The Best Restaurants in Philadelphia’s Center City

For more focused neighborhood guides, check out our guide to the best restaurants in Rittenhouse Square and our guide to Chinatown.

What’s changed in this update: We’ve added My Loup, Her Place, A.Kitchen, Dancerobot, and La Jefa/Tequilas. For now, we’ve removed Emei, Milkboy, Morimoto, Bud & Marilyn’s, and Good Dog Bar.

Vernick Fish

For celebrations worth busting out a bottle of bubbly, head to James Beard Award winner Greg Vernick’s restaurant. It’s a guaranteed elegant night out where you’ll enjoy sea bream crudo, broiled oysters, and jerk-marinated fried snapper, with stellar wines to match. And do save room for Key lime pie.

Reading Terminal Market

For a vast assortment of local dining options under one roof, consider a visit to Philly’s historic Reading Terminal Market. Navigating the maze of 70-plus vendors can be daunting, but reliable stops to start include Tommy DiNic’s Pork & Beef (slow-roasted brisket sandwiches); Tambayan (Filipino food); By George (cheesesteaks); and Down Home Diner (freshly baked biscuits). The market is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

El Merkury

This Central American street food spot is popular with diners who want to eat something flavorful and incredible without spending a fortune. Come here for lunch or dinner, and find out why the beef taquitos, pupusas, mini-dobladas, and the exceptional soft serve have made them a mainstay on Chestnut Street.

K’Far

At Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Israeli cafe and bakery, stunning pastries — savory borekas, pistachio sticky buns, caramel apple babka, and chocolate rugelach — are served alongside Jerusalem bagel sandwiches and kubaneh toasts. Breakfast here is an excellent way to begin your morning, and lunch brings chicken Caesar salad and vibrant spritzes to the table. At Goldie, its next-door sibling, find falafel sandwiches, shawarma fries, hummus platters, and dairy-free tahina shakes.

My Loup

Chefs Amanda Schulman and Alex Kemp run this refined yet fun restaurant, serving some of the city’s best seafood platters piled with raw oysters and pickled shrimp, garlicky “esca-rolls” filled with snails, and sizable seasonal mains like a roast chicken with morels in the spring or veal sweetbreads in the winter. There is nary a vegetable on the menu, but you won’t care as you bop along to pop hits, down excellent cocktails, and wonder why you once thought French food was stuffy.

Her Place Supper Club

Chef Amanda Schulman and her impressive team run Her Place Supper Club less like a restaurant and more like a dinner party — there’s one menu, no alterations, and you’ll be encouraged to chat with the people at the table next to you. This tiny restaurant only does two seatings a night, and tables go fast, but it’s well worth the attempt to snag a reservation to try this specific blend of French, Italian, and Jewish cooking that changes every week or two, and is never anything short of delicious.

Dancerobot

Jesse Ito and Justin Bacharach’s Dancerobot serves up styles of Japanese food that are rarely seen anywhere else in Philadelphia: Hamburg steak, mentaiko spaghetti, curry rice, and takoyaki. It’s everything but sushi at this buzzy spot. Brunch brings gigantic pancakes, warm cinnamon buns, and omurice — that style of social media- friendly omelet that slices open to reveal a tender interior. Come late night and try the snacks inspired by Japanese 7-11, and drink your way through the cocktail list, or bring a group for dinner and enjoy the comfortable dining room, generously sized booths, and creative cooking.

High Street

The versatile High Street in Center City serves some of the city’s best small plates, pizzas, and pastas, representing the epitome of seasonal New American cuisine. Owned by Ellen Yin, High Street received national acclaim that helped put the city on the map as a major restaurant destination. It came as no surprise that Yin won the James Beard Award-winning for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2023.

Friday Saturday Sunday

If you’re looking for a special occasion meal or the best cocktail in town, make your way to Friday Saturday Sunday. Upstairs, the James Beard Award-winning and Michelin-starred dining room serves a truly lovely tasting menu with dishes like a duck fat-soaked rice and sweetbread with mushrooms and plantains. Downstairs, though, is where the party happens. The Lover’s Bar is walk-in only, and the go-to spot for all kinds of cocktails, from a smoked eggplant spritz to a classic Negroni.

Little Water

The new restaurant from the team behind East Passyunk’s popular River Twice is less formal and more fun than its counterpart. The menu leans into seafood and is inspired by the chef’s Southern roots — take the caviar service, which pairs a generous serving of Osetra caviar with hush puppies. There’s also a raw bar where you can belly up for oysters and other seafood specialties. It’s open for lunch as well, serving a fried oyster BLT, swordfish Milanese, and more.

Estia

The Greek cuisine mainstay has been impressing diners in Center City for years with its generous portions and expansive menu. From its seared Dover sole to its sizzling lamb shanks, this is where you go for a Mediterranean feast done right.

Tequilas

Tequilas has existed in some form in Philly since the 1980s, but in its newest form, the more formal front dining room serves excellent renditions of Mexican classics, while the back has transformed into a cocktail bar and all-day cafe (called La Jefa) where the bartenders are serving up some of the most interesting and delicious Mexican food and drinks in the city. During the day, try a lengua pastrami sandwich and a single-origin coffee sourced from a roaster in Guanajuato. At dinner, sip your way through a martini made with Mexican gin, or the Agave, which uses cooked agave from the same plant that produced the mezcal shaken in.

Middle Child

There is no shortage of great sandwich shops in Philly. Case in point: Middle Child. Here, you’ll find big breakfast sandwiches and even bigger lunch options, such as the CSG Reuben and the So Long Sal (Italian meats and cheeses, artichoke relish, and balsamic mayo on a seeded hoagie). An additional location sits in Fishtown.

Vetri Cucina

Tucked inside a gorgeous historic townhome on Spruce Street, Vetri Cucina has been serving up some of the finest Italian cuisine in Philly since 1998. The prix fixe menu showcases high-quality local, seasonal, and specialty ingredients used in outstanding dishes like garganelli with espresso-braised duck ragu and apples, seared venison with sweet potato and delicata squash, and smoked baby goat with house-milled polenta.