The Resy Hit List: Where In Philadelphia You’ll Want to Eat in February 2024

The whole country has been talking about Chad and Hanna Williams’ restaurant. FSS beat every competitor in the country in 2023 to win the James Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant, and we agree it pretty well defines dining in Philadelphia right now. Which is why we celebrate how perfect their fresh take on fine dining is: The bar, the service, the soundtrack, the lighting, and most of all, the fun and refined eight-course tasting menu that’s never been better. It’s also never been a tougher table to reserve: The books open on Resy on the first of every month at 10 a.m.

Walking into this 12-table steakhouse is like a movie moment. The noise and neon of busy 13th Street fades away as a host greets you through a speakeasy-style cutout in the door and escorts you into an intimate space with sleek, dark wood walls and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Inside, elaborate chandeliers make the room sparkle and glow while servers carve dry aged steaks tableside. This petite, Michael Shulson-owned restaurant is the place to impress a date or close a big deal. The menu leans throwback, with wedge salads served on vintage china and baked Alaska — flambéed on the table — for dessert.

Michael Solomonov’s restaurant first opened in Philly in 2008, on its way to launching the Middle Eastern dining craze nationwide. In 2019, it was named the best restaurant in the country by the Beard Foundation — the first Philly restaurant to earn that honor. So while this isn’t the easiest Resy to score, jump on it eight weeks in advance or come early to snag a bar seat or walk-in-only outdoor table. All meals start with fluffy, warm Laffa bread alongside the country’s best hummus and an array of tiny vegetable dishes called salatim. Spend the extra $10 to get the four-course Mesibah tasting menu that includes the pomegranate lamb shoulder with crispy Persian rice. Yeah, you’ll be full, but the lamb and rice fry up beautifully with an egg cracked on top for breakfast the next day.

The best cheesesteaks in the city. Convince us we’re wrong. Danny DiGiampietro makes the rolls fresh every morning. Is there any other cheesesteak joint in town doing that? Angelo’s is also the first place that we can remember employing Philly’s own melty, creamy Cooper Sharp cheese. Others, including Citizens Bank Park, have cribbed this smart move. DiGiampietro is obsessed with making perfect sandwiches and pizza. Thanks to plenty of national attention, this small Italian Market shop always has a line down the block, but it’s a line of happy people. Happy pizza people. Happy cheesesteak people. The kind of people who will offer your toddler a slice as you walk to the playground; which is a random, totally made-up example, we assure you.

Find more info here.

Much has already been said about Kalaya. But if Nok Suntaranon’s southern Thai restaurant has been delighting diners since its humble start in the Italian Market, it has found a proper spot in its much larger Fishtown digs, with a liquor license that helped create a vital bar scene. Book early and often; you’ll be rewarded with deeply flavored curries, adorably shaped dumplings, and a signature grilled freshwater river prawn that’s mixed tableside with its tomalley and jasmine rice.

Mission Taqueria isn’t even a decade old, and yet it’s a Philly staple. Right in Center City, located above Sansom Street’s storied Oyster House, Mission is a glowing celebration of Mexican fare and drink. The kitchen pumps out fresh corn tortillas for a taco menu that runs from fried mahi with cabbage slaw to eggplant barbacoa to carnitas. For a perfect lunch, go for the tortilla soup in a dark broth with grilled cactus pads, and a horchata or fresh-pressed green juice. Do try the churros that come with Mexican chocolate and dulce de leche, and do make time for happy hour, with its $6 house margaritas.

The space has been a popular neighborhood restaurant since 2004, but came into greatness when Chris D’Ambro and Marina De Oliveira took it over in 2016. D’Ambro, who previously cooked at Kennett Square’s always-booked Talula’s Table and Cabo, Mexico’s celebrated Flora Farms, serves a menu that blends seasonality, classic technique, and playfulness. Always order some pasta here and share a few appetizers or go big with a decadent double cheeseburger topped with local blue cheese and bacon. Served in either a serene-yet-casual dining room, a greenery-dotted courtyard, or at the convivial bar in the front room, Southwark delivers food that’s almost too pretty to eat. Speaking of, the bar here is one of the best in town.

Philly has a good selection of dim sum places, but not many offer the full experience with carts rolling  throughout the dining room. That’s where China Gourmet delivers. It’s a massive space with a sea of round, pink table-clothed tables that fill up at brunch time. Those carts are speedy, and come filled with steaming hot dumplings and other Cantonese specialities, so to be prepared. Grab anything that looks tasty, but especially don’t miss the bao stuffed with barbecued char siu pork, sticky rice in tea leaves, and shrimp balls.

Find more info here.

It doesn’t matter if you’re vegan. Go to Vedge. Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby’s iconic brownstone restaurant inspired a wave of vegan fine dining that’s since spread across the nation — another trend traceable back to, ahem, Philly. Since 2011, they’ve wowed diners by centering vegetables, not meat substitutes. Here, rutabaga becomes a cheese-free fondue with a Philly-style soft pretzel for dipping, smoked portobellos get the carpaccio treatment, and dessert doesn’t miss a beat with ice cream, budino, and cheesecake.

Tova du Plessis’ modern Jewish bakery has been an E. Passyunk favorite since its 2016 opening. Having spent time in celebrated kitchens like Zahav and the Restaurant at Meadowood in California, the South Africa native brings serious cooking chops. Now, Essen is on the verge of growth with a Fishtown location that will offer more of a sit-down experience for breakfast and lunch. This is the place to go for challah, black and white cookies, apple cake, rugelach, and du Plessis’ signature chocolate-halva babka. Bagels and schmear are an obvious and tasty choice, but don’t miss the tender za’atar croissant sandwich with labneh and a hard-boiled egg.

Find more info here.

This Greek-Cypriot BYOB first opened in 2008, and has been a sunny neighborhood staple for casual kebab-centric meals ever since. Today, Kanella is owned by Tayfun Abuska, and leans Greek-Turkish. It’s still great. Start with some small plates, like roasted pepper and walnut dip with pomegranate molasses, crispy Brussels sprouts with carrot dip and za’atar, or seared halloumi with dried fruit. Entrees run from meat or fish kebabs with perfumed rice pilav to vegetarian options like spanakopita and falafel. The filo-based desserts here are sweet, light, and classic. Save room.

Brothers Benjamin and Robert Bynum grew up in the jazz club business and have carried their family legacy forward with their own collection of restaurants and clubs. South matches supper-club aesthetics to a Southern menu. This is rare in Philadelphia, and sad, because who doesn’t like a skillet of cornbread, buttermilk fried chicken, and pineapple brown sugar bread pudding? Even better is the music coming from the stage, which draws top jazz artists from around the region and nationwide. You can dine here with or without tickets to a show, but if you want to see some live music, make sure to book a table in the jazz club, not the dining room.

Longtime restaurateur Ellen Yin made Philly proud when she brought home the award for Outstanding Restaurateur at last year’s Beard Awards. Her flagship restaurant has seen a few excellent chefs come and go in its 25-year history, but the quality always remains. And the Old City mainstay has been supporting local farmers, and serving regional ingredients, long before it was cool. Whether a whole Pennsylvania trout or a dry-aged burger, everything on this seasonal, contemporary American is solid. Pro tip: Stop at the bar while museum-hopping around Independence Mall.

Call 215-625-9425 for more info.

What more can we say about the James Beard Award-winning restaurant known for its appearance on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table”? Mexican chef Cristina Martinez is a wizard with lamb. Her barbacoa tacos and soul-warming consommé draw visitors from all over the country, but equally as revolutionary is her work as an activist for fellow immigrants and those facing food insecurity. Line up at her sunny, casual Italian Market eatery and be patient. This meal is worth the wait.

Find more info here.

Little Fish is that ideal Philly restaurant of just-barely yesteryear. It’s a chef-driven neighborhood BYOB with blow-you-away food. As national attention has rained down on our fair city, restaurant culture has shifted toward liquor license holders in busy parts of town. It’s different at Little Fish, and we love it. Anyone who loves seafood should come through for Alex Yoon’s $90 five-course prix-fixe that runs from raw treats — like scallops and chili oil on buttery sesame toast — and pasta to seared fish, and a dessert of the day.

Philly is lucky to have Jezabel Careaga. The Argentine chef is talented, connected, and creative. When she’s not making the city’s best empanadas and unforgettable pastries (especially the dulce de leche stuffed alfajores), she makes furniture and helps run the Sisterly Love Collective to raise up local women in the hospitality industry. Her West Philly cafe is a great place for breakfast or lunch, and offers a serious single-origin tea selection along with espresso drinks.

Call 215-554-7380 for more info.

In Center City, Middle Child’s friendly original shop makes some of the best sandwiches anywhere. Owner Matt Cahn brings cheffy sensibilities to each menu item, with careful thought toward balancing flavors, ingredients, and sourcing. It’s why these sound like regular sandwiches, but stop diners in their tracks on first bite. We can’t pick favorites, but try the Surfer with turkey and blueberry chutney on ciabatta. (Vegetarians love Middle Child’s Phoagie and classic Italian hoagie fans will want to order the So Long Sal!) The team then brought this commitment to excellence to its clubhouse-style restaurant and bar in Fishtown that’s open from breakfast — think: an eight-ounce malted buttermilk pancake made with freshly milled flour — and as late as midnight on weeknights, when you can split a 40-ounce bottle of Negronis with friends.

College students from nearby University City are the first to recommend this classic Ethiopian restaurant. It’s affordable, casual, delicious, and filling. To get the full experience, order a meat combo and a vegetable combo to share with your dining companions. Each comes with a few classic, Ethiopian stewed dishes on top of tangy, spongey injera (similar to a thin pancake). Abyssinia offers reasonably priced beer and runs a too-cool-for-school upstairs bar that often hosts live music, comedy, and other activities like chess and karaoke.

Find more info here.

Grace & Proper is a real bar. Not a restaurant with a good bar. Not a dive bar. It’s a bustling bar giving off European vibes in a South Philly residential neighborhood. The space is more than 100+ years old —and shows it, with peeling wallpaper, a mosaic tile floor, and a tin ceiling. It looks like it’s always been there, which might make it the coolest among the various restaurants and bars owned by partners Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico. You order everything — cocktails, wine, cider, and Portuguese bar snacks — at the bar from busy, yet organized, bartenders. There’s outdoor seating and a small back room for groups.

Find more info here.

We’ve been loving on My Loup since it opened a year ago. Amanda Shulman’s sophomore restaurant has been racking up national praise — another spot we think helps to define Philadelphia’s dining scene. With husband Alex Kemp, she serves a menu of interactive dishes that are equally fun and delicious. Think: Thin slices of rare roast beef wrapped around hot fries and pickled shrimp served in a mini mason jar with a side saltines. (We have some tips for snagging a table.)