Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
We've compiled the best of the best in Pennsylvania - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
An ornate ceiling, crystal chandeliers, and elaborate floral arrangements highlight this room in the Omni William Penn, which has been restored to its original 1916 appearance. You can enjoy seafood, steak, or prime rib. There's a weekend breakfast buffet from 6:30 am to 2 pm.
Part of the Terrain garden center and home furnishings store, this charming café, restaurant, and bar occupies a greenhouse space adorned with wooden beams, party lights, and, of course, leafy plants. It's the perfect match for a brunch/lunch or dinner of sophisticated, seasonal regional fare (much of it from local producers) such as artisanal cheeses, mushroom soup, vegetable-filled bowls, salads, and creative meat and fish options. Don't even try to resist desserts like a chocolate terrarium. This place can get busy with shoppers and locals, so make reservations.
This unassuming storefront on the main strip of Ephrata serves a variety of Khmer–Thai dishes. Prepare for the heat of the various curries and rice-noodle dishes, which aren't dumbed down for Western palates; there is pad Thai for those seeking something familiar and it's BYOB. Interesting beverage choices include Thai iced coffee, winter melon juice, and hot roasted coconut tea.
A broad menu of savory breakfast, lunch, and dinner items—not to mention coffees—draws regulars and visitors to this wood-beamed, stone-walled café. Relax on one of the couches or sit at a table to eat your scrapple, egg, and cheese sandwich, cranberry-almond-chicken salad, or super-rich ice cream.
\nShiny vats are the tip-off to what's happening at this large, convivial, bi-level brewpub with industrial-looking beams and ductwork, which is a bit off the main drag by the New Hope Railroad station. The varied menu lists hearty small plates, salads, mains, and sandwiches, and the food skews a bit more sophisticated than at most such places, with vegetarian options and global touches like bao buns and a mushroom shawarma sandwich. Typically seven craft beers are on tap, with seasonal specials. There's often live music on weekend nights.
It's possible you might need a break from chocolate, and if you do, you can rest assured that the Tröegs brewery will be the perfect antidote, with its creative menus and multiple draft beers (some you can only get here) available in 4oz., 10oz., and 16oz. sizes. Menu options, which sell out fast, include starters like the pickle plate and tabbouleh salad and mains like fluke crudo, crab lasagna rotolo, red lentil daal, and the meatloaf sandwich---yes, at a brewery.
Exceptional Japanese cuisine and creative sushi attracts neighborhood foodies as well as visitors to owner and chef Kenneth Sze's Tuna Bar. Fresh specialties made from locally sourced seafood and other ingredients include favorites such as hand rolls, seaweed salad, and shrimp tempura, along with some unique house specialties that showcase a delectable mix of Japanese flavors and textures. Order one of the specialty combination plates—the "Big Tuna" or "Little Tuna"—and let the chef choose for you. The extensive sake and wine list is worth sampling, as are the craft cocktails. Sushi-making classes are also available (check the website for details).
Specializing in Southern specialties cooked on a charcoal grill, this Headhouse Square restaurant's extensive menu offerings include fried chicken, barbecue smoked ribs, shrimp and grits, and grilled swordfish. This fun, lively hot spot also has a busy bar, including a robust wine list and American whiskey selection, with mixologists pouring craft cocktails. Live blues and jazz music is performed on most nights, so check the website for upcoming bands and musical artists.
Less a restaurant than a roving dinner party spread among several rooms in a tony Center City brownstone, Vedge is a true celebration of vegetables, many of them sourced from nearby farms. This is not to say you won’t find tofu or seitan, but they’ll be starring as themselves, in landscapes of gorgeous produce touched by spices, smoke, and fermentation. The ethereal desserts are can’t-miss.
Philadelphia's foremost practitioner of Italian cooking, Marc Vetri, can still be found at his eponymous ristorante just off Broad Street. In this lovely, sepia-toned town house (the original home of the late Le Bec-Fin) you can expect exquisite but superexpensive custom-built tasting menus (no à la carte) that may involve freshly milled alt-grain pastas, quivering buffalo-milk mozzarella flown in from Campania, and long-standing classics like the golden onion crepe and roasted suckling goat. Don't try to eat here if you haven't made reservations. As an alternative, try booking one of Vetri's popular interactive classes or special dinners in the upstairs dining room.
The Phanthavong family has long served the soulful cuisine of its native Laos to the West Philly community, starting with a spartan street tent that blossomed into this homey, friendly BYOB restaurant. Don't miss the truly heartwarming Lao soups—the King's soup being a winner—or the house-made pork sausages and yellow curry fried rice. The Laotian scene has increased, especially in South Philly, but Vientiane infuses Thai flavors as well. Still cash-only, they also have a location in Kensington.
This Pakistani eatery specializes in lahore chargha, a fiery fried chicken dish, for which it is very popular because people in Philly seek out the fried and delicious. But that's not the only dish worth having—enjoy a tasty variety of flavorful halal meat skewers in the tandoor, curries, homemade and hot-from-the-oven naan and roti breads, and vegetarian offerings.
Taking up the ground floor of the FMC Tower, home to the AKA University City, Walnut Street Café serves a mix of new American cuisine, crispy pizzas, and specialty sandwiches in a light-flooded, art deco--inspired space. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus weekend brunch, the restaurant’s edible highlights include house-baked bread and pastries, raw seafood platters, and rotating handmade pasta. There's really nothing else around, except for World Cafe Live—which if you're seeing a show there (where the food is subpar), getting dinner at Walnut Street Café is a smart choice.
At this large café opposite Eastern State Penitentiary, the tall windows, high ceilings with exposed ductwork, and dozens of wooden tables create an airy, casual space for trying delicious La Colombe coffee with breakfast, lunch, or a snack. The students, visitors, and families who flock here appreciate the long list of coffee drinks (which can get pricey), all-day breakfasts, and a lunch menu with salads as well as hearty sandwiches. You order at the counter, but food is brought to you. Formerly OCF Coffee House, the café is run by the same people who run Urban Saloon down the street.
White Dog did farm-to-table long before the concept rose to national prominence, and the Sansom Street stalwart continues to remain fresh, lively, and unpretentious. The menu specializes in sustainable foods ethically sourced from the region—think simple cooking that highlights the beauty of Kennett Square mushrooms, Lancaster beef, or Chester County goat cheese. The convivial Parlor Bar has craft beers on tap and in bottles; the wine list is largely American. The space, a consolidation of historic brownstones, features distinct rooms decorated in farmer-chic style. There are a number of locations in the burbs as well, but this is the original.
If you're new to TIbetan food, go for the momos, Tibetan dumplings that hold a hearty dollop of minced goodness within and come with a dipping broth. While there are good vegetarian options, the emphasis—as befits a high altitude cuisine—is generally on the meat dishes, whether curries, savory pastries, or the hearty beef-broth-based soups. Run by a Tibetan couple, and no longer a secret, this popular spot is up the hill from Manayunk in the Roxborough neighborhood. If you like heat, make sure to request it.
Lively and upbeat, Winnie's has long been a solid choice for quality basics like a fried chicken sandwich, steak frites, and shrimp tacos. They also serves breakfast and baked goods.
Wood-fired pizzas topped with creamy cheeses, striking meats, or in-season vegetables are the major draw at Wm. Mulherin's Sons, an elevated Italian restaurant—that sounds Irish—nestled in the midst of Fishtown. Located inside of a 20th-century distillery, the interior has been updated to welcome a modern Italian restaurant while still respecting the old-world charm by way of beautiful brickwork and heavy wood accents. The restaurant offers brunch on weekends and dinner nightly with menu standouts like delicate pastas and grilled meats, in addition to the wood-fired pizza.
This small restaurant serves freshly made versions of food from Xi'an (a city in central China), including thick and chewy hand-cut noodles, the slippery and refreshing Liang pi (cold noodles served with chili oil), and rougamo (a burger-like dish of leavened bread stuffed with your choice of meat). If it's your first time, the menu's photos are instructive, while those with knowledge of Xi'an's culinary traditions will be impressed by these well-made versions.
While the menu is limited to homemade hand pies, soups, pulled pork, and the like, the tasty results have made the Young American a popular dining spot. There are many good vegan and gluten-free options, but the main draw is their hard cider, which they make on site (from local apples) within a handsomely restored turn-of-the-19th-century building. There's a lively back patio that has occasional live music.
A family-run neighborhood favorite since 1997, Zorba's mixes a casual vibe (guests walk past the kitchen and a case with soda) with a few more formal touches (white tablecloths even at lunch, wood chairs) in several high-ceilinged, art-filled rooms that are well maintained but well worn. Authentic, down-to-earth traditional fare in ample portions is the draw here, with a dinner menu that ranges from seafood to grilled meals, and lunch options such as salads, lamb and other meats (or just vegetables) in a pita, and all kinds of platters. It's popular with groups of friends and family, so some areas may get noisy. Sidewalk tables in summer let diners take in the Fairmount Avenue scene, including Eastern State Penitentiary.
