I am planning a trip to Philadelphia next week and am staying at Rittenhouse. Any ideas for breakfast and lunch in area. Will not have a car. Is getting to the historic area and of course Pat's for philly steak going to be a problem. Thanks for any info.

Welcome to Philadelphia! I wanted to reassure you that no car is no problem if you're in Rittenhouse. The Septa transportation system (www.septa.org to plan your trip) will take you wherever you want to go, and you can easily walk to the historic area. There are sooooo many places to eat, but do try to get to the Reading Terminal Market for either breakfast or lunch.

Out of towners go to Pat's which most everyone I know thinks it SUCKS! If you want the best cheesesteak in the city go to John's Roast Pork or Tony Luke's. Alternatively, forget the cheesesteak and get an Italian roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone.

Re: rittenhouse restaurants, Tria and Rouge (right on the square) are great! Have a drink and sit outside and people watch at Rouge. Tria has a cool wine and cheese tasting thing on Sundays and awesome appetizers.

And yeah, no one goes to Pat's but tourists really...not worth the trip imo.

You can take the subway just a few stops to the historic area (get off at 5th). have fun!!

There is a lot of good food in the historic area, Market Street from 2nd to 4th street has plenty of outdoor dining, Try Pizzacato on 3rd and Market.

Thanks for the help. Where is John's Roast Pork or Tony Luke's located in reference to the Square--remember no car. Also I like cerviche--is there a place around the square that serves cerviche, or is that just a Texas dish.

I'm not sure what cerviche is, thinking that may be a regional thing...

Hey, listen, plenty of natives go to Pat's and Geno's. My husband is a retired cop and he ate at these places at least once a week. Now, not so much because we live in the suburbs.

I work on Chestnut St., just a short walk from Rittenhouse Sq. There are plenty of restuarants in the area.

Rouge
Bleu
The Devon
Striped Bass
Capitol Grill
Swann Cafe at Four Seasons
Susannah Foo

Ceviche is something raw, like scallops for example, that are "cooked" in a bath of acidic juice.

Pasion! has excellent ceviche. It's about 5 blocks from Rittenhouse on 15th St between Walnut and Locust Streets.
http://pasionrestaurant.com/

YK
thanks your tip on pasion made a good trip, a great trip.
Handmaiden --thanks for the OK on Pat's and Geno's--My plan was to try both, but was about to change, because of the negative reports on both. I started to think maybe just a tourist thing and the local did not go there.
Thanks