yes, nabbing said cheesesteak (homemade rolls with rib eye chopped like confetti gummed together with Cooper Sharp) and pizza (its crust simultaneously thin and fluffy, collapsing at the slightest touch) requires calling multiple times just to reach a human being, but it is SO worth it.

Bella Vista | Pizza and Sandwiches
736 South 9th Street
Website | Review

24. Salam Cafe

In recent years, the family behind Salam Cafe has further energized Philly’s dynamic Ethiopian restaurant scene. Now, in Germantown, they’re showing off deeply flavorful classics (berbere-sopped doro wot that falls right off the bone; shimmering zucchini; acid-punched collards) as well as equally exciting Middle Eastern plates (hummus topped with fiery harissa; fluffy yellow rice). Don’t choose between cuisines — have both.

Germantown | Ethiopian and Middle Eastern
5532 Greene Street
Website | Review

25. Hadramout

Even if Philly was overflowing with Yemeni restaurants, the quality of Hadramout’s food would remain remarkable — its smoky flavors and charred meats softened by herbs. This small room near Penn’s campus draws neighbors seeking fish mofa blackened with dried chilies, fahsah with hulba, chicken mandi rubbed with cumin and coriander. No matter what, order khobz, a bubbling flatbread baked on the clay walls of a tanoor.

University City | Yemeni
136 South 45th Street
Website | Review

26. China Gourmet

China Gourmet serves the city’s most outstanding dim sum: Pleated har gow, glistening rice rolls and xue shan bao all taste unmistakably fresh. But to call China Gourmet just a dim sum place would be like saying an iPhone is just a fancy camera, or that Pete Davidson is just America’s favorite ex-boyfriend. These things are true, sure, but there are more layers at play. At dinnertime, come for king crab, clams in XO sauce, or crispy salt-and-pepper squid, and you’ll understand exactly what we mean.

Northeast Philly | Cantonese
2842 St. Vincent Street
Website | Review

27. Hardena

You’re going to overdo it at Hardena. You just are. Even firm intentions to stick to a rice platter with two sides always seem to disappear the moment you see the steam table where different Indonesian specialties are stewing. Pace yourself: Try jackfruit curry and coconut-braised collard greens one day, then beef rendang, oseng tempe and stewed eggplant the next. But know that bakwan corn fritters are a must, as is an extra container of house-made sambal.

Point Breeze | Indonesian
1754 South Hicks Street
Website | More about Hardena

King salmon beet ragout at Messina Social Club / Photography by Gab Bonghi

28. Messina Social Club

Eddie Konrad’s tasting menu — energetically American in its break from cuisine conventions, cheffy in its technical fundamentals — demands snarfing, with each dish becoming more thrilling as you eat. You’ll wonder, “Is this scallop really sharing the plate with walnuts, shiso, celery root and mustard oil, and how did the kitchen think of that?” or “Is that chocolate underneath the venison?” By the time you find answers (yes, we don’t know, and yes again), you’ll be left with an empty plate and wishing it was full again.

East Passyunk | New American
1533 South 10th Street
Website | More about Messina Social Club

A feast at Georgian Bread / Photography by Gab Bonghi

29. Georgian Bread

It’s here, at this strip-mall restaurant in the Northeast, that a teenager with one AirPod lodged in his ear will serve you some of the most flavorful beef-and-rice soup you’ve eaten in your entire silly life. It’s here that simple eggplant or khachapuri becomes something extraordinary, and steaming purses of khinkali taste more like dill and caraway than pure pork and beef. One thing’s for sure: You’ll never think about Philly’s meat, cheese and bread options the same way afterward.

Northeast Philly | Georgian
10865 Bustleton Avenue
Website | Review

30. The Middle Child Cinematic Universe

Middle Child isn’t just a sandwich shop with a crush on nostalgia and deli reinvention. It’s not just savvy branding and irreverent Instagram captions. It’s a mirror held up to post-pandemic Philly, reacting to and feeding a hunger for comfort and chaos in equal measure. Now, with Clubhouse (its excellent cocktails, its inventive vegan options, its private Thousand Island Lounge party room), the Middle Child universe keeps expanding — and recognizing that drinking and dining should be fun, full stop.

Midtown Village and Fishtown | American
248 South 11th Street and 1232 North Front Street
Website

31. Fiorella

The pasta at Fiorella is going to piss you off, because the reality is that you will never make freshly extruded troccoli and rigatoni this snappy. You’ll never emulsify butter, pecorino, and briny pasta water into liquid gold the way this kitchen does. You just can’t. But the three(ish) cooks behind the counter at Fiorella can. So you’re going to have to keep elbowing your way into this tiny, hard-to-reserve place until you find a better solution. And good luck with that, because we haven’t found one yet.

Bella Vista | Italian
817 Christian Street
Website

32. South Philly Barbacoa

Though Cristina Martínez won a James Beard Award for best chef in the Mid-Atlantic, SPB is one of those rare nationally acclaimed restaurants that maintain the humble feel of the original project. There are no flashy specials, no Instagram gimmicks. Instead, Martínez has been making the same barbacoa tacos since day one, still using Lancaster-grown corn for fresh-pressed tortillas and the same labor-intensive technique for pit-roasting the lamb.

East Passyunk | Mexican
1140 South 9th Street
Website

33. White Yak

White Yak has quietly become one of the city’s favorite neighborhood restaurants. Eat there once, and you’ll instantly get why people line up for tables: It’s the warmth, the smiling regulars, the menu of satiating Tibetan favorites like stir-fried potatoes dusted with chili powder, mo thuk in warm beef broth, and fiery pork belly over bok choy. Then make a second trip for steamed buns and beef curry, or maybe an entire dinner of momo.

Manayunk | Tibetan
6118 Ridge Avenue
Website | Review

Dahlak’s combo platter with yemisir alicha, gomen wat and ye’doro tibs — plus even more house-made injera and a side of crispy, lentil-stuffed sambussa / Photograph by Ted Nghiem

34. Dahlak

This family-owned Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant doesn’t do short cuts. They make everything from scratch, including their ultra-soft and sour injera. That same work ethic translates to the space, which has played host to live music on Baltimore Avenue since the mid-’90s, acting as a gathering spot for the city’s African immigrant communities, Penn students, and every other West Philadelphian who comes through the door.

University City | Eri-Ethiopian
4708 Baltimore Avenue
Website | More about Dahlak

35. Juana Tamale

Jenn Zavala and her team at Juana Tamale are offering up all the cheesy comforts we want to eat in 2023: drippy beef birria tacos and ramen noodles soaking up their broth, hulking Taco Bell-inspired Mexican pizzas, elote hot dogs, nacho fries, fresh churros. The neon space feels surprisingly cozy — perfect for bringing a six-pack and a group of friends hungry for large portions.

East Passyunk | Mexican
1941 East Passyunk Avenue
Website | Review

36. Pho Viet

Even in a city dominated by beef pho, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a version packed with so much warming spice that it sends gentle vibrations through the roof of your mouth. That — plus sturdy rice noodles and broth so clarified that you can see all the way down to the bottom of the bowl — is what makes Pho Viet so hard to forget.

Northeast Philly | Vietnamese
5520 Whitaker Avenue.
Website

37. Lark

For Nick Elmi, the suburbs offered stunning rooftop views and a new legion of fans. But what Elmi brought with him to the table is his talent for balancing complex flavors (roasted dorade with fennel, chili and golden raisins; burrata with honeynut squash, sage pesto, hazelnut and fig). You can’t eat the gnocco fritto with ricotta and prosciutto here and not have a good time, because Lark is laid-back luxury, casual and cool without making a big thing about it.

Bala Cynwyd | Mediterranean
611 Righters Ferry Road
Website | Review

The chef’s counter at Suraya / Photograph by Casey Robinson

38. Suraya

There are three different Surayas for three different moods. On weekday mornings, it’s a coffee shop serving stunning Levantine-inflected pastries. At night, it’s a special-occasion destination for mezza and mashawi. Brunch is scene-y, with groups eating sweet muhammara, mint-dotted kafta kebabs, and freshly baked lavash. In theory, one of these concepts should work less effectively than the others. Remarkably, Suraya shines in every category.

Fishtown | Lebanese
1528 Frankford Avenue
Website | Review

39. Parc

You probably love Parc and its French bistro scene, but does Parc love you back? It may not even know you exist. And, counterintuitively, that’s what makes eating here great. It’s a well-oiled machine with hundreds of seats and a schedule that doesn’t seem to involve closure. Go for the reliable sidewalk spectacle, for cold martinis overlooking Rittenhouse Square, for fluffy pancakes on a lazy morning, or for a celebratory meal with a seafood tower and moules frites all around.

Rittenhouse | French
227 South 18th Street
Website

40. Little Fish

Whenever an out-of-town friend asks for an explanation of the Philly BYOB scene, we point to Little Fish and wave our hands around exaggeratedly like we’re in a silent film. Petite in scale, grand in its seafood-centric ambitions, and always comforting, Little Fish knows what it is and doesn’t care what you want it to be. Come prepared with a bottle of white wine (or maybe even a gin martini in a Hydro Flask).

Queen Village | Seafood
746 South 6th Street
Website | More about Little Fish

41. River Twice

Most of the plates on the $65 tasting menu at River Twice come accessorized with luxurious hats. You know the ones: caviar beanies, thumb-size lumps of uni, Wagyu crowns. So sure, dining here will always feel appropriate for corporate-card extravaganzas or proving to a date that you have expensive tastes. But more impressive than excess is the kitchen’s command of textural contrast. When that know-how (which often leans on French and Japanese techniques) is met with Randy Rucker’s no-bullshit Low Country sensibility — as it is in a sweetbread dish with giant butter beans falling out of their jackets, or the tang of smoked buttermilk hiding underneath raw Maine scallops — the restaurant finds its true rhythm.

East Passyunk | New American
1601 East Passyunk Avenue
Website | Review

42. Suya Suya

In a world that increasingly prioritizes convenience and speed, Suya Suya has found a way to give the people the fast-casual model they demand without compromising the flavors or heart behind its namesake Nigerian street food — grilled and yaji-rubbed proteins, heavy on peanuts, paprika and scorching cayenne. Customize your own $14 suya bowl for what is by far the best work-from-home lunch you’ll eat all week.

Northern Liberties | Nigerian
400 Fairmount Avenue
Website | Review

43. Autana

In just a couple of strange (often terrible) years, Autana has evolved from pandemic hustle to brick-and-mortar success. First as an evening-only ghost kitchen inside Ardmore Station Café, and now in their own space — in the heart of the Main Line’s booming restaurant scene — ex-Four Seasons chef Levi Hernandez and wife Maria-Elena serve cachapas and perfectly imperfect patacones. What got them here is hard work, delicious empanadas — and a little luck. That’s always worth celebrating.

Ardmore | Venezuelan
4 Station Road
Website | Review

44. Ron’s Caribbean

Crowds show up for Ron’s delicious Jamaican specialties. Big ones. But even when you’re placing your order with a long line behind you, no one makes you feel rushed. It’s a hint of what’s to come. Because when you’re handed your Styrofoam containers — overflowing with allspice-heavy oxtail stew ladled over rice and peas, or jerk chicken glistening red and black with just the right amount of heat — you’ll understand the philosophy here: Good things take time.

North Philly | Jamaican
5726 North Broad Street
Website

Bandeja paisa with maduros on the side at Tierra Colombiana / Photograph by Casey Robinson

45. Tierra Colombiana

Tierra Colombiana shines like North Philly’s very own neon-lit castle. And that’s because it is. For reasons that will become obvious once you try the caipirinha, buttery coconut-broiled red snapper, and griddled Colombian arepas, this pan-Latin restaurant is one of Philly’s institutions. Come on a Saturday, when there’s dancing upstairs.

North Philly | Latin
4535 North 5th Street
Website

46. Mish Mish

Most restaurants never perfect the art of mood-setting, but Mish Mish has done it in within a year. Golden light halos everything, from the sleek blond banquette to the plates of pomegranate-lacquered chicken, dressed-up beans, and an inimitable gouda dessert. Sunny hospitality knows what you need before you even know what you need. Put it all together, and you have a restaurant that already feels more mature and considered than almost any other spot in town.

East Passyunk | Mediterranean
1046 Tasker Street
Website | Review

A.Kitchen’s cheeseburger / Photograph by Ted Nghiem

47. A.Kitchen + Bar

Consistent quality, a grown-up dining room, and an oozing double cheeseburger covered with Dijonnaise and briny diced cornichons that remains one of the most comforting things you can eat in Philly: These (plus the team’s commitment to showing off seasonal veggies) are the things we appreciate most about A.Kitchen. They’re also the reasons we eat here more often than we care to admit (ideally in A.Bar’s big front booth).

Rittenhouse | American
135 South 18th Street
Website | Review

48. Pizzeria Beddia

Joe Beddia raised Philadelphians’ standards for pizza with his obsessively baked pies. What started as a tiny operation is now the pizza-shop equivalent of a Barbie Dreamhouse, complete with Wine Camp, soft-serve drunk on amaro, and thick, olive-oil-slick tomato slices so good that they warrant their own trip.

Fishtown | Pizza
1313 North Lee Street
Website

49. Doro Bet

There’s only one place in Philly that makes crisp-skinned berbere-and-lemon-turmeric-battered fried chicken, each bite electrified with spice. That place is Doro Bet in West Philly, whose owner (part of the Alif Brew/Salam Cafe family) invented the recipe to appease her kids, who love fried chicken. Change your plans to try the full- or half-bird combo; it’s almost illogically delicious.

University City | Ethiopian
4533 Baltimore Avenue.
Website | Review

50. Sagami

Sagami looks like a fairly typical suburban Jersey sushi joint off a busy boulevard. But the quality of the fish distinguishes it from the rest — and even from the swankier places in the middle of the city — likely because the restaurant has been open since the ’70s and the longtime chefs take a precision-over-flair approach to their craft. The result is beautifully sliced sashimi and nigiri (served just colder than room temperature) and a place you can count on to do it right.

Collingswood | Japanese
37 Crescent Boulevard.
Website

50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia at a Glance