BYOB on Friday night in Center City?

[Seanchai]

Hey all. I'm planning a trip in a couple of months to visit some relatives in Philly and you guys have been very helpful for visits past. We'll be there from Thursday through Saturday and of course I have all of our meals lined up. Lunches at Distrito and RTM, dinner at Standard Tap, snacks and everything else at the Italian market. The meal I can't nail down is Friday night dinner.

I'd love to go to a BYOB, but we'll be a party of 5-8 people with 2-3 kids and it seems most won't take reservations for a party that big. I know dinner for us will have to be very early out of deference to the other diners, but does anybody have any ideas about a good dinner spot where we could walk-in 5-6 p.m. or make a reservation? Kids are 6 to 8 years old and FAIRLY well behaved. TIA.

[wkl]

i'd probably lean to one of the casual italian byo's, of which there are many.

gnocchi, radicchio,melograno. plenty of others i can't think of right now. others can list their favorites

[KitchenMom]

If you wanted to switch things around, Distrito would be a great place to eat early with kids, as would Zahav (another non-byo). Both take reservations. I've seen kids at both, and both have food kids would like (except my unreasonably picky 5 y.o. who we can't take anywhere). If it must be a BYO, Kanella might work, though it is quite small. They will take reservations for larger groups if you call the restaurant directly. You might also think about Chinatown. Rangoon is always a family favorite. Though it isn't a byo, the prices are very reasonable and you should be able to just walk in.

[jm chen]

The new location of Melograno is bigger than many of the other BYOs, and the earlier you go the better your chances are, so that might fit.

[philadining]

I think those are all good suggestions above, but FWIW, we recently reserved a table for 8 at Matyson, and that worked out fine. Or is it 5-8 adults PLUS kids?

[Seanchai]

I think those are all good suggestions above, but FWIW, we recently reserved a table for 8 at Matyson, and that worked out fine.  Or is it 5-8 adults PLUS kids?

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No, no, 5-8 total. I may be crazy but I'm not THAT crazy I've heard Matyson is great but can we piece together dinners for the kids?

[Andrew Fenton]

See, I probably wouldn't take a passel of kids to Matyson; it just seems to me that a place a step or two lower down on the casual scale would be more enjoyable for all concerned.

I know you said BYOB, but I'm guessing that by that you mean "casual with good food" rather than "I am bringing a case of old vintages I want to sample with my seven year old." Accordingly, I'd say that the suggestion of Rangoon is IMO an excellent one. The food is great-- I don't know where you're coming from, but it's unlikely you have a glut of Burmese restaurants-- it's a good size to handle a group with kids, and nobody will blink an eye at the young ones.

There are plenty of other good options in Chinatown as well. One (genuine BYO) is Zhi Wei Guan. I bet that 6-8 years old is a good age to introduce the kids to soup dumplings. You can blow their minds letting them guess how they got the soup in there... whoa.