How to Spend a Perfect 72 Hours Eating Your Way Through Philadelphia

A block off East Passyunk Avenue, South Philly’s reigning restaurant corridor, settle into a window side table at El Chingon, an all-day spot decorated with houseplants, papel picado, and a painted brick mural of Mexico. While you’re there, you might wonder: Why is the bun on the loaded chicken milanesa cemita so soft and tender? Because chef-owner Carlos Aparicio spent years baking bread and making pasta at other Philly restaurants before opening El Chingon. The man knows carbs.

Closing the Italian American loop on your South Philly day is Bomb Bomb, a redbrick seafood tavern with glass-block windows, an incredible neon sign, and a checkered history. (Ask the bartenders for the neighborhood lore.) The place has been around since the 1930s and after closing in 2024, it was resurrected and carefully updated by Joey Baldino, the chef-restaurateur behind Palizzi Social Club. He kept the menu’s seafood focus: You’ll find sweet lobster tails in Francese cocoons, sauteed mussels and clams, and Vantablack squid-ink pasta. When you order the whole Dungeness crab, don’t resist the servers tying a bib around your neck. It’s all part of the immaculate vibes.