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Best Philadelphia Restaurants For Every Meal Of The Day

Looking for the best places to eat in Philadelphia? If you’ve only got a few days in Philadelphia, you definitely want to make sure every meal is amazing! Here are the best Philadelphia restaurants for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert and more!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Our Favorite Philadelphia Restaurants

I could’ve easily stayed in Philadelphia for an entire month just eating my way through the city. In one week we scoured the city for the best breakfast cafes, amazing lunch and dinner restaurants, and of course decadent desserts. We tried the best Philly has to offer and put everything in one time-saving list just for you. If you are looking for the best Philadelphia restaurants, here is our ultimate guide:

Best Philadelphia Restaurants for Breakfast & Brunch

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

 

#1 — Green Eggs Cafe

Green Eggs Cafe is known for their decadent, over-the-top French Toast and Pancakes! Just look at this Cookie Dough French Toast. Real chocolate chip cookie dough is stuffed between two slices of challah bread French toast and topped with vanilla cream, chocolate chips, and brown sugar.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Another extremely popular menu item is the Red Velvet Pancakes. The pancakes are stuffed with chocolate chips and layered with strawberry mascarpone. They’re topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

I think my favorite was the Creme Brulee French Toast. Thick, decadent challah bread is battered in vanilla bean custard, griddled, then topped with fresh cream and berries.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

And just look at this Strawberry Shortcake French Toast! Would you believe it’s 100% Vegan? You would never, ever know.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Green Eggs Cafe also has a wide range of savory options as well. We had to try the Chicken & Waffles Eggs Benedict. Southern fried chicken topped with two poached eggs on a crispy buttermilk waffle with maple syrup and hot sauce hollandaise.

Every single thing we had at Green Eggs Cafe knocked it out of the park. This is one of our favorite Philadelphia restaurants for breakfast and brunch!

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Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#2 — Jones

Jones is another fun restaurant in Philly. They are open for lunch and dinner during the week and serve brunch on the weekends. We went for brunch. When we saw Monkey Bread on the menu as an appetizer, I knew we had to try it. It tastes just like what you’d make at home, and even comes with a sweet glaze dipping sauce. A must if you go for brunch!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Of course I got the Fat & Fluffy French Toast. So good! This is such a fun restaurant in Philly. The inside looks like the Brady Bunch living room.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#3 — Chestnut Street Philly Bagels

Chestnut Street Philly Bagels has the famous rainbow bagel and funfetti cream cheese!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

It’s also good with the strawberry cream cheese. If you want to try the rainbow bagel without the lines and waiting, or just need a quick breakfast to go, Chestnut Street Philly Bagels is the place to be!


Best Philadelphia Restaurants for Lunch & Dinner

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#1 – It’s a Tie: Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s King of Steaks

You can’t go to Philly without having a cheesesteak! We tried the two most popular Philadelphia restaurants for cheesesteaks: Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s King of Steaks.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

They are across the street from each other and usually have lines down the block.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Out of the two, Pat’s was our favorite but we actually tried two other cheesesteaks that we liked even better than Geno’s or Pat’s. Most people we talked to in Philly agreed that Geno’s and Pat’s were for the tourists, so we tried two other cheesesteak shops that the locals recommended. And you know what? They were right! Keep reading to find out what they were!

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Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#2 — Hai Street Kitchen

Have you seen the Sushi Burrito??! At Hai Street Kitchen you can create your own Sushi Burrito. You can choose your sushi protein (chicken, shrimp, salmon, etc) and all your veggies (avocado, cucumber, carrots, beets) and they’ll make it to order and wrap it up in one hand-held burrito for you. You can even take it to the next level and have the whole thing DEEP FRIED. Highly recommend.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#3 — Bud & Marilyn’s

Bud & Marilyn’s was one of our favorite Philadelphia restaurants!!! Before I go on, let me just say right now if you go to Philadelphia and don’t get the Fried Cheese Curds from Bud & Marilyn’s it would be a MASSIVE shame. They were TO DIE FOR. I’ve had cheese curds before, so I knew they’d be amazing, but these are out of this world. The herbs and seasonings put them over the top. I am still dreaming about them! I am seriously ready to hop back on a plane for these cheese curds! Put them at the top of your list!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

We were also here for brunch. We split the Nashville Hot Chicken Biscuit!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Bud & Marilyn’s has super fun desserts has well. How fun is it that you can get a funnel cake for dessert??! All funnel cakes should be topped with ice cream!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

And this giant Funfetti Cake with cream cheese frosting is spectacular.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#4 — Dim Sum Garden

Dim Sum Garden in Chinatown is another one of our favorite Philadelphia restaurants. Definitely get the Pork Noodles and the Pork Soup Dumplings. We tried both the steamed and pan fried dumplings and ended up liking the pan fried better. Here’s how you eat a pork soup dumpling: poke a hole in it with your chopstick, drink out the soup, then eat the dumpling. Both the noodles and the dumplings were life changing. I would for sure go here again!


Best Philadelphia Restaurants for Dessert

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#1 — Franklin Fountain

Franklin Fountain is legendary for their homemade ice cream, giant sundaes, and banana splits. It’s the perfect treat after a long day of sight seeing. There were so many amazing options on the menu that I wanted to come back here every day, but unfortunately we only got to go once. We ended up getting the “Banana Split for My Baby” with chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, and whipped cream.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

I will definitely go back the next time I’m in Philly!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Plus right next door is a cute candy shop, Shane Confectionery. They have chocolate-shaped Liberty Bells. Perfect for souvenirs!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

#2 — Big Gay Ice Cream

Big Gay Ice Cream — I love dip cones, and I love that these are OVER THE TOP!! Vanilla ice cream is sprinkled with sea salt, drizzled with caramel, rolled in pretzels, THEN dunked in chocolate and drizzled with even MORE caramel!! So so good!!

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Philadelphia Restaurants at Citizens Bank Park

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Believe it or not, some of the best food we had in Philly was at a Phillies game!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Citizen Bank Park takes ballpark concessions to a whole new level with a huge variety of exciting options. They were voted “best ballpark eats” by Food Network and number 1 for vegetarians three years in a row.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

We took a “behind the scenes” tour, which I highly recommend if you are even remotely a baseball fan.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

You get to go down right on the field, in the dugout, in the press box and more.

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Best Philadelphia Restaurants at Citizens Bank Park #1 — Wayback Burgers

Of course my favorite thing about the game was the FOOD!! Oh my gosh, I was DYING over this “Triple Triple” burger from Wayback Burgers! It wasn’t just incredible to look at, it also tasted amazing!!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Best Philadelphia Restaurants at Citizens Bank Park #2 — Chickie & Pete’s

Another “must get” at Citizens Bank Park are Chickie & Pete’s Crabfries! You can have a burger without fries. ;)

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Best Philadelphia Restaurants at Citizens Bank Park #3 — Harry the K’s

For dessert, I highly recommend this decadent 5-layer chocolate cake from Harry the K’s, which is made fresh in house every single day. Never frozen or shipped in!

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Here we tried two other Philly cheesesteak legends: Tony Luke’s and Campos. Our favorite cheesesteak out of the four we tried was Campos, hands down. We preferred the shredded steak and the soft bun from Campos.

Philly’s favorite chicken and donut shop, Federal Donuts, is also available at Citizens Bank Park. The donuts are made hot and fresh to order and dunked in sugar. To die for.

Harry the K’s also has a gourmet milkshake — the flavor changes every night!

If you happen to be sitting in the Diamond Club, definitely get the Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundae from the Diamond Lounge.

Such a fun night at the game! If you are in Philly I highly recommend a game — if just for the food alone!


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Best Philly Cheesesteak

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

Best Philadelphia Restaurants

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14 Responses
  1. Kerry

    Just wanted to drop a note and thank you for all the fun recommendations! We just returned from a few days with the kids and they were excited to try most everything on your list! We certainly didn’t hit it all but we sure tried! The tie dye bagels with funfetti cream cheese made them very happy! Federal Donuts were definitely AMAZING! The cheese curds at Bud and Marilyn’s made my son’s eyes roll back in his head. I think he’d move there for those! One sad thing, however, was the Hai Street Kitchen had closed their place for good 3 days before we showed up for our sushi burrito. That was a big bummer for us but I’m sure very sad for them and their community! Thanks so much for the pictures and ideas! It made the trip easier narrowing down the many choices.

    1. Amanda

      I am still dreaming about the cheese curds at Bud and Marilyn’s!!! So said to hear about Hai Street Kitchen!!

  2. Emily

    I’m planning my first trip to Philly right now, and have been trying to research/plan like crazy and your blog posts keep coming up, and they’ve been the MOST helpful out of anything I’m finding!! Your pictures are amazing, and I am COMPLETELY trusting your judgement!! :) Thank you!!!

  3. Abby

    I’m going to second Capogiro. It was voted best in the world, too.

    You hit up some good spots. You’ll definitely have to come back. Imagine how hard it is to LIVE here! Except, I will say, we don’t eat THAT many cheesesteaks! The pork soup dumplings at Dim Sum Garden are my favorite and I don’t even like pork that much.

  4. Haley

    Next time you go to Philly, you cannot miss Capogiro. They make the best gelato, which has been rated the number one ice cream in the world by National Geographic. Flavors are made from local and season ingredients. My favorites: pistachio, grape, dark chocolate, Madagascar bourbon vanilla. Truly better than gelato I’ve had in Italy and they have locations throughout the city. You could, alternatively, go to their new place Capofitto, which serves up brunch and pizza as well as gelato.

    For a great hoagie, check out Ricci Brothers. Everything is sliced (nice and thin) right as you order. And the rolls! Go early because they close at 3, but can run out sooner.

    The best cheesesteak I’ve ever had is down Wildwood (NJ), so if you find yourself there, look for Russo’s. They are half sandwich shop, half grocery and their cheesesteaks are awesome!

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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