Restaurants Near 20th And Sansom (phila)

[phungi]

I'm going to Comedy Sportz on Saturday and have been given the task of finding suitable eats. A Google Maps search turned up 3 sushi places:

Sansom Street Sushi

Maki Rocks

Fuji Mountain

Any recommendations or other options nearby?

[HD73]

I'm going to Comedy Sportz on Saturday and have been given the task of finding suitable eats.  A Google Maps search turned up 3 sushi places:

Sansom Street Sushi

Maki Rocks

Fuji Mountain

Any recommendations or other options nearby?

←

Does it have to be sushi? The new Jose Garces place, Tinto, is at the corner of 20th and Sansom. I've enjoyed it both times I've been there, and if you were looking for less than a full meal you could sit at the bar and just try a few things. Capogiro is across the street if you wanted dessert or something after the show.

[phungi]

Definitely not limited to sushi, but those were the closest listings.

By the way, the title should be "near" not "new"...

[herbacidal]

There's Porcini, which I didn't like when I was there October 2005.

There's the Italian place across from it that I've never been to.

They're both on Sansom between 21st and 20th.

There's Cafe Habana on 21st between Sansom and Chestnut.

There's that restaurant in the highrise at 1920 Chestnut (address right?) whose name I can't think of on Chestnut between 19th and 20th opened by the owners of La Famaglia in Old City.

[philadining]

The Italian place on Chestnut right around there is La Castagne. I've never gone...

There's also Miran the next block up on Chestnut for decent Korean.

Other than the places already mentioned, you won't be far from Tria, if that counts as dinner. Tough to get a space on a saturday evening...

Ahh, not so long ago you could have gotten a pizza at Lombardi's, but now there's just a big hole in the ground...

[mattohara]

Vic Sushi just opened up where Sansom St Sushi used to be. Vic and his wife remodeled the place and opened it up on their own dime. The selection isn't huge but it's fresh and good. They don't have a liquor license but there is some sake behind the counter... They also don't have tables (it's a tiny spot) but there are some seats by the bar. They're the nicest people in the world and I highly recommend it for an intimate eating experience.

And yes, Tinto was one of the best meals I've had in a long long time, but I spend way too much money and had both foie gras options.

[sockii]

I like Cafe Habana most of the time, though the service is unpredictable (generally good on busy nights, spotty on slow nights).

La Castagne was good the one night I went, but pricey. A few more unusual dishes including a chestnut pasta I remember being excellent.

Porcini - zero atmosphere, cramped, but I liked the food. Limited fairly traditional Italian menu.

Fuji Mountain - decent, fairly standard Japanese. I much prefer the rolls at Sushi on the Square, though (20th & Locust).

No too far from Snackbar (20th & Rittenhouse) for something more adventurous

[Diann]

The Italian place that Herb mentioned (next door to ComedySportz) is Gioia Mia. It's just a variation on one of the million Italian restaurants in the city -- not bad, but nothing to rock your world either. The main things I remember about my dinner there were the prices (cheap! Pasta primavera was maybe $13, and I had porchetta which I think was under $20) and the full bar. Anyways, pretty generic.

Le Castagne is a little more slick and corporate-feeling than the other Italian restaurants around. I think the pastas are decent, but I've avoided the place ever since I had some truly awful veal cutlets four years ago.

If you feel like Italian, what about Melograno? I know, no reservations on Saturdays, but depending on what time the show is, you may want to eat early, anyways. And Tinto keeps on getting good buzz, as mentioned...

[HD73]

The Italian place that Herb mentioned (next door to ComedySportz) is Gioia Mia. It's just a variation on one of the million Italian restaurants in the city -- not bad, but nothing to rock your world either. The main things I remember about my dinner there were the prices (cheap! Pasta primavera was maybe $13, and I had porchetta which I think was under $20) and the full bar. Anyways, pretty generic.

Le Castagne is a little more slick and corporate-feeling than the other Italian restaurants around. I think the pastas are decent, but I've avoided the place ever since I had some truly awful veal cutlets four years ago.

If you feel like Italian, what about Melograno? I know, no reservations on Saturdays, but depending on what time the show is, you may want to eat early, anyways. And Tinto keeps on getting good buzz, as mentioned...

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Melograno would be a good choice too, but you have to be careful on the weekends even if you get there early. I hate waiting around, so I usually go on weeknights, but we wanted to take some friends before a show a few weeks ago. We were already in the neighborhood, so we cruised by at 5 and asked what we should do to ensure a table. We were told we'd be absolutely fine if we showed up at 5:30 when they started seating.

We came back at 5:25 to find a substantial line already formed. We did manage to secure one of the last tables, but a significant number of people who were behind us in line did not. And, of course, if you don't get a table in the first stampede, you have to cool your heels for a loooong time. The fact that it goes from empty to full in 5 seconds means that there's not another de facto "seating" until 7 or so.

[rlibkind]

How about something completely different?

If it's a nice night, get some felafel at Philly Falafel (Sansom near 18th) and dine al fresco in Rittenhouse Square watching the world go by.

[jmbrightman]

20m Manning was good last I was there, but that was a couple years ago. Anyone been recently?

[simply_perfect]

At the risk of tooting our own horn, may I suggest BOOTSIE’S on 19th St. between market & chestnut (38s. 19th) a Mediterranean influenced steakhouse, with lots of fresh seafood, center cut steaks and superb pasta dishes. A wine and beer bar with aver 23 specialty beers and about 30 wine by the glass, as well as, over 50 by the bottle, also featuring new signature martinis and selected drinks. www.bootsiesphilly.com