The 10 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

James Beard's 2019 Outstanding Restaurant in America — Michael Solomonov's hummus and slow-cooked lamb shoulder; book it for a first date that wants warmth.

Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook opened Zahav in Society Hill in 2008 and spent the years since making it the most important Israeli restaurant in America — James Beard's Outstanding Restaurant in 2019. The room is warm and low-lit, built for a table that wants to talk, and the cooking arrives in a generous arc from the hummus and wood-fired laffa to the pomegranate-braised lamb shoulder you order a day ahead.

The order: the al-ha'esh charcoal grill and that lamb shoulder, or the Mesa tasting if you want the kitchen to lead. It sits at 237 St James Place, on a quiet Society Hill mews. Read the full review on the Zahav page, and book a few weeks out for a first date that wants warmth.

Philadelphia's 2023 James Beard Outstanding Restaurant, now Michelin-starred — Chad and Hanna Williams' tasting room; book it to close a deal in Rittenhouse.

Chad and Hanna Williams turned a Rittenhouse townhouse into the most decorated room in the city: James Beard's Outstanding Restaurant in 2023, a first Michelin star in 2026, and a place on North America's 50 Best. Chad cooks a tasting menu of precise, seasonal American plates while Hanna runs one of the country's quietly brilliant wine lists from the cellar downstairs.

The move: the tasting menu with Hanna's pairings, in the low-lit upstairs room where the tables sit far enough apart to talk business. It's at 261 S 21st Street. Read the full review on the Friday Saturday Sunday page, and book three to four weeks out to close a deal.

Amanda Shulman's first-Michelin-starred supper club, candlelit and communal — book the counter for a first date the room itself warms up.

Amanda Shulman started Her Place as an underground dinner party and turned it into a Michelin-starred restaurant without losing the feeling of being cooked for at home. A Food & Wine Best New Chef and a 2026 James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic finalist, she runs a single nightly seating of French- and Italian-leaning American food from an open kitchen on Sansom Street.

The experience: the set menu at the counter, where the cooks plate an arm's length away and the candlelight does the rest. It's at 1740 Sansom Street in Rittenhouse. Read the full review on the Her Place Supper Club page, and book the moment reservations drop for a first date.

Marc Vetri's spinach gnocchi has anchored this Spruce Street townhouse since 1998 — book the forchetta tasting for a milestone birthday.

Marc Vetri has cooked Italian in this Spruce Street townhouse since 1998, and the spinach gnocchi — green, weightless, in brown butter and ricotta salata — has been on the menu the whole time. The room is intimate and grown-up, the kind of upstairs Italian where a birthday table feels looked after rather than performed at.

The order: the six-course forchetta tasting at $215, or the four-course prix fixe with the classic gnocchi-and-almond-tortellini pasta split. It's at 1312 Spruce Street in Washington Square West. Read the full review on the Vetri Cucina page, and book well ahead for a milestone birthday.

Greg Vernick's James Beard Best Chef kitchen, all live fire and great toast — book a corner table to close a deal in Rittenhouse.

Greg Vernick won the James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award in 2017 and has kept this Walnut Street room at the top of Philadelphia's contemporary table ever since. The cooking is deceptively simple — wood-grilled fish, vegetables with real char, the famous toasts — served across a two-floor Rittenhouse townhouse whose upstairs is calm enough for a serious conversation.

The order: a run of the toasts and whatever came off the live fire that day, at a corner table upstairs. It's at 2031 Walnut Street. Read the full review on the Vernick Food & Drink page, and book a week or two ahead to close a deal.

Nicholas Bazik's first-Michelin-starred French-Korean counter — twenty courses by candlelight; book it for a proposal you want remembered.

Nicholas Bazik earned Provenance one of Philadelphia's first Michelin stars in 2026 with a tasting menu that runs French technique through Korean flavour across twenty-odd courses — Wagyu culotte with abalone and cordyceps, that kind of register. The Society Hill room is small, dark and hushed, which is exactly what a proposal wants.

The format: the single tasting menu with the wine pairing, at a counter and a handful of tables. It's at 408 S. 2nd Street. Read the full review on the Provenance page, and book a month out for a proposal you want remembered.

Solomonov's loud, joyous Israeli grill — a salatim spread then charcoal skewers; book the long table for a team dinner in Fishtown.

Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook's Laser Wolf is the rowdy counterpart to Zahav: a Fishtown shipudim grill where dinner opens with a sprawling salatim spread of a dozen-plus salads and ends with charcoal skewers and soft-serve. It was a 2022 James Beard Best New Restaurant semifinalist and remains the most fun group table in the city.

The format: the fixed-price skewer dinner, loud and communal, best with a crowd. It's at 1301 N Howard Street on the Fishtown–Kensington line. Read the full review on the Laser Wolf page, and book the long table for a team dinner.

Nok Suntaranon's James Beard-winning Southern Thai — the crab curry is the city's most thrilling plate; book it for a team dinner.

Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon won the James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award and was named North America's Best Female Chef for the Southern Thai cooking she learned from her mother in Trang province. Her big, glossy Fishtown room landed at #7 on North America's 50 Best in 2026 — the kind of place where a table orders too much on purpose.

The order: the crab curry and the panang, family-style, for a table that likes heat and sharing. It's at 4 W Palmer Street. Read the full review on the Kalaya page, and book two to three weeks out for a team dinner.

Ellen Yin's grain-obsessed all-day room — Christina McKeough's sourdough and pasta; book it for an unhurried first date.

Ellen Yin, a James Beard-recognised restaurateur, built High Street around grain — house-milled flour, sourdough, hand-rolled pasta — and reopened it on 9th Street as an easygoing all-day room. Executive chef Christina McKeough cooks bread-forward Mid-Atlantic plates that make it one of the city's most relaxed good dinners.

The order: the bread service, a pasta, and whatever's on the seasonal board, at an unhurried pace. It's at 101 S 9th Street in Washington Square West. Read the full review on the High Street page, and book it for an easy first date.

Nick Kennedy's Lebanese market-restaurant, open since 2018 — mezze then the wood grill; book the garden for a team dinner in Fishtown.

Suraya opened on Frankford Avenue in 2018 as a café, market and restaurant in one, and quickly became Fishtown's defining Levantine table. Chef Nick Kennedy cooks Lebanese mezze and wood-fired plates — labneh, kibbeh, lamb off the grill — in a back dining room and a garden that's one of the prettiest group settings in the city.

The order: a spread of mezze, then the wood-grilled mains, shared across a long table. It's at 1528 Frankford Avenue. Read the full review on the Suraya page, and book the garden in summer for a team dinner.