I love BT Brownies in Lansdowne (www.btbaking.com) the best. I also like the ones at Sweet Jazmine's in Paoli (http://store.sweetjazmines.com/browni...). Both also have online shops for ordering brownies for shipment.

We moved to Philly from SF... and the one thing I would add to your list is a good Italian restaurant. Hoagies & Italian are definitely the big things that Philly does better than SF (and most anywhere else). I usually recommend BYO's (also uniquely Philly... but might not work if you want to sit at the bar) - Melograno's and Modo Mio's are among my favorites in the city. I'm sure others will have thoughts on great italian with a single-diner-friendly bar. And definitely get yourself a great hoagie while you're here, too. You won't find those in SF... we tried!

Heading out of the city a little bit, my favorite Thai in the area is Chiangmai in Conshohocken. Consistently good and decent prices. Their drunken noodles are probably my favorite thing on the menu.

Just for another opinion, I made it there (percy st in comcast) last week and had a great experience. A couple of thoughts... $10 for a sandwich, side & drink is a pretty solid deal for the comcast center - and since it's a little bit separated from the other restaurants (just up the steps), there was no line at all for percy st, even when it was 10-deep at the pizza place. I had the barbecue chicken sandwich (with cole slaw and jalapenos) and a side of mac & cheese and was very impressed - bold flavors that worked well together. I still haven't been to the original location, so I can't compare.

I loved the wings I had at Flanigan's Boathouse in Wayne. In addition to the standard buffalo sauce, they have a bunch of others - thai peanut were surprisingly my favorites.

We had to make that same decision - deciding between Narberth/Wynnewood and Chestnut Hill. We decided on Narberth - but it was done solely because of the schools and the wage taxes. If we had the luxury of doing it for the food scene and ability to walk to cool stuff, I would definitely have chosen Chestnut Hill. Narberth is very cute - but it's definitely suburban with a 'small town USA' feel that's great for family, but terrible for food choices. With a lot of trial and error, you'll find the 1 chinese, 1 indian, 1 thai, etc. that you can drive to in 10-15 minutes - but not a lot of good options that you can walk to. That said, you can walk to the train station and be in Philly in 20 minutes, which is a wonderful thing - and one that we take advantage of frequently... even with small children.

There's a new place that just opened up in Ardmore called A Taste of Olive (their website shows other locations in Haddonfield and West Chester). They have some spanish olive oils - Hojiblanca & La Trinidad - http://www.atasteofolive.com/exvioloi...

Carlino's has the best tomato pie I've ever had... locations in Ardmore & West Chester - probably right around your 10 mile rule. http://www.yelp.com/biz/carlinos-spec...

We just went through this last week for the flea & the professor and wound up at Q BBQ & Tequila. We were there on the early side when it wasn't too crowded and there were lots of families. There wasn't a kids' menu, but they had hot dogs and fries and lots of other things that were crowd pleasers for all ages. For me, it was good, but not great, food - but perfect for what I was looking for with my 4 year old before the Arden.

+1 on Chiangmai

And I've loved everything I've tried at the Stone Rose (gastropub). I haven't had the burger, but my wife was raving about it and they call it their specialty.

Carlino's in Ardmore & West Chester carries it. They even sent out a special mailer on it... I've never tried it, but it sounds great! carlinosmarket.com

"My fondest memories of Easter are always those of my Nonna, Chef Angela Carlino. My Nonna would be the first one in the kitchen to get started on the feast preparation. I would awake to the smell of Mama's holiday soup slowly cooking each Easter morning. She would have a table set with her famous Easter Bread, Basket Cheese drizzled with Carlino's Extra Virgin Olive Oil and cracked black pepper, and also an animal-shaped cookie for each grandchild; my siblings and I would always fight for the Lamb-shaped cookie because it was the biggest and most beautiful. With Mama Carlino, there was always an array of delicious Easter goodies to start the day of feasting. The most traditional Easter morning specialty is Easter Meat Pie, stuffed with Basket Cheese. Basket Cheese is a mild cheese that tastes like a combination of ricotta, pressed cottage cheese, and fresh mozzarella. (Some nutrition facts, Basket Cheese has 14 grams of Protein and about 26% of the Daily Recommended Value for Calcium. It also has Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which are heart healthy and great for brain function.)"

Seems like Sunday night is a time that restaurants have creative menus or specials (at least that was the case in SF). I know the Little Fish sunday night prix fixe has been discussed a lot in these forums... but are there any other Sunday Night specials you know of in Philadelphia that we should know about?

Tomo Sushi is another one of the spots in the food court above H-Mart... definitely recommended if you need a quick place to eat before a show at the Tower. Great rolls for a great price and just a few minutes walk from the Tower (added bonus - better street parking... meters run until 9pm and an easy-in/out $5 lot across the street)

I'm in town for a business trip and looking to explore some of the great restaurants that I've read about on chowhound. Monday night (valentine's day) winds up being one of our few free nights, but most of the places I've checked online are offering prix-fixe valentines day "specials." Any thoughts on restaurants downtown that will be offering their standard menu on Monday night? No real guidelines... other than that I'm interested in trying some of the 'usual suspects' that get recommended to out-of-towners looking to try the best of the city.

Maybe closer to 20 minutes... but Carlino's in Ardmore has great homemade pasta - fresh & frozen... lots of shapes. Second location in West Chester.

Thank you for the recommendations! Haven't heard of either spot, but they're both on the list now! I do wish we had more of the bakery style spot where they have cases of empanadas for $5 or less. As it stands, I buy them a dozen at a time from Ruben's in NYC every time we head up there.

After watching an old episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown, I'm craving empanadas... any suggestions on where to find them in philly or the western suburbs? I'm sure there are great ones at spots like Amada... but ideally I'd love something more casual, along the lines of Ruben's Empanadas in NYC or Julia's Empanadas in DC.

I saw this article on the closing and new plans for the space earlier in the day... http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/th...

Gemelli in Narberth is a nice spot. 30-50 would probably be the size of the full restaurant.

After reading this thread and a few others, I was very hesitant to try Han Dynasty in Exton for the first time today - but, I have to report back and say that we had an amazing meal. Granted, I have nothing to compare it to - but, based on today I would definitely recommend it. Thanks to some of the recommendations here, we loaded up on the Scallion Pancake, Wonton in Chili Oil, Three Cup Chicken, Chicken with Hot Dry Peppers and Sliced Fish with Tofu in Wild Pepper Sauce.

We had very friendly service - helping to guide us to some great dishes. The hostess/owner? seemed impressed that we had devoured the three cup chicken (taiwanese - served on the bone, as she had recommended) - and she even dug into the bowl to find a few missing pieces we had mistakenly left behind. I did see that others who were asking for special requests off the americanized menu were not getting the same love from the staff ("can you combine the egg drop and hot & sour soups in the same bowl? can you take out the peppers from the hunan chicken?")... but, we found everyone to be really nice and helpful.

a little blurb on california cafe's unexpected closing... http://www.uppermeriontoday.com/2010/.... sounds like it was a surprise to the employees, too!

not super-close to Norristown, but Carlino's in Ardmore & West Chester has great homemade pappardele... fresh & frozen. http://www.carlinosmarket.com/pasta.htm

I've seen lots of posts on each topic separately... but I'm heading up to NYC for the marathon and need to load up on carbs the night before, along with my kids (2 and 4). Looking at spots like La Zie and Via Emilia (anywhere that's subway-able from times square is fair game) - but, can't tell which spots might be good for the kiddies... ideally a spot that at least has a high chair - bonus points if there's a kids menu, but not essential.

Thanks!

Ken

-----
Via Emilia
47 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010

Gemelli (Italian) in Narberth is my favorite new spot in the area. I'm also really enjoying the newly re-opened Hunan in Ardmore. And Sang Kee in Wynnewood is pretty good (I really enjoyed a few of the specials the last time went in). You said non-adventurous, so I'll assume that Indian is out... otherwise Tiffin (Wynnewood & Bryn Mawr) and Ekta (Bryn Mawr) are both great choices.

They opened at the beginning of June.

I have some friends coming in town for the Furthur show at the Mann on Saturday and was wondering if anyone had been to the newly opened Cochon Noir - http://lecochonnoir.com/. Recommend it as a pre-show spot?

we're looking for a byo with a private room that can accommodate 16. we're flexible on the type of food, but looking for quality food... more upscale than casual.

We're getting ready to spend a few weeks in Ocean City, NJ and thought I'd check in to see if anyone has heard of worthwhile new additions since last year in and around that area (Margate, Somers Point, etc.).

Carangi's not only has cannoli shells... but chocolate dipped cannoli shells! And really great strombolis. I recommend them both!

I went to the opening on Saturday (thanks to the tip above). It was really nicely done, with a great buffet that gave us a chance to sample everything from Chicken Tikka to Fried Cauliflower to Wraps. All of the food we tried was great - chicken tikka is my go-to dish and the did it as well as anyone. My wife was blown away by the cauliflower (and when was the last time you were blown away by cauliflower :-) ?) I think today is the true opening day & we'll become regulars quickly!