Now on Resy: South Restaurant, Cicala, Ember & Ash, and More Local Favorites

First thing you do at South: Get the cornbread. Don’t even think about it, just do it, whether it’s for you alone or not. Fried green tomatoes, mac and cheese, gumbo — these are all reasons to dine here. But then the live jazz starts in the other room, and the whole evening just grooves.

With a room filled with family photos and antiques handed down through generations, dining at Cicala almost feels like Sunday supper at your grandma’s house. But then there are those chandeliers and velvet banquettes, and chef Joe Cicala’s magic touch with handmade pastas, and wife and pastry chef Angela Cicala’s gorgeous desserts. The combination of cozy and elegant, homey and elevated, it all just hits here.

If the name doesn’t give it away, there’s a lot of fire in this kitchen. Open flames kiss and char just about everything, from vegetables to a massive beef shin, a hunk of meat slathered in green curry sauce, that you shred off the bone and eat in lettuce leaves. Even the old fashioned is made with coal-infused bourbon, and we’re not mad at it.

With its glowing chandeliers, dark wood furnishings, and peacock-blue booths, Rex at the Royal is an almost-theatrically perfect setting for chef Aaron Paik’s tradition-rich and modern Lowcountry food (the crawfish pot pie is something else), which is set in part of the historic Black-owned Royal Theatre.

Come to this West Kensington hot spot for the easy-going vacation-in-Mexico vibe and chef Alex Tellez’s compact but captivating menu of soulful Mexican fare, from tlacoyos to barbacoa. Pro tip: Don’t miss the Especial, a house libation of La Gritona reposado Tequila and Love City Lager.

Organic, vegan, and gluten-free (and kosher, too) are the themes at this Rittenhouse area café, framed in raw brick and distressed wood, where each dish’s health benefits are spelled out on the menu, while the coffee is softened with Brazil-nut milk, hand-pressed in the kitchen.

Philadelphia-based mega-restaurateur Stephen Starr hits it out of the park with this animated neighborhood pizzeria on Headhouse Square, where the acclaimed Neapolitan-style pies come out of an 850º wood-burning oven, but the classic antipasti and pastas are so good that you might even save the pizza for next time.

You’ll want to add this intimate Conshohoken bar and bistro to your list of regular stops for its stylish interior, amiable staff, and deliciously accessible comfort-food menu (don’t miss the duck fat fries) from chef Will Langlois of Bar Lucca fame.

This two-for-one destination in Midtown Village from Glu Hospitality (Vesper, the Yanaga restaurants) combines a roomy upscale stop for sake and sushi — plus ramen, robatayaki skewers, and (why not?) Japanese tacos — with a seductive next-door cocktail lounge featuring live music and a mythological theme.

Extravagant burgers, imaginative pizzas (try the cheesesteak pie), and craveable shareables in a dining room furnished in purple, pink, and celadon with pop-art graphics and a ceiling hung with overflowing planters? Right this way to this whimsically Instagrammable Locust Street favorite.

We’d trust any restaurant that was founded on a love of bread. And High Street, where the ovens churn freshly-baked goods on the daily, is as good as it gets. Munch on the award-winning bagels in the a.m. (breakfast here is a must), delve into sandwiches at noon, and find love in the supper-style plates (killer pasta and pizza) at night.

Note that if you’re here, you’re booking the weekly private dinner parties that take place every Saturday — an ever-changing seasonal feast of handmade pastas and off-menu dishes for up to six.

Look for sushi, ramen, and a range of small-plate bar snacks, along with perfect cocktails and a treasury of sakes at this Fishtown spot from Kevin Yanaga (of Morimoto and Zama) for Glu Hospitality. Pro tip: Drop in on Tuesdays for izakaya-style tacos, with snow crab, eel, tofu, and other uncommon fillings.

You won’t go wrong at this bustling all-purpose Italian place from Glu Hospitality (the group behind Añejo and Izakaya by Yanaga) — part pizza and hoagie shop and part full-scale sit-back-and-relax restaurant where the menu ranges from seafood towers to spicy rigatoni and chicken Parm.

Everybody’s favorite Manhattan saloon translates perfectly to Independence Square, complete with the amiable bartenders, lively happy hour, and classic bar-and-grill menu for which the original is known. Definitive must-order: One of the legendary Clarke burgers (perhaps the bacon cheeseburger, which Nat King Cole dubbed the “Cadillac of hamburgers”?).

You’re going to want to bring your friends to this convivial, well-loved rodizio in Horsham, where the skewers of grilled meats (plus chicken and salmon) just keep coming, and the extensive salad bar will keep even the non-carnivore happy and well-fed.

It’s all about Italian-American comfort food at this colorfully decorated neighborhood favorite in suburban Collingswood — where you’ll get a taste of the kinds of dishes chef-owner Angelo Lutz remembers his mother and grandmother making when he was growing up in South Philly.

A Middle Eastern and Moroccan standout across the Delaware in Cherry Hill, Norma’s boasts a menu that ranges from hummus and other dips, to pita-bread sandwiches and seductive entrées with a focus on chicken and lamb.

Here’s something special: a private dining room at the (large) Clubhouse spinoff of the (tiny) Middle Child luncheonette, where parties of eight to 17 can settle into an exclusive setting for anything from burgers to bone-in rib eyes.

This intimate Fitler Square pizzeria and natural wine bar might be the ultimate casual date night spot for its irresistibly shareable sourdough-crust pizzas, its inspired snacks and small plates, and the soft pink glow that suffuses the room.

Bring friends along to this easygoing Center City BYOB Italian, where the housemade pastas and the classic entrées are big enough to share — but so good that you might not want to. Pro tip: If a big plate of ravioli or spaghettini is your idea of brunch fare, this is definitely the spot for you.

Chef Brad Daniels was a pasta cook and then chef de cuisine at Marc Vetri’s Osteria, so you know he knows his way around Italian cuisine. Look for grilled Roman-style bread with various toppings, housemade pasta with classic sauces, and more rustic fare at this Ambler essential.

With neon accents and monster imagery everywhere you turn (plus regular screenings of classic monster movies), this vegan destination with an Italian-flavored international menu won’t even scare the meat-eaters in your crowd.