The Food Department

Philly's 20 hottest restaurants

Essential dining in the area right now, based on buzz.

Philly’s 20 hottest restaurants

POSTED: Wednesday, March 27, 2013, 12:03 PM

Whether you need a date destination for Saturday night, a pick for fussy out-of-towners, or a quick stop in Center City, Philly.com/food has you covered with 20 essential restaurants of the moment. (They're in alphabetical order.)

@ 12:03 PM Permalink | 49 comments

Comments (49)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:21 PM, 03/27/2013

Philly needs more cheap dives with good food. too many pizza joints. how about good healthy food at the same price?

— high water

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:14 PM, 03/27/2013

I hear you! Well, I mean "I read you." I guess what I am trying to say is that I agree with you. I respect your opinion and I echo your sentiments.

— doctor72

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:41 PM, 03/27/2013

Bloody animal meat for self-important over indulgent pigs. Animals are our friends, not food.

— MS. LOU.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:03 PM, 03/27/2013

Yeah right! tell that to the parents of the kid who got eaten by wild dogs at the zoo. It's time we turn on the animals and take back the planet!

— doctor72

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:07 PM, 03/27/2013

...oh, and, NICE HAIR!

— doctor72

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:15 PM, 03/27/2013

African Queen. Egyptian Royalty.

— MS. LOU.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:25 PM, 03/27/2013

I didn't know you were a queen! Wow no wonder everyone is starving in Africa. The royaly won't let them eat meat. BTW, you look very snobby.

— doctor72

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:35 PM, 03/27/2013

My look is not intended to be "snobby". I am in-the-know on a variety of subjects. Far away and visionary. I have many answers.

— MS. LOU.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:33 AM, 03/28/2013

a vegetarian african queen...do they even have vegetables in africa? i think you're just mad that the restaurants here don't serve bush meat.

'far away and visionary'? i wish you were just far away.

— Zero

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:48 PM, 03/27/2013

Bloody rhetoric from a self-important vegetarian. Humans have hunted and eaten animals for thousands of years. Just like the rest of nature.

— jfogs1

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:06 PM, 03/27/2013

How do you know? How old are you? Have you been around for thousands of years? Don't believe everything you read. i love steak. I really like DelFrisco's.

— doctor72

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:50 PM, 03/27/2013

After being in NY this weekend, I can say with all honesty that Philadelphia needs to step up its game and open more restaurants that cater to people who enjoy food more than just a "scene". Amen.

— The Moose is Loose

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:50 PM, 03/27/2013

After being in NY this weekend, I can say with all honesty that Philadelphia needs to step up its game and open more restaurants that cater to people who enjoy food more than just a "scene". Amen.

— The Moose is Loose

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:37 AM, 03/30/2013

Agreed - Far too many restuarants in this city where a 28 year old "chef of the moment" opens a restaurant with no table covers, used, unmatched cheap dishes, silverware, small tables and uncomfortable chairs - paints the walls battleship gray, and proceeds to cook herb-encrusted chicken and plops it atop a mound of garlic potatoes that he / she makes by the bucket full and charge $24 for it. Add a half-dozen unskilled bohemian art-student waitstaff and they think they have a restaurant. Little Pete's does a much better job at comfort food than half these places, at half the prices, with far better service.

The dining public needs to demand more for their money and stop paying people to play chef. You could buy a roasted chicken for $7 that's good or better than 3/4th's of these "restaurants".

— PhillyDaniel