13 Best Restaurants in Pennsylvania, USA

What was once a Rittenhouse institution is now a Rittenhouse darling after the restaurant was sold to husband-and-wife team Chad and Hanna Williams and revitalized as a warm yet elevated space with boundary-pushing but still familiar food and drinks. The new American fare ranges from a curated raw bar, featuring oysters and caviar, to delicate pastas coated in punchy sauces with proteins like lobster and pork cheek. Equal attention is given to the bar, which offers well-thought-out cocktails that look like they’re ready for a photo shoot. The restaurant received the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurant award in 2023, which has made it hard to snag a reservation, though it's worth going out of your way for special occasions.

The chef-owners of Philadelphia’s acclaimed Vedge, Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau, bring their mind-opening vegan cooking to the Brandywine Valley countryside at this intimate, prix-fixe restaurant in a historical building, part of the former Dilworthtown Inn complex. The modern farmhouse vibe—Instagram-worthy with fireplaces and wooden beams, floors, and tables—creates an inviting but not intimidating setting for the plant-based, multicourse (and quite filling) tasting menu, a sophisticated feast that changes seasonally but always includes global influences and local and organic produce. A vegan cheese plate is available for an extra charge, as are tempting sorbets and ice creams. Besides dining tables, there’s a chef’s table, bar area, and seasonal outdoor porch seating. Those not sure if they want the full experience can have a drink and order items from the short snack menu, but the Farmer’s Feast is a marvel. 

At this waterfront spot in historic Wrightsville, across the Susquehanna River from Columbia, you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the river while seated outdoors eating wood-fired pizzas topped with ingredients grown on-site. The popular bar and restaurant (reservations strongly suggested) also has a glass-walled dining room to take in the scenery year-round. Several menus are offered, from lunch (cream of crab soup) and dinner (house sausage platter) to a mammoth fixed-price Sunday brunch buffet complete with a prime rib carving station, omelets made to order, and a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar. Look for weekly dinner specials and seasonally inspired favorites.

The pricey, farm-to-table eight-course prix-fixe dinner at this cozy, cult-favorite market and eat-in spot in the heart of Kennett Square requires advance planning, but fortunately Talula's offers its own artisanal cheeses, house-cured meats, and handmade breads and pastas throughout the day, along with a coffee bar and prepared meals for takeout. Breakfast and lunch at the communal table feature seasonal soups, salads, and sandwiches using local ingredients, or you can just pick up the makings for a picnic. The four-hour-long dinner—about 20 people maximum at two tables—is a special treat that is so popular you have to book a year in advance, making it one of the Northeast's top restaurant reservations since 2007.

Chef Michael Solomonov’s Zahav is steeped in the milk and honey and hummus and lamb of his native Israel, as well as the cultures that have left a mark on that Promised Land. Taking advantage of its dramatic perch above one of the city's oldest streets, this James Beard award–winning restaurant relies on picture windows and soaring ceilings to create spectacle, but the open kitchen is the true stage. There, a small staff mixes and matches a melting pot of flavors for a modern menu whose highlights include colorful salatim (salad) and fluffy house-baked laffa (flatbread); kebabs of impossibly tender chicken or lamb merguez cooked over hot coals; and addictive florets of fried cauliflower served with a lemon-and-dill-spiked lebneh (yogurt cheese). The legendary smoked and pomegranate-juice-braised lamb shoulder, along with your dinner reservation, should be reserved in advance. The dining room features a prix fixe menu only; the bar and patio are à la carte.

Garden admission is required to eat at this elegant fine-dining restaurant below the Main Conservatory and overlooking the Main Fountain Garden, where the fare is as elevated as the 240-seat space with its vaulted ceiling, lounge and bar backed by bottles in gleaming glass cases, and dining areas with sleek wood tables, comfy seating, and greenery. The seasonally changing menu is split into sections called Flora (bread, salads, and vegetables), Funga (dishes from soups to mains using the area's famous mushrooms), and Fauna (good-size starters and mains featuring fish and meat); dining is à la carte or a chef's-choice tasting menu, and helpful servers explain the different-size dishes so guests can put together a satisfying, always artfully presented meal. During Longwood's Christmas season, a fixed-price menu of three or four courses is the only option. Desserts aren't neglected, from house-made gelato to a sticky toffee pudding with pumpkin. Typical of the thoughtful touches here, leftovers can be refrigerated (a claim check is provided) and picked up later if people are continuing their garden explorations. There's even a fixed-price children's menu. As for the name, 1906 comes from the year Pierre du Pont purchased the first part of the land that would become Longwood Gardens. 

Only its name in fairly small lettering on the door announces Andiario, a 24-seat restaurant that has attracted national attention for its brilliant use of seasonal regional ingredients in weekly-changing four-course prix-fixe menus featuring fish and seafood, poultry, and meat. The setting for each night's sophisticated feast is simple: a gleaming open kitchen faces the small dining room with its clean lines and well-spaced tables with white tablecloths, and large windows overlook the street. It's a chic backdrop for chef Anthony Andiario's creativity and the bounty of the state, from mushrooms to trout, served by knowledgeable staff.    

Named for the Delmonico Brothers, early pioneers in the establishment of fine dining in the United States, this elegant hotel restaurant serves breakfast, dinner, and weekend brunch throughout the year. The classic interiors are characterized by molded windows, high ceilings, dark-wood furnishings, and ivory tablecloths. Dinner is served as a four-course fixed-price menu with optional wine pairing; two additional courses can be added on upon request. Breakfast (brunch on Sunday) is served à la carte, and features interesting takes on morning fare, such as blue-crab Benedict and quail eggs with bacon and toast.

Part of the Hershey Farm hotel complex, this is a huge smorgasbord of Pennsylvania Dutch and American dishes. The bright, airy space underscores the freshness of the buffet, most of it scratch-made on-site. There's also a grill where you can get made-to-order burgers and sandwiches. It's a satisfying stop before or after a show at nearby Sight and Sound Theatre.

This family-owned Nepalese and Indian restaurant is a longtime favorite in downtown Lancaster, serving up popular Indian specialties like tandoori and chana masala (a chickpea-based curry), as well as Nepalese dry curries and steamed dumplings. The cozy dining room quickly gets packed on weekend nights and weekday lunch hours (there's an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet Monday through Saturday in addition to the regular menu), but the staff gracefully handles the constant flow. There's also an all-you-can-eat dinner buffet on Monday night, and although there is no alcohol on the menu, the restaurant has a BYOB policy.

The name of this neighborhood-favorite BYOB from Townsend Wentz (of Townsend and Oloroso) means "by hand," and the sophisticated, well-crafted Italian dishes reflect careful attention to seasonal ingredients. Settle into the serene dining room with its banquettes, white walls, and wooden tables and chairs; then put together your prix-fixe meal from the flavorful choices: antipasti, superb handmade pastas, mains including fish and meat choices, and a short list of desserts. Let your server know if you can't eat certain ingredients and the kitchen may accommodate you. 

This all-you-can-eat smorgasbord has been a local institution since 1929, offering enough food to satisfy any appetite. The spread here is lavish, with a good selection of Pennsylvania Dutch specialties such as house-made pickles, baked cabbage in cream sauce, and shoofly pie (made with molasses). Unlike at most buffets you can make reservations, which are recommended. 

Chef Randy Rucker does seasonal, elevated food inspired by many things, including his southern heritage, love of Philadelphia, and interest in Japanese cooking. Go here for modern dishes like swordfish with housemade yuzu kosho (a Japanese condiment made from fresh citrus), carrot tartare with black truffles, very fresh oysters, and the Mother Rucker, a burger that's available as an add-on to the tasting menu.