The most low-key meal at this mega-sized Parisian-style bistro over looking Rittenhouse Square is early breakfast during the week.
227 South 18th Street
(215) 545-2262
With the motto "taste no evil," Capogiro Gelato Artisans Stephanie and John Reitano use handpicked Pennsylvania produce and milk from grass-fed, hormone free cows. This dedication to local ingredients has garnered national attention, turning the couple into some of the most important gelato makers in the country. Rotating flavors feature black raspberry, strawberry tarragon, watermelon with grappa, ginger pineapple mint, Turkish coffee, pistachio Siciliano and ginger sesame.
119 South 13th Street
(215) 351-0900
At Amada, Iron Chef Jose Garces reinterprets authentic Spanish tapas like salt-cod croquette, clams and chorizo, and crab-stuffed piquillo peppers. The community tables in the bar and chef's counter overlooking the kitchen are the perfect place for single travelers to perch. The forty wine list features primarily Spanish bottlings, and seeping in oak barrels along the wall is house-made sangria, a signature assortment like Blanco, a crisp white wine flavor-spiked with quince, pear and lemon.
217 Chestnut Street
(215) 625 2450
Sitting just off the railroad tracks near the old docks, John's Lunch doesn't look like much. But this family business (since 1930) makes the real deal cheese steak, folding the cheese and onions into the seasoned meat while it is still on the grill. Only then is it bundled into the crusty seeded roll, delivered every morning from South Philadelphia's Carangi bakery. Be warned: John's hours are geared toward the workingman and while the joint opens at 6:45 am, the grill shuts down at 2:30 pm.
14 East Snyder Avenue
(215) 463-1951
A creative fine-dining approach to vegan cuisine.
611 South 7th Street
(215) 923-6117
Modern Israeli mezze from James Beard nominee Michael Solomonov alongside an inspired cocktail menu.
237 Saint James Place
(215) 625-8800
Charming renovated corner storefront with rotating seasonal dinner menu and quirky one-day, one-item lunch policy: only Thursday serving only fried chicken with a biscuit.
2201 Spruce Street
(215) 735-4900
A townhouse setting and big price tag for James Beard award winner Marc Vetri and what many national reviewers call the best pasta in the country.
1312 Spruce Street
(215) 732-3478
Light, fresh and fragrant soups and noodle dishes in casual setting with French Colonial touches.
221 North 11th Street
(215) 592-1163
Futuristic setting of molded rubber furniture with a 96-foot sushi conveyor belt.
3636 Sansom Street
(215) 387-1803
Tiny French BYOB and James Beard nominee for "Best New Restaurant." Cash only.
1009 South 8th Street
(215) 965-8290
Handmade ice cream in a recreated soda fountain with Victorian-era apothecary style.
116 Market Street
(215) 627-1899
Bigger, better, bar food: At one time, there were over one hundred breweries and today the city's pub culture is stronger than ever. Belgian bistro and beer emporium.
264 South 16th Street
(215) 545-7005
The anti-theme-bar watering hole in the gentrified Northern Liberties district welcomes neighbors with dogs and kids.
901 North Second St
(215) 238-0630
Center city workers by day and bike messengers by night, boasts one of the best burgers in town.
224 South 15th Street
(215) 985-9600
The oldest pub in the city hangs all its licenses behind the bar, starting with the paper work from 1860.
1310 Drury Street
(215) 735-5562
In another adaptive reuse project, Kimpton's Hotel Palomar is a 24-story renovation of the 1929 Art Deco Architects Building, former home of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It's the city's first green hotel with whimsical eco-touches like a recycled composite glass finish to the lobby "living room" fireplace, and reception desk wall covered with diary entries from the hotel's architects. Located in the center of the business district, contemporary luxuries include Frette linens, L'Occitane bath amenities, and Fuji spa tubs in the suites.
17 South 17th Street
(215) 563-5006
After a recent renovation to reflect a contemporary version of Philadelphia's signature Federal-style period, The Four Seasons remains the only hotel in the city with an inner courtyard for a country-club-in-the-city ambiance. There's in-room exercise equipment, non-allergenic pillows, and a special children's welcome program to provide age-specific amenities such as cribs, baby toiletries, child-size bathrobes and slippers. In a green initiative, the hotel's new food salvage program made them the single largest composter in the city.
One Logan Square
(215) 963-1500
Architecturally situated to maximize views of Philadelphia's most fashionable park, The Rittenhouse Hotel houses the city's most spacious rooms (the smallest are 450 square feet) with divinely comfortable beds. There are plenty of amenities including an in-house pool and spa. But the overall vibe remains charmingly genteel with European-style, evident in the award-winning restaurant LaCroix. Book ahead for a chair at the 7-seat chef's table, located in the kitchen.
210 West Rittenhouse Square
(215) 546-9000
Loews Philadelphia Hotel is the adaptive reuse project of the 1932 land marked Philadelphia Saving Fund Society building designed by Howe and Lescaze. It was the first International-style skyscraper in the country and the 27-foot red neon PSFS sign (lit twenty four hours a day during the depression as reassurance to customers) was left intact to remain as part of the Philadelphia skyline.
1200 Market Street
(215) 627-1200
One of Philadelphia's smaller hotels, The Independent is a 24-room boutique accommodation located in a fully restored Georgian-Revival building. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the extensive renovation included in-room features such as Robert Allen custom bedding and natural hardwood floors with New Zealand wool area rugs. No two rooms are exactly alike architecturally with unique features such as fireplaces, exposed brick walls, cathedral ceilings, French windows, or loft bedrooms coexisting alongside sophisticated modern technology.
1234 Locust Street
(215) 772-1440
Behind Petulia's Folly's large carved Zanzibar doors is an international souk of contemporary fashion and homewares artfully mixed with delicate and statement jewelry and dotted by well selected accessories: T Alexander Wang, Rachel Comey and premium denim alongside 49 Square Mile bags, Newgate London clocks and John Derian decoupage.
1710 Sansom Street
(215) 569-1344
Locally owned and beautifully spacious, Sugarcube® is known for inspired fashion by independent designers. American and international lines compliment Sugarcube's select vintage. A.P.C., Dunderdon, Gestuz, Frock! by Tracy Reese, Steven Alan, and Bing Bang Jewelry unite in this dynamic industrial lodge setting for men and women.
124 North 3rd Street
(215) 238-0825
A modern hardware store for urban living, Open House stocks a tightly edited selection of heightened design objects including bedding and bath ware, colorful tabletop, and nature-inspired lighting. Relevant jewelry, bags, and baby indulgences make distinctive gifts.
107 South 13th Street
(215) 922-1415
creates modern furniture using a variety of materials chosen for their intrinsic beauty and eco-friendly properties. View by appointment.
162 West Lehigh Avenue
(856) 889-7307
Antique fireplace mantels from all the colonial capitols, specializing in American 18th-and early 19th-century wood examples.
251 North 3rd Street
(215) 574 0700
Funky home finds and fanciful children's clothing and accessories.
113 South 13th Street
(215) 922-1955
Clothing and yarn shop showcasing contemporary designers with vintage and hand-knit sweater and hand-sewn local lines.
37 North Third Street
(267) 671-0737
Racks of smallish labels for men and women, plus jewelry and accessories of the moment.
133 North Third Street
(215) 928-1311
Colorful tabletop, offbeat gifts, and girly personal accessories.
241 Race Street
(215) 592-7898
Former Etsy store turned full-blown shop for women's and men's vintage clothing ranging from the turn of the century to the 1990's.
716 North 3 Street
(267) 687-5959
Cornerstone collection of samplers and other needlework from the 17th to mid-19th centuries, a source for major museums and historical societies.
936 Pine Street
(215) 627-7797
American retro-farm fashion and tools and earth-inspired scent.
116 North Third Street
(215) 922-2600
Handmade soaps, lotions, balms and candles, plus workshop classes.
117 South 13th Street
(215) 592-7627
Treasure chest for luxury linen mavens.
1721 Spruce Street
(215) 790-0233
Jewelry, accessories, and clothing from the '50s through the '80s, updated frequently.
701 South 9th Street
(267) 528-1625
Minimalist nature-based pieces from a small collection of jewelry designers on display in an airy townhouse setting.
260 South 16th Street
(267) 773-8833
The flagship store, located in a Beaux Arts building that was once home to industrialist millionaires Sara Drexel Fell and Alexander Van Ressenler.
1801 Walnut Street
(215) 568-2114
Art Star is a craft shop and exhibition space dedicated to selling handmade work and limited edition products by emerging artists across the globe featuring an annual outdoor retail art/craft fair.
623 North 2nd Street
(215) 238-1557
The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the only diagonal street in the city, is known as Philadelphia's Champs Elysées, home to some of the city's most magnificent cultural institutions. Marked by what local art lovers call "the father, the son and the holy ghost," the Parkway displays works from three generations of the Calder family. Alexander Milne Calder's 27-ton, cast iron William Penn crowning City Hall is the largest statue to top a building in the world (until 1986, a "gentleman's agreement" dictated that no building in Philadelphia was allowed to be taller than the tip of Penn's hat); his son Alexander Stirling Calder's Swaan Memorial is at Logan Circle (the three bronze Native Americans atop the 50-foot fountain symbolize Philadelphia's principal waterways), and the white Ghost mobile that hangs in the Great Stair Hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art was designed by grandson Alexander (Sandy) Calder.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, founded as a museum of decorative arts during the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Now the third largest art museum in the country, there are significant Renaissance, American, Impressionist and Modern holdings, and the largest group of work by Philadelphia's American realist painter, Thomas Eakins. Supporting the modern and contemporary design collections is Collab, a volunteer committee of design professionals who initiate exhibitions and educational programs including a citywide, college-level Student Design Competition, as well as a annual Design Excellence Award with recipients such as Florence Knoll Bassett, Richard Meier, and George Nakashima.
26th Street and the Benjamin
Franklin Parkway
(215) 763.8100
Fairmount Park, one of the nation's largest and oldest municipally-operated park systems, encompasses 9,200 acres, including 62 neighborhood and regional parks as well as Kelly Drive, a long recreational concrete pathway where you'll find Boathouse Row, twelve Victorian-style boathouses that are home to the city's rowing community. At night, each boathouse is outlined with illuminated white lights, one of Philadelphia's most iconic cityscapes. Within the park system you will also find many historic homes and buildings including Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum, located in a National Historic Landmark Beaux-arts manor, and the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Founded in 1872, the Fairmount Park Art Association is the nation's first private, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing public art and urban planning together.
General information
(215) 683-0200
Located in a renovated industrial building, The Fabric Workshop and Museum is committed to the use of experimental materials and techniques, and the significant permanent collections trace many major movements including works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Reverend Howard Finster.
1214 Arch Street
(215) 561-7222
The nonprofit Food Trust operates a regional farmer's market program with over thirty locations including the Sunday Head House market located in the historical sheds known as the "Shambles," the site of the nation's oldest firehouse and marketplace.
For a schedule: (215) 575-0444
Rafael Viñoly-designed complex includes Verizon Hall, a 2,547-seat cello-shaped concert space.
300 Broad Street
(215) 670-2327
Creepy but popular collection of medical oddities, the 19th-century redwood display cases house 20,000 pathological and anatomical objects.
19 South 22nd Street
(215) 563-3737
Hands-on science exhibits like a walk-through heart and 350 ton, 101-foot Baldwin steam locomotive, the largest one ever built.
222 North 20th Street
(215) 448-1200
Major repository for the illustrations and manuscripts of "Where the Wild Things Are" author Maurice Sendak.
2008-2010 Delancey Place
(215) 732-1600
75,000 square foot collection of food stalls, including signatures like soft pretzels and Amish specialties from Lancaster County countryside.
12th and Arch Streets
(215) 574-8019
The oldest art institution in the United States, designed in High Victorian Gothic style by industrial-era architects Frank Furness and George Hewitt.
118 North Broad Street
(215) 972-7600
Started out as an anti-graffiti project, now covers 2,000 walls making Philadelphia the "Mural Capital of the USA."
Downloadable map and information
(215) 685-0750
Historic mall and carefully tended surrounding parks includes Visitor's Center, The First Bank of the United States, National Constitution Center, and Liberty Bell. The lobby of the nearby Curtis Center, a Georgian Revival building designed in 1910, houses "The Dream Garden," a 15 by 49-foot mosaic mural by Louis Comfort Tiffany, based on a painting by Maxfield Parrish: 260 tons of about 100,000 pieces of glass that took six months to install.
Walnut to Race Streets
between 2nd and 6th Streets
