This is an American restaurant. It was founded in 1773, and yes, the founding fathers dined and drank here. The food is great, the servers wear colonial American garb, and you dine by candlelight while drinking from pewter cups. Renowned chef Walter Staib is at the helm. I've taken visitors from other countries here, and they very much appreciated this bit of Americana. The last time I was there (before I found out I could no longer eat gluten), I had the turkey pot pie. It was an emotional experience.
A Stephen Starr restaurant that feels like the Brady Bunch home in some weird but very fun 70's way. Excellent comfort food. Meatloaf. Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Chicken and waffles. Chicken Parm. Turkey pot pie. Great cocktails and adult milkshakes, too. Always fun. Always great food. American comfort food that feeds the soul. As someone with celiac disease, I was thrilled to know that their shrimp and grits was gluten-free. Yum!
This place is always packed, but I had an other-worldly experience one day at Jones: the Philadelphia Eagles football team was playing, and when my Fiancée and I went to dinner that day, we were the only ones in the restaurant other than the servers and chefs. We sat by the fireplace and had a characteristically wonderful and uncharacteristically (for Jones) quiet meal.
One of America's largest and oldest public markets, this is a place not to be missed. It is home to more than just American food. Not to be missed are the Amish food places, especially the sticky rolls. Di Nic's pork sandwiches with sauteed spinach and sharp provolone cheese will haunt your culinary memory (in the best of all possible ways) for years.
This was one of the many filming locations for the movie National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage (the scene where Diane Kruger hides at Martin's Meats). There are so many different places to eat here, you will never be able to try them all unless you live here.
Side Note: I will never be able to watch the National Treasure movie with my Fiancée: as she works in Philly, she knows it ever so well. She is tweaked by the timeline of the movie, specifically, that it is impossible to go from the scene at Independence Hall instantaneously to the scene at Reading Terminal Market (Google Maps suggests that it is a 15 minute walk). Suspend disbelief, My Love, suspend disbelief...
Labeling this Stephen Starr restaurant "American" is not entirely accurate, since they often do many other cuisines, but it had to go somewhere. By day, Talula's Daily is a coffee and lunch place. Quaint. Purposely mismatched furniture. Purposely mismatched plates and silverware. By night, however, the place becomes a foodie's paradise. Talula's Daily Secret Supper Club menu is a five-course prix fixe menu that is the same every day for the entire month. That means that they do one meal over and over and over for the entire month. They get it down. They perfect it. Two of the top five meals of my life have been experienced here. It's all right there - all right there. Look, eat, kneel, pray.
And while they have been fabulous about making accommodations for my gluten intolerance, there are no other choices for the five course dinner...unless you go for the wine pairings...and you must go for the wine pairings. Their pairings are always spot-on. It's all right there - all right there. Look, drink, kneel, pray.
A Stephen Starr restaurant, so you know the food will be great. Wonderful cocktails, including throwback cocktails like The Astronaut that includes peach vodka and Tang. Yes, that Tang. Barstools that look like olives. Cool, diner-like vibe in the front with lots of seating in the back.
Sister to the Continental Martini Bar. Wonderful cocktails. Great food. When I could eat gluten, the lobster mac and cheese was a favorite. The Rad Na salad (chow fun noodles, peanuts, and chicken over romaine lettuce) is magnificent. Like any Stephen Starr restaurant, it is a winner.