Are you planning on trying the BYP restaurants? THere are numerous fine restaurants in Philly that let you bring your own. The glassware is all over the place, though, so check ahead if you care.
Absolutely Neil. Already have reservations at Matyson for Friday night. Wife wants seafood next night, so trying to decide between:
Fish
Oyster House
Devon
Branzino
Upstares at Varellis
Zinc
Leaning toward Fish but any suggestions are welcomed.
Have not been to Fish. I like the Sansom Street Oyster House for lunch. The fried oysters and chicken salad is a Philly tradition.
Devon is on Rittenhouse Square next to Parc and another nice place. They have sidewalk tables in nice weather and the square is across the street. Very nice on a warm afternoon. I have not been there for dinner.
It has been years since I was at Upstairs at Varellis.
Most, if not all of these, sell liquor.
Matyson is a great choice. Its a very small restaurant with absolutely outstanding food.
Was recently in Philly (and used to live there). I would say the Reading Terminal Market is a must (DiNics, pretzels, etc.). I was really not impressed with John’s Pork for the cheesesteak or the pork sandwich. On the other hand, Paesano’s roast pork with broccoli rabe was out of this world, the best thing I ate in Philly. Also HIGHLY recommend getting gelato at Capogiro - it rivals the best in the US anywhere.
The ARISTA at Paesano’s:
Pork and broccoli rabe is great but an acqired taste.
I acquired it very quickly : )
Yes, you do have to like bitter greens to like this sandwich.
Have been there a number of times. Constitution Hall is a must—for this Canadian, amazing completeness to the history of the United States, I was very impressed. Historical district is pretty nice as a whole. Reading Market is fairly good. Di Bruno’s (a couple of the Philly BBers tipped me off) at 18th and Market or so has some of the best cheese selection around (and lots of other goodies too).
Have fun
Not to turn this into a cheesesteak debate, but Jim’s on South Street is the best in the city in my opinion (the qualifier of “in the city” is because the best steak I’ve ever had is at Pudge’s on Rt. 202). I grew up in Philly and got married on the Jersey Shore – we actually served Jim’s Steaks at our rehearsal dinner (along with Lou Malnati’s pizza – my wife is from Chicago).
Definitely go the Contstitution Center – it is amazing. As for brunch, we recently enjoyed the White Dog Cafe on the UPenn campus.
Thank you guys. Reading is a definite stop. The pork & rabe sandwich looks amazing.
Very cool. Looks like something Gaudiesque out of Barcelona.
Garces Trading Company is a very decent call if you want to snag a bottle at a very fair price (PLCB retail) to go with a bite or meal, very good food. Hard to say how long this option will last with the lawsuit in progress.
Tony Luke’s, John’s Roast Pork, and Chink’s are all solid cheesesteak options although it’s probably easier, as a tourist, to stick with Jim’s while sightseeing on South Street (at 4th). Bob Hughes is right about Pat’s and Geno’s.
The Art museum is quite good but booking ahead at the Barnes Foundation (near St Joes University), offers a pretty amazing experience.
Rittenhouse Square offers decent people watching when the weather’s nice. The Oyster House and Le Bec Fin are only 3 blocks away. The Prix Fixe lunch at Le Bec is a great deal.
RT
Barnes is a must see, and must be reserved in advance (online); however, last time there one of the rooms was closed in preparation of paintings being removed for cleaning prior to ultimate move downtown. Heard recently from a docent that several other rooms in the process of/or are closed. Reading Terminal is fine for lunch and DiNics very good. My favorite in the Reading, however is the Sang Kee Peking Duch House. Go for the combination Roast Pork and Duck with Bok Choy and rice. Use the hot oil, but sparingly. If your wife wants fish, she can order from Pearl’s Oyster Bar also in the Reading. 80-90 % of the offerings are fresh each day. They will tell you the 10% that were frozen. Nice flounder platter. There are tables in the Reading so you can each order what you want and eat at one of them.
My thoughts exactly Robert. Looks like it’ll be our go to lunch spot since we can hardly agree on a cuisine. BTW, the second reservation ended up being at Amada, Garces’ tapas place. Not my choice by a long run but that’s what she wanted. They do allow byo, $25, but with the condition that it must be a PLCB bottle and proof of purchase must be shown. Which shop is it that you guys recommend? The one next to Garces Trading Co.?
Hope I am not too late for you…
For seafood - Devon is a chain. I didn’t think it was very good.
Samson St. Oyster is very good (I know the owners). It is also a Philly landmark.
Branzino is also good and a BYO - but it is mostly Italian with some good seafood dishes.
I also suggest trying to get the Phila Movie Tour - it is quite interesting. Leaves from the Constitution Center.
Here is a link:
http://moviesitestour.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You do get to stop at the Rocky statue. They have the movies on DVD in the coach - and play the scenes when you get to the spot.
Lots of movies are made in Phila - and you get to see what the streets look like in “real life” and when Hollywood makes them up.
I found it very interesting.
Matyson was a good choice. Brunch at Sabrina’s or Kanella should be on your list of places to consider. Both are very good.
Suggestions earlier are all good.
Have fun in our lovely city – you won’t get caught up in the World Series parade this year:(
And I’m sure you’ve thought of the perfect matching ensem for that color scheme. ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Hmmm, it was kind of nice when you were MIA for a bit. [middle-finger.gif]
A pretty nice first day yesterday. Drove into town a little before noon, dropped the bags off in our hotel room and immediately hit the pavement in the direction of the Market (exactly 2 blocks south). Walked around for a good while looking at all the stalls and vendors; impressive “little” place you have here Philadelphians. Found DiNics stall and waited a few minutes for a couple of counter seats. I got the roast pork with greens and peppers, my wife got the Italian sausage. Mine was good enough, her’s was so much better. The roast pork was not what I had imagined (looked more like thinly sliced deli meat than what I picture roast pork being…Cuban style or similar); in any case, the pulled pork looked much better.
After lunch, walked to all the Old City sites (Independence Hall, et.al.) and did the touristy thing for a good couple of hours.
Kept walking east on Chestnut toward the Delaware river. Ducked into an awesome Belgian pub (Eulogy) for a beer & kick-ass frites afternoon pick me up!
Walking back to the hotel, we stopped by Christ Church and, further west, the old burial grounds.
Dinner at Amada last night was awesome as well. Great, minimalistic decor; friendly, proffesional and attentive service. Tapas portions were huge for what we had in mind and we ended with maybe two or three more dishes than we really needed. Standouts were the croquetas, chorizo a la plancha, a short rib and Parmesan flatbread and a delicious pernil with white beans and orange.
I originally wanted to have an after dinner drink somewhere in the area (apparently Chestnut between 1st & 4th streets gets pretty hopping at night) but we were so stuffed and sleepy that we just tumbled into a cab and called it a night.
Day two begins in a bit!
Wow, every bit as fascinating as I expected. 
Man, I thought rotund people were supposed to be jolly and shit! 
Who you callin’ a peoe?
WTF is a peoe anyway, Birthday Boy?