Philly Recomendations Please!

[NYC Mike]

Hi All,

The Mrs. and I have to be in Bryn Mawr for a wedding in a couple of weeks. I think we will make a weekend of it and stay in Philly. My wife has never been there and I have only been in and out for meetings, stopping only for steaks and hoagies on the way home.

Could someone help me with hotel locations where we could walk or catch a quick cab to places of interest. (center city, independence hall, city hall etc)

AND could you chime in with your three must not miss restaurants? We eat all kinds, prefer more comfortable than stuffy. Looks like we will have time for 1 lunch and two dinners.

Thanks,

M

[MarketStEl]

Hi All,

The Mrs. and I have to be in Bryn Mawr for a wedding in a couple of weeks.  I think we will make a weekend of it and stay in Philly.  My wife has never been there and I have only been in and out for meetings, stopping only for steaks and hoagies on the way home.

Could someone help me with hotel locations where we could walk or catch a quick cab to places of interest.  (center city, independence hall, city hall etc)

AND could you chime in with your three must not miss restaurants?  We eat all kinds, prefer more comfortable than stuffy.  Looks like we will have time for 1 lunch and two dinners.

Thanks,

M

←

For starters, I recommend packing comfortable walking shoes. Center City Philadelphia is eminently walkable, with many of the places you'd want to visit within a 20-minute walk of any hotel.

But if I had to pick one part of Center City to stay in, it would be Old City. Here you are close to the greatest concentration of restaruants and nightspots in Center City and right on top of the Historic Square Mile. City Hall is about a mile to the west.

Your lodging choices include the Sheraton Society Hill, Independence Park Inn, Holiday Inn Independence Mall and Omni Independence Park. There's also the Society Hill Hotel B&B, but that's on top of a rather busy bar and restaurant. The Holiday Inn is probably the most reasonably priced of the four and the Independence Park Inn the most charming.

There are also several hotels right around City Hall, most of them Marriotts. If you've ever wanted to spend the night in a world-famous skyscraper, book a room at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, which is the former PSFS building, the landmark International Style skyscraper built in 1932.

As for the restaurants: Only three? As my tastes are modest, and I haven't eaten at many of the hot new BYOBs that folks around here absolutely rave about, I'm going to suggest you defer to some of the other people who will respond for your dinners, but for the lunch, you absolutely must drop by the Reading Terminal Market. Among the plethora of fresh food vendors are several really good prepared food merchants, and any one of the following will prove highly satisfying:

--Little Thai Market (very good, very fast Thai dishes)

--Salumeria (among the best hoagies in town, and some of the most original)

--Dienner's Bar-B-Q (a Pennsylvania Dutch treat--great rotisserie chicken)

--Mezze (Mediterranean)

--DiNic's (Tony Luke's it ain't, but it's a good roast pork sandwich anyway)

I'm assuming that your stay will be on a weekend. If your lunch is slated for a Sunday, strike the RTM from your list; if it's on a Monday or Tuesday, Dienner's won't be open, as the Pennsylvania Dutch merchants operate from Wednesday through Saturday only.

I guarantee you, there is nothing like this in New York.

[rlibkind]

Reading Terminal Market will be open the first three Sundays in December. About half the merchants will be open. About half the merchants and vendors will be participating. Alas, Tommy DiNic wants to take Sundays off. Follow this link to get the full list.

Mike, can you give us a better idea of your food preferences. There's lots of choose from.

[KatieLoeb]

I might also suggest staying at Penns View Hotel, home of one of my favorite bars in the city, Il Bar at Ristorante Panorama. The most awesome selection of wines by the glass you'll ever encounter. The food at Panorama is also delicious, particularly the house made pastas.

Check out one of the fabulous BYOB restaurants in our fair city while you're here. There's plenty to choose from. Some of my favorites include Dmitri's, Matyson, Rx, Django, and L'Angolo.

And in a shameless bit of self-promotion I'll recommend Amada if you're fond of authentic Spanish tapas and or Spanish wines. Call for a reservation though. It's been pretty busy lately, I'm told. Dinner only for the moment.

[philadining]

Indeed, as rlinkind says, give us a few more clues about what you like. Even the fancy places aren't all that stuffy here in Philly...

It's hard to go wrong trolling for lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, and it's got plenty of local character.

Another edge of our dining scene that's very characteristic of Philly is our array of BYOBs, where you can get a very nice meal for not much money, with the benefit (or annoyance) of bringing your own wine. Current faves with this crowd include Django, Pif, Matyson, Melograno, Radicchio, Marigold, Rx, Pumpkin, Lolita and Nan... there are more... some of them are very hard to get a reservation at on a weekend, others don't take reservations at all, which can work out great for you if you go early or late, or be a big pain if you hit the middle of a rush.

Philly has some very good places in Chinatown, but one of the few that seems especially unusual is Rangoon, which serves Burmese food, often hard to find even in cosmopolitan cities.

there's plenty of homey Italian, we can recommend specifics if you are interested.

Philly gets a lot of press for the flashy, trendy, stylish places owned by Steven Starr, and although I take from your post that you'd probably want to stay simpler than these places, I've always had good meals at Tangerine (Moroccan-ish) Pod (Asian Fusion) and El Vez (Mexican.) Can get pricey, especially drinks, but dinner is usually memorable.

We also have some very fine gastro-pubs, with excellent local beers and good food too. I'm personally fond of Standard Tap and North Third, both of which are in Northern Liberties, a short drive or cab ride from Center City.

Sandy's right about Philly being very walkable, so to some degree it doesn't matter where you stay as long as you are right in center city, you can probably walk to some interesting places pretty easily. Let us know where you're considering, we'll warn you off any REALLY bad ideas.

Again, give us some more ideas of what you like, we'll try to steer you to something you'll enjoy!

(edited to add, yeah, what Katie said, listen to her!)

Edited November 22, 2005 by philadining (log)

[NYC Mike]

Thanks for the replies!

Hmm taste in food....we like spanish/caribean/mexican, italian, fish/asian of any kind. Wouldn't mind a byob. Homestyle Italian we can get in ny.

Thanks again!

[I_call_the_duck]

BYO places are my personal favorites, since very few good ones exist in NYC. The places mentioned above are all great. My favs are Django, Matyson, and Pumpkin. I'd also recommend Chole in Old City.

Aside from Rangoon in Chinatown, I don't know if there are other places that would be a lot better or more interesting than what you'd get in NY. That said, I like Vietnam, Sang Kee, and Pho Xe Lua.

[herbacidal]

Thanks for the replies!

Hmm taste in food....we like spanish/caribean/mexican, italian, fish/asian of any kind.  Wouldn't mind a byob.  Homestyle Italian we can get in ny.

Thanks again!

←

You can get BYOBs in most of those cuisines.

For Mexican there's Mexican style at Lolita (13th and Sansom) and new Mexican at Las Cazuelas (4th and Girard).

The latter is farther from the Center City, but definitely a short drive.

Modern Italian I'd go with Radicchio (4th and Wood) or Melograno (22nd and Spruce).

Fish I'd go with Little Fish (6th and Catherine, get a reservation, or take a chance and just walk in, since there's more than a few decent backup choices within short walking distance).

Spanish, I could swear there was a Spanish BYOB around, but I could just be thinking of Mandoline's predecessor Saboor.

Carribean, I'm pretty sure Jamaican Jerk Hut (South btwn Broad and 15th) is BYOB, but some people think of it differently than the more haute cuisine type BYOBs around.

Asian, thank the great one there's no Asian fusion BYOBs. I got a feeling it wouldn't go well.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The below named are not BYOBs, the above named are.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So for Spanish food, Amada (2nd and Chestnut) would probably be the overwhelming recommendation. There's a thread giving much love to Amada

somewhere around here.

Asian overall, it is probably true that Burmese is not strong outside Philly, or at least I haven't heard about it elsewhere yet, so Rangoon wouldn't be a bad recommendation.

I also understand that Vietnamese isn't strong in NYC, so Xe Lua (9th and Race) in Chinatown and Nam Phuong (11th and Washington) in South Philly are my recommendations there, in part because they also have pretty good Chinese food too. I hope Nam Phuong is the one I was in that time. :-)

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Old City for hotels, just because the bar scene on the weekends overwhelms everything, but that's just my thing.

As far as living quarters, I'd go with Center City, west of Broad. Latham, Warwick, Park Hyatt Bellevue, Sofitel, Club Quarters, Rittenhouse B&B.

Edited November 22, 2005 by herbacidal (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

Jamaican Jerk Hut is a BYO. But it's more beer than wine.

[wkl]

Second the reccomendation of the Warwick or Latham. I've stayed at both a couple times each. Check their websites for package deals including parking and breakfast.

Breakfast at the Warwick is really pretty nice. Nice dining room, good buffet, etc. The Warwick also has a classic lobby.

The Warwick or Latham will put you close to Pasion, Brasserie Perrier, Monks, Matyson, Audrey Claire, Pumpkin.

Pasion isn't exactly Carribean, but the food is Latin American influenced and of a high level.(Not a BYO)

Melograno is the best bet for Itailian in that area.(BYO)

[philadining]

Asian, thank the great one there's no Asian fusion BYOBs.  I got a feeling it wouldn't go well. 

←

One could argue that Nan, at 40th and Chestnut, is an Asian-Fusion BYOB, and it's one of my favorite places in the city. But I'll certainly agree that in the hands of a less-assured chef, that concept could be a disaster.

[R Washburn]

Thanks for the replies!

Hmm taste in food....we like spanish/caribean/mexican, italian, fish/asian of any kind.  Wouldn't mind a byob.  Homestyle Italian we can get in ny.

Thanks again!

←

Which NYC restaurants are your favorites?

NY is deeper in pretty much every category than Philadelphia, although there are some relative bargains in Center City vs. Manhattan. Surprisingly, a lot of the high end dining is actually pricer in Philadelphia vs. New York IMHO.

Sarcone's (both Deli and Bakery), Brasserie Perrier (for bar menu), and La Croix get most of my business when I am visiting Philadelphia.

I would say that Sarcone's is the only Philadelphia institution I really wish I could transplant to NY. I used to miss Tony Luke's but we are now innundated with cheese steak places including a clone of Tony Luke's.

[MarketStEl]

Jamaican Jerk Hut is a BYO.  But it's more beer than wine.

←

An excellent excuse to pick up a six of Red Stripe to go with your jerk chicken!

(Our out-of-town visitors might find acutally buying the Red Stripe frustrating, though, thanks to this state's peculiar system for selling beer. You'd end up either paying more than you ought to for a six-pack at a take-out food store--try the Foodery at 10th and Pine if you actually decide to try this--or having to buy a case from a beer distributor.)

[herbacidal]

Jamaican Jerk Hut is a BYO.  But it's more beer than wine.

←

An excellent excuse to pick up a six of Red Stripe to go with your jerk chicken!

(Our out-of-town visitors might find acutally buying the Red Stripe frustrating, though, thanks to this state's peculiar system for selling beer. You'd end up either paying more than you ought to for a six-pack at a take-out food store--try the Foodery at 10th and Pine if you actually decide to try this--or having to buy a case from a beer distributor.)

←

I would disagree about the Red Stripe, but that's just personal preference, and it does fit the meal.

The upside of having to buy the sixpack at the Foodery of course, is that you can mix a six, choosing six different beers from their broad selection if you like.

Yes, you're right. I forgot about Nan. My mistake.

Edited November 23, 2005 by herbacidal (log)

[sockii]

Thanks for the replies!

Hmm taste in food....we like spanish/caribean/mexican, italian, fish/asian of any kind.  Wouldn't mind a byob.  Homestyle Italian we can get in ny.

Thanks again!

←

For Asian, I know my top pick is Vietnam Palace in Chinatown. Awesome incredibly consistent food, especially the stuffed grilled grape leaves and combo/special vermicelli plates. My Thai on South Street is an adorably cute, reasonably-priced Thai place as well.

There are so many great BYOBS in the city it's hard for me to pick just one or two, as I can't think of any that I wouldn't gladly go back to at the drop of a hat (provided I can get a table). Matyson might top my list at the moment, but then there's also Mercato, Pumpkin, Audrey Claire, Bronzino, La Casta Diva, Melograno...I think the question is where you can get a reservation more than anything else.

Moving away from BYOBs, I like Meritage a lot for a more elegant (but not what I'd call stuffy) dinner; nice for a romantic meal and the Chocolate Meritage dessert is heaven for chocoholics

I've never had a bad meal at Astral Plane, either, and that's definitely a funky, unique Philly place to go. Also really nice for a romantic meal.

I don't know a lot about the various hotels in town, beyond that my grandmother always stayed at the Rittenhouse when she visits for the holidays and the rooms are pretty out-of-sight and incredibly comfy. It's right on Rittenhouse Square which is definitely a great location to be at for heading out in any direction in the city.

[Jeff L]

Asian, thank the great one there's no Asian fusion BYOBs.  I got a feeling it wouldn't go well. 

←

One could argue that Nan, at 40th and Chestnut, is an Asian-Fusion BYOB, and it's one of my favorite places in the city. But I'll certainly agree that in the hands of a less-assured chef, that concept could be a disaster.

←

I second Nan as a great spot for Thai/French cuisine in Philly although somewhat hard to get to from most hotels.. As a sidebar, I posted in the New Jersey forum about a place in Somerville called Origin...puts Nan to shame, really. And I love Nan.