You can't go wrong with Johns Water Ice.... Go to Rustica in Nothern Liberties for the best east coast pizza in Philly and Modo Mio for real Italian. Having spent time in LA, I can guarantee that you can not find equals there to any of these. You will feel at home in line at Pats/Genos since only tourists go there. Search an earlier epic cheesesteak thread for many better and more authentic choices.

My wife and I will be visiting you fine city the weekend of Sept 16th. Looking for 2 dinners, 2 lunches, and a good coffee/pastry spot. We are staying at the Cosmopolitan. We have a restaurant in Philadelphia and have no food restrictions. One dinner will celebratory/upscale for our anniversary. For all other meals anything goes, especially any ethnic and/or local spots that we can't find in Philly. (this would excuse Portuguese, Chinese, Mexican) Suggestions i have received already are Scaramouche, Canoe, and Mengrai. Your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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Mengrai
82 Ontario Street, Toronto, ON M5A 2V3, CA

Burgers- The Good Dog

Pizza - Rustica in NoLibs

Chez Betty or Jean Louis?

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Chez Betty Restaurant
1637 Short Line Rd, Park City, UT 84060

My wife and I will be visiting from Philly the first week of Feb to ski. We are staying at a B n B in town. We are restaurant owners and value quality food above all else and are as comfortable in a dive bar as at Joel Robuchons table if the food is good. We have heard good things about Talisker on Main, Reefs, El Chubasco, and High West Distillery. Thoughts and other recs are welcomed. Thank you

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El Chubasco
1890 Bonanza Dr, Park City, UT 84060

Talisker on Main
515 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060

My wife and I will be visiting your fine city from Philadelphia to celebrate an anniversary in September. We are staying at the Nine Zero. We own a restaurant in Philly and appreciate all cuisines with no restrictions. We are just as comcortable in a dive as we are at Le Table de Joel Robuchon as long as the food merits. Philly has a very strong gastropub scene and Jose Garces has the tapas scene covered, so we would probably seek to avoid these categories. We have 3 lunch/brunch and 3 dinners to fill. I do have a Saturday dinner reservation at Craigie for the tasting. My other dinner thoughts in order of interest are Prezza, Pomodoro, No 9 Park, Giacomos, and Hammersleys Bistro.

My lunch/brunch choices are Neptune, marliave, and Muqueca. I am also considering Ariannas and B&G.

We would also like to fit in Drink and Deep Ellum for beers/ cocktails.

Any input/suggestions on these choices would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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No 9 Park
9 Park Street, Boston, MA 02108

Prezza
24 Fleet St., Boston, MA 02113

Muqueca
1010 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

Pomodoro
319 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113

Deep Ellum Bar
477 Cambridge St, Allston, MA 02134

Thanks again for suggestions... We had a fabulous time. Below is a brief rundown of our weekend.

Friday
Breakfast - Went straight from Midway to Wishbone. (Randolph St location). This is a ritual for us when in Chicago and the shrimp & grits were amazing as usual. Washed down with some beet/carrot/ginger juice and I was good to go. Ran into MJ as we were walking out which was pretty cool too.

Lunch- Purple Pig - We had an amazing lunch here with brother/sister in law who are from Chicago. Ordered a lot of the menu. Everything was well conceived and executed. Service was flawless. Some standouts were the neck bone gravy (which was almost as good as my grandmas) pigs ears and the octupus. The cheese selection was also brilliant.

Dinner - Blue 13 - We arrived here early for our 8pm resy to watch the Flyers game. They graciously accomadated our request to push back dinner to 9:30. Had a very nice vibe and the service was great. I really wanted to love the food but was a little dissappointed. We had the duck confit raviolis and point reyes wedge for starters. The raviolis were good and may have possibly been even better if they were served hotter. My wife had the hot and sour cod and I the steak & eggs on acid. The cod was pedestrian and my tenderloin was cooked to proper temp and again good not great. We did have a great time here because once again the service was outstanding and the GM gave us a great suggestion for Saturday lunch.

Saturday
breakfast- Fox & Obel - Great gourmet grocery store. Grabbed a cinnamon swirl, double almond croissant, French toast breakfast sandwich , and coffee.... Perfect.

Lunch- Paramount Room- this was a great recommendation from the night before. If I lived in Chicago, I would be here way too much. This is a top notch gastropub. Beer selection was amazing and the food... Steak tartare was sublime and the Kobe burger cooked perfectly.. We also had a special of pork tacos which were as good as any carnitas tacos I have had. Once again, friendly knowledgeable staff.

Dinner- Carnivale- This was my sis inlaws choice to celebrate her bday. A large celebratory space. Food was excellent and well executed. Considering the size of this place I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food. We share guacamole, ceviche tasting, bife angosto, churrasco, and the mama mendez arroz con mariscos. All of the beef was cooked to requested temps and the rice / seafood dish was amazing.

After dinner- Matchbox - Very cool bar. Incredibly talented bartender who changed my wifes normal Pernod rocks into a magical concoction.

Late night- Billy Goat - I would regret this in the morning, but the double burger with sunny side egg and Oldestyle beer was a perfect end to this night.

Sunday
Brunch- Publican - this was a perfect sunday morning brunch spot. Bright and airy and wonderful food. We shared the ricotta and honey plate. The pistachios made this dish. Wife had the red wine poached egg and I had the confit of pork sammy. Wonderful, well executed food in a beautifully designed location.

Dinner- Purple Pig- Had to make a return visit here. Wanted the pork neck bone gravy again but alas the were out. "Settled"for the wagyu beef tips and the rock shrimp appy. Beef was sublime and cooked rare as requested. The shrimp plate was ok. Too much citrus for my liking.

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Blue 13
416 W. Ontario Street, Chicago, IL 60610

Paramount Room
415 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60654

Carnivale
702 West Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60661

Billy Goat
600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Don't know that your comparing apples to apples. Sonatas competition in NoLibs is other BYO restos. That would include Modo Mio, Il Cantuccio, Dmitris and KooZeeDoo. Though I thouroughly enjoy Sonata and would agree that it is underappreciated, all of these other BYOs are certainly not "out of their league".

I would second Swift Half. You have two great options there for the game. You can grab a table outside and watch on the 50 ft tv or at the bar or table inside where flatscreens are plentiful. Food is decent and beer selection great.

This looks fabulous... Thanks. We are also considering Blue 13 if anyone has input. Also still looking for a non sports bar to watch cup game.

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Blue 13
416 W. Ontario Street, Chicago, IL 60610

My wife and I will be visiting your great city the weekend of June 4th. We are staying in the river north area. Need a dinner rec for 1 night. We are restaurant owners ourselves and value smaller restos where emphasis is on food. Some of our faves in Philly include Bibou, Amada, and Lolita. (if that helps). Also looking for a place to catch the Flyers game on Friday that is not a sportsbar. TIA

I always go with whatever game (wild boar, antelope, venison, ect) or fish is on the menu. This is the part of the menu that seperates the Tap from other gastropubs. I would also try some oysters or clams from the raw menu. For sides the fiddleheads w/ favas are excellent as is the striped bass crudo.

Villa D
Dante & Luigis
Ralphs

Take a 5 min cab ride to Northern Liberties and head to the Standard Tap and N3rd

Veal tongue at Bibou... Sublime
Truffle steak pizza at Rustica
Shirred egg at Amada
Rib cap steak at Standard Tap

Amada for my money is the best right now and it's not really close.

A 5 min cab ride will take you to a neighborhood called Northern Liberties, where you can meet 2 of your requests. The Standard Tap is the resto/bar that started the gastropub movement here and is still the measuring stick. N3rd is another great gastropub in the same neighborhood. You can get your cheesesteak fix at Rustica which is next door to the Standard Tap. Though known primarily for their amazing pizza, their cheesesteaks are some of the best in the city. My fav is the truffle cheesesteak.

Johnny Brendas would be my choice. I believe they helped organize Shad fest and serve it in all it's glorious incarnations.

Either the aforementioned Sonny D's or Claudios.... Both on 9th street

QT on 10th just north of Market is my current fav. Traditional is fresh and fabulous. Had a sardine banh mi that was a special last week that was delicious.

Short rib flatbread
asparagus w/ shirred egg
serrano / fig salad

Would agree with the recommendation for the gizzards and duck rice.. The baccala salad is not to be missed. Word of warning .... All of the hot dishes are super salty

You won't go wrong with Honey's , Sabrina's , Cafe Estelle , or Carmens Country Kitchen. All of these are excellent and head and shoulders better than any other breakfast options in the city.

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Country Kitchen
365 Main St Ste 1, Sayreville, NJ 08872

While Garces restaurants are great and Amada may be the best in the city, there is nothing "quintessential Philly about them. What is quintessential Philly are the traditional ethnic family run restaurants. Villa D is one of them along with Dante and Luigis. Both of these are traditional South Philly red gravy spots that are family friendly and filled with character and characters. Another favorite is Jovans in Fishtown. Great German food in a restobar that is still run by husband wife and kids.