Where to Eat in West Philly
If you're hungry for ... pretty much anything, West Philly has it. And your meal will be excellent.
Alif Brew & Mini Mart / Photograph by Amanda DiDio
West Philadelphia offers some of the city’s best food, all thanks to the restaurants (and the people behind them) reflecting this sprawling, diverse neighborhood. You want falafel platters, bánh mì, and jerk chicken? West has got it. What about paneer tikka, thiéboudienne, and ice cream? Yup, that too. Some of the places on this guide have been neighborhood staples for over 30 years, and some are brand new to the area. In their own respective ways — as immigrant-run community hubs, city-wide destinations, or consistently good places to visit on a Thursday night — they each add to the multicultural patchwork that makes West Philly feel unlike any other area of the city.
When considering this huge section of Philadelphia, we did our best to focus on a slightly smaller group of connected neighborhoods. If you live by Malcolm X Park, are you really walking to 30th Street for dinner? (Probably not, especially when there are great options nearby.) For the purposes of this guide, we’re covering the restaurants located roughly within the bounds of 43rd Street by Clark Park to Cobbs Creek Parkway and Baltimore to Lancaster Avenues. Here are the best restaurants in West Philly.
Alif Brew & Mini Mart
This bright Baltimore Avenue cafe with outdoor seating offers Ethiopian coffee, tea, and savory pastries — plus a grocery section where you can stock up on spices and bags of injera chips. When we come here, we usually crunch on Alif’s fried sambusas filled with jalapeño and black pepper-seasoned lentils or shredded beef. (At four for $5, the sambusas make for a great, affordable snack.) For a more filling option, take your pick of mild or spicy lentils, shredded chicken, or beef cubes in an injera wrap with fresh vegetables, or one of the malawah wraps with hard-boiled eggs, pickled radish, and labneh. 4501 Baltimore Avenue.
Doro Bet
Thanks to your brain’s trusty pleasure center, eating fried chicken will always feel somewhat satisfying, even when the bird itself tastes just fine. At Doro Bet, though, just fine doesn’t exist. This Ethiopian counter-service spot in West Philly comes from Mebruka Kane and the family behind nearby Alif Brew and Salam Cafe in Germantown. And, here, teff-battered fried chicken is the headliner dish — served in either a spicy berbere or mild alicha variation, each carries an extra hit of sweetness and peppery kick, distinguishing Doro Bet from other fried chicken places in Philly. Both options are completely delicious. Imagine crackly thin skin, juicy dark meat inside, dark red berbere, or yellow turmeric dust on your fingertips while you go to town. But Doro Bet’s alicha version burned down whatever my brain thought it knew about chicken-induced pleasure. These fat drumsticks, wings, and thighs are acidic enough to cosplay as Lemonheads, at least until the citrus evens out with black cardamom and plenty of black pepper. Go now. Maybe run. 4533 Baltimore Avenue.
Quality Taste Jamaican
Come with cash in hand and your order rehearsed for this busy takeout shop on Lancaster Avenue. If you need some help with that order, we’ve got you: you want Quality Taste’s grilled, smoky jerk chicken with a side of rice and peas and steamed cabbage. If you like your rice smothered, make sure to ask for extra gravy. In case you’re not a jerk fan, swap for curry chicken that’s been cooked low and slow. Whether you grab a chicken or sweet chili snapper, the portions are big enough for dinner and lunch the next day. Try to make it over to Quality Taste before the dinner rush if you’re short on time. 4002 Lancaster Avenue.
The “dolla hoagie” at Honeysuckle Provisions, made with house-smoked turkey on a benne seed roll. / Photograph by Hannah Albertine
Honeysuckle Provisions
Honeysuckle Provisions serves reliably great breakfast and lunch — maple-sage sausage (or black-eyed pea scrapple) sandwiches with Cooper Sharp and eggs, juicy fried chicken thigh tucked into a fluffy buttermilk biscuit, platters with creamy grits and eggs, brown sugar-dusted lattes infused with yams and molasses, a hoagie slapped with thinly sliced marinated turnips that are so good, you’ll never look at a hoagie the same way again. But Omar Tate, Cybille St. Aude-Tate, and their team’s mission is larger than the contents of the refrigerated case behind the counter. This Afrocentric grocer and cafe spotlights the traditions of and directly supports Black farmers and makers — whether that’s through baking earthy-nutty yam bread, offering a Black farmers subscription box, or providing neighbors with fresh local produce in a segment of West Philly that largely relies on a few spread-out grocery chains. It’s one thing for a business to make amazing food; it’s another for them to construct (by way of dismantling) a system of agricultural exchange. If you’re a takeout kinda person, you can save $5 on Wednesdays and Thursdays when you order directly through their Toast site. 310 South 48th Street.
Vientiane Cafe
Vientiane is one of those long-standing businesses — along with Dahlak and Fu-Wah — that has shaped the restaurant landscape of Baltimore Avenue over the past few decades. You could come here for dinner and go heavy on Thai dishes, like the drunken noodles slick with spicy basil and garlic sauce, but we recommend trying at least a few of the Lao specialties, too. The king soup lives loudly in our brain all winter: a huge bowl of vermicelli noodles, veggies, and your choice of protein in a red-curry-coconut broth. And no meal at Vientiane would be truly right without lime-infused sai gawk sausage for the table. 4728 Baltimore Avenue.
Buna Cafe
Buna Cafe draws folks in the minute they step through the door with warm, earth-tone walls and friendly staff. The restaurant (one of the newer options in the neighborhood) prides itself on Ethiopian classics, like ful with its mashed fava beans in a spicy tomato-based stew and slow-cooked vegetable platters served over injera. Diners looking for a meat option should order the tibs for a fragrant stir-fry with onions, garlic, rosemary, and Ethiopian butter with chunks of well-seasoned goat. Order it juicy-style for extra sauce. Then cap off your meal with their “Gold is the Cure” tea and enjoy a strong ginger, turmeric, and garlic mix that’s smoothed over by honey and milk. 5121 Baltimore Avenue.
Brown Sugar Bakery
Platters fly out of the family-owned Brown Sugar Bakery on 52nd Street, which happens to be covered with posters of Soca artists and old, framed newspaper clippings. Make it over to this Trini hotspot around 2 p.m. for curried chickpea-stuffed fried flatbread doubles (they don’t offer the full menu until the afternoon). While you’re at it, try the slow-cooked stewed chicken over rice with extra gravy, cabbage, and macaroni and cheese. Brown Sugar only has a couple booths for seating, but nearby Malcolm X Park is always an option for lighter snacks like their sweet bread. 219 South 52nd Street.
The Chicken Maroosh from Saad’s Halal / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano
Saad’s
Dig into a platter at Saad’s and you’ll quickly understand why owner Saad Alrayes prides himself on his restaurant’s story. Alrayes, who moved to the U.S. from Lebanon, started a lunch truck in University City out of concern when he saw the limited halal options for Muslims here in Philadelphia. That special lunch truck grew into a casual restaurant where he and his team have been serving halal food for over two decades now. Bright flavors practically dance off the plate here with tender, marinated grilled chicken, sauteed onions, and creamy garlic sauce in the chicken shish tawook platter. Halal versions of American fast food favorites like crunchy fried chicken wings and loaded cheesesteaks round out the menu, too. 4500 Walnut Street.
Jezabel’s
You may have met Jezabel Careaga serving her beloved Argentinian alfajores, custard-filled facturas, and empanadas around the city at pop-ups and events, but West Philly is where the magic happens. The food here — available for takeout, in the cozy cafe, or on the sidewalk — is inspired by her grandmother Julia’s cooking in northwestern Argentina. Go for the empanadas, which are baked to perfection with a crisp outer layer and a core full of beef, cheese, and vegan fillings (like spicy lentils). 206 South 45th Street.
Dahlak
This family-owned Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant has been holding it down on Baltimore Avenue since the mid-’80s, acting as a gathering spot for the city’s African immigrant communities, Penn people, and pretty much every West Philadelphian in between. In addition to serving a menu of slow-braised stews, the Dahlak team makes all of their spongey-sour injera from scratch (a labor-intensive process that’s somewhat rare for restaurants, who often use wholesale distribution). Stop by for a sit-down meal or hang out in the bar and backyard. Dahlak stays open until 2 a.m., and there’s often live music, poetry readings, or at least a jukebox playing. For more from the Dahlak Cinematic Universe, check out their weekend-only, seasonal beer garden called Pentridge Station. 4708 Baltimore Avenue.
Don Barriga
This BYOB does big, bold Mexican flavors but always manages to keep their balance. Take the crema de elote soup, for example, which pairs spicy cayenne pepper with corn and onion in a creamy chowder. Elsewhere on the menu, salty fries meet rice, refried beans, pico de gallo, sour cream, and cotija cheese in the California burrito. Specialty plates like the Alambre Hawaiian offer a heaping portion of chicken breast with bacon, ham, diced pineapples, and grilled vegetables covered in melted mozzarella cheese. (If you’re looking for something straightforward and consistently delicious, their gringas with chicken will overshadow most of the quesadillas of your past.) Hunker down at one of their small dining room tables or get some air in their shaded outdoor area while you enjoy a multi-course feast with friends or family. 4443 Spruce Street.
Photograph courtesy of Vietnam Cafe
Vietnam Cafe
In the late ‘70s, the Lai family fled Vietnam, spent nine months in a Malaysian refugee camp, and finally arrived in Philly where they opened Fu-Wah Mini Mart and eventually Vietnam Restaurant in Chinatown, which recently won the James Beard America’s Classics Award. Now their son, Benny, has taken over operations at their other restaurant, Vietnam Cafe, on 47th Street. It’s a great place for groups or accommodating gluten-free diners. Order the beef-stuffed grape leaves and the house special vermicelli or a steaming bowl of beef pho, plus a lemongrass martini that’s sweet, acidic, and ice cold. 816 South 47th Street.
Abyssinia
At Abyssinia, you can get a plate of tender lamb tibs, succulent chicken legs swimming in berbere sauce and clarified butter, or a kitfo sandwich with rare, spiced beef, plus freshly made cottage cheese and stewed collards. This is one of those Ethiopian restaurants we think every Philadelphian and tourist should visit at least once — if only because it’s been around for decades, the combo platters always hit, and there’s a legendary cocktail bar hiding up a flight of carpeted stairs. Be sure to check out the bar upstairs. You won’t want to miss out on that scene. 229 South 45th Street.
Kilimandjaro
Kilimandjaro was one of the first restaurants in Philly to serve Senegalese food to the masses. And, during the pandemic, owner Youma Aisse Ba moved the business from Chestnut Street to Baltimore Avenue (where her other business, Youma, is located). Kilimandjaro will soon return to its original location at 4301 Chestnut Street, but until then head to Baltimore Avenue for dibi lamb chops topped with punchy marinated onions or tomato-heavy thieboudienne fish with plantains on the side — all in a space sporting bright yellow walls and comfy chairs. Another upside of Kilimandjaro’s new spot: It’s right next door to a well-stocked African grocer where you can buy spices, huge bags of rice, and dried, smoked fish while two friendly kittens try to distract you from shopping. 4519 Baltimore Avenue.
Mood Cafe
Mood Cafe’s mango-colored exterior points to one of its specialties. At this small but mighty establishment, you’ll find the best lassi in Philly — thick enough to eat with a spoon and coming in literal scores of flavors (60 in total) from rose to cardamom to fig to spicy mint. Each is blended on the spot by Hasan Bukhari, Mood Cafe’s gregarious owner, who will help you personalize your order in case you’re overwhelmed by the menu’s offerings. Mood Cafe specializes in chaat, a South Asian comfort food that has been compared to “Indian nachos” and comes from the Hindi word for “to lick”: you’ll get thick, crispy pieces of fried dough loaded with fluffy potato and tender chickpeas and dressed with a flavorful symphony of sweet dates, tamarind sauce, chilled yogurt, and a bright mint chutney. As Bukhari likes to tell customers, “We don’t charge for good chaat. It has never happened before, but if the chaat is just ‘good,’ we won’t charge. We only charge for wonderful chaat.” He’ll be in business for a while. 4618 Baltimore Avenue.
Fish mofa / Photograph courtesy of Hadromout
Hadramout
Hadramout is one of Philly’s few Yemeni restaurants, a fact that makes the restaurant worth visiting in itself. But Hadramout’s food — fish mofa blackened with dried chilis, braised lamb fahsah, chicken mandi rubbed with cumin and coriander — would also stand out in a city full of Yemeni cuisine. Whatever you do, make sure to order khobz with your meal, a soft-but-charred flatbread baked on the clay walls of a tandoor. 136 South 45th Street.
Tampopo
Hot, fresh Japanese rice bowls, bento boxes, or Korean BBQ for 15 bucks or less? Yes, please. Tucked away on 44th Street, with a simple, clean atmosphere and soft, classical music playlist, it’s no wonder Tampopo is a favorite lunch spot for Penn people. Like its interior, Tampopo’s food isn’t loud or flashy, but it is done well. We recommend starting with the Kimbap roll, a Korean cousin of sushi, in which rice is seasoned in sesame oil instead of vinegar and filled with avocado, eggs, spinach, carrots, pickled radish, tofu skin, and gobo root. Get the tangy beef bulgogi bibimbap or rice bowl with succulent, spicy chicken, and make your tummy happy without breaking the bank. Then take a digestive walk east on tranquil, tree-lined Spruce. 269 South 44th Street.
Booker’s Restaurant & Bar
Booker’s runs on comfort, brunch, and happy hour — and you want to be a part of it, especially thanks to Southern favorites like creamy deviled eggs and chicken-and-waffles covered with strawberry butter. This spot’s lively weekend brunches are perfect for catching up with friends. On weekdays, take advantage of their outdoor seating along Baltimore Avenue for happy hour bar bites and cocktails, where there are always house plants and seasonal decorations under the restaurant’s pergola. Bring a date for happy hour and opt for the Booker’s $7 Citywide Special that comes with fried pickle chips. 5021 Baltimore Avenue.
Pattaya Thai Cuisine
With its airy, modern interior, cheery servers, and more than reasonable price points, Pattaya makes an ideal date night spot for students and a reliably tasty Thai destination for, uh, actual adults. We recommend their pad see ew with chicken and a side of spicy green papaya salad. 4040 Locust Street.
Salt and pepper shrimp from Phở & Café Saigon / Photograph by Madeleine Palden
Phở & Café Saigon
Make no mistake: Phở & Café Saigon excels in its namesake, but the real star here is its salt-and-pepper shrimp, lightly breaded and then fried to a crisp: salty, garlicky perfection that lets its plump and juicy meat shine. You might just find yourself, as your writer did, sucking the tails because you don’t want the experience to end. But if you really just want the pho, fine. Get the Phở Tái Gân Sách (Pho Beef Special): the slow-simmered bone broth will coat your tongue in savory, clove-y, tangy goodness, made all the richer from the various cow parts floating in the broth, eye round, tripe, and tendon. On hotter days, you’ll want to order one of the fresh fruit smoothies. (The avocado, banana, and blueberry is a mind-blowing favorite.) 814 South 47th Street.
Hayashi
This spot serves sushi that’s so much better than it needs to be. Sure, you could try some of their cartoonishly named rolls or fusion-y entrees, but our advice is to stick to the classics here. Confidently try a few different pieces of nigiri without any trace of fishiness (the red snapper and salmon belly are always good) or get three maki rolls for $20. If you’re hungry for dessert, get the green tea fried ice cream. People don’t talk about this place enough. You’re welcome. 814 South 47th Street.
Amari’s
If you’re ever craving a waffle at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday, Amari’s is your spot. This BYOB specializes in soul food and brunch all day. They have free jazz shows every other Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Call 215-921-9552 if you want to secure a spot.) 5037 Baltimore Avenue.
Local 44
Local 44 is really more of a place to meet up for a drink than it is to get a full meal. But they do serve a menu of the best bar food in West Philly, with half-a-dozen options for vegan and vegetarian eaters. Whatever you order, make sure to get the hand-cut fries. Local 44 has a bunch of outdoor seating on the sidewalk, and it’s usually fairly busy on weekends. Check out the next-door bottle shop for a variety of delicious wines, beers, and charcuterie provisions. 4333 Spruce Street.
Baklava heaven at Manakeesh / Photograph courtesy of Manakeesh
Manakeesh
Manakeesh can be whatever you need it to be: a breakfast spot where you can eat the namesake Lebanese flatbreads with a yolky egg on a day off, a coffee meetup destination with a date, or a reliable takeout option whenever you’re craving shawarma platters with baba ghannouj. The family who owns Manakeesh has been in the neighborhood for years, and they bake all of their manakeesh in an oven imported from Lebanon. Get some syrupy baklava on your way out. 4420 Walnut Street.
Jim’s West
After the original Jim’s Steaks closed in 2019, locals missed their massive cheesesteaks and hoagies. So in 2023, Cortez Johnson set out to breathe life back into this institution by opening Jim’s West. It’s a neighborhood favorite and worth the trip out to 62nd Street, especially if you consider yourself a cheesesteak aficionado. 431 North 62nd Street.
Wah Gi Wah
Might we interest you in some Pakistani fried chicken? If so, Wah-Gi-Wah is the place for you. Sure, the kitchen here does other stuff too (like keema naan, curries, and barbecued meats). But did you not hear us when we said Pakistani fried chicken? Come for fast service for lunch and dinner every day of the week. 4447 Chestnut Street.
48th Street Grille
After working in corporate kitchens and upscale restaurants, chef Carl Lewis opened this casual Jamaican spot with a BYOB policy back in 2014. They’re open from Tuesday to Saturday starting at 11 a.m., with brunchy things available on weekends until 3 p.m. If you’re coming for dinner, get the jerk chicken with red beans, rice, and braised cabbage (48th Street Grille offers a dark-meat-only option, in case that’s as exciting to you as it is to us), plus bread pudding with rum sauce for dessert. 310 South 48th Street.
Daleng Restaurant
Daleng serves up Southeast Asian favorites with Chinese and American influences sprinkled throughout the menu. Their Vietnamese crispy vegetable spring rolls — full of bean sprouts, noodles, cabbage, carrots, and taro root — are served with a sweet chili dipping sauce that will leave you physically scraping the bottom of the serving cup. Another option: the tang tang chicken wings are a signature with equal parts spice, sweetness, tanginess, and just enough lemon flavor on the back end. But don’t ignore Daleng’s buttery vegetable fried rice, either. 4653 Walnut Street.
In addition to their famous tofu hoagie, Fu-Wah makes a bunch of meaty sandwich options (like this bánh mí with roasted pork). / Photograph courtesy of Fu-Wah Mini Mart.
Fu-Wah Mini Mart
If you’re ever in a rush for some paper towels, a chocolate bar, some chili oil, and an excellent sandwich, run to Fu-Wah. This Vietnamese deli has been open since 1982 and claims to have invented the tofu bánh mì hoagie (which uses an Italian-style hoagie roll instead of French bread like most bánh mì). We can’t confirm its origin story timeline, but we can confirm that you want to eat it for lunch: The tofu is shallow-fried then sopped with lemongrass and garlic, the roll is soft inside but slightly crusty on the outside, and the pickled daikon and carrots are just acidic enough to tie it all together. 810 South 47th Street.
Lee’s Deli
This neighborhood institution has been serving Philly staples and Korean classics since 1993 and they show no signs of stopping. Seriously. After a car drove into the building a few years ago, they rebuilt, and with help from the community they were able to get back in the hoagie and cheesesteak game. The Game Over Chicken Cheesesteak — packed with season chicken and topped with shrimp, spinach, broccoli, and grilled onion — is a customer favorite. And don’t leave without getting one of the Carrot Cake Man’s Best of Philly-winning cupcakes. 4700 Baltimore Avenue.
TacoTacoMexicano
TacoTaco — formerly Honest Tom’s — makes authentic, no-frills tacos in a little counter space. Most notably, we think, is that it’s one of the few neighborhood places to serve breakfast burritos and breakfast tacos. Stop by for quick takeout or snag a spot at one of the outdoor tables set up in the parking space on 44th Street. 261 South 44th Street.
Gojjo stays open until 2 a.m., complete with Ethiopian chicken cheesesteaks, beer, and a big backyard. / Photograph courtesy of Gojjo
Gojjo
Ethiopian chicken cheesesteaks spiked with berbere, a backyard, late-night hangs — this is what Gojjo is all about. This bar and restaurant stays open until 2 a.m. every day, but the kitchen closes around 11 p.m. 4540 Baltimore Avenue.
Loco Pez
The West Philly location of this Mexican mini-chain is more of a utility play than it is a neighborhood dining destination. Looking for happy hour margaritas with the rest of your grad seminar? Want some nachos and a Tecate by yourself at the bar after a long work day? Planning a low-stakes date with someone you probably won’t end up with? Loco Pez works for all of the above. 4631 Baltimore Avenue.
Clarkville
Longtime Clark Park-adjacent neighbors will remember when Wurst House turned into Best House and when Best House subsequently turned into Clarkville. This pizza place is a consistently solid option when you’re in the mood for thin-crust pizza, a Caesar salad, and a beer. We recommend the Honey Pie, a white pizza that could make even white pie skeptics drool: It’s got Brussels sprouts, thick bacon bits, shaved red onion, rounded out with a thick drizzle of Sriracha honey. If you’re too full to finish, don’t worry: Clarkville pizza makes excellent leftovers. 4301 Baltimore Avenue.
