Going to Philly, advice?

Avoid playing Bball in West Philly.

 

Go to Geno's and Pat's for the experience, but realize that the best cheesesteaks are always from the street vendors. Don't miss out on the soft pretzels, Philly has the best.

Check out the art museum, take the broad street line and catch a Phils game, explore the historic district if you're into that stuff.

Ladder 15 on 15th and Sansom is a pretty cool place. Pretty good food, probably the best wings in the city, good music and the drinks are pretty tasty (though nothing special in terms of beer). The food's a little expensive.

McGillin's Ale House is one of the oldest bars in the country, has some interesting beers on tap. Kind of a trashy dive bar, but a lot of fun (a lot of college kids go there, and I'm a college kid, so take that fwiw). It gets VERY crowded though. I think Saturday is karaoke night.

Big fan of the Sunday Brunch at Fork, on third and market in Old City.

Hope you have a good time.

 

Go check out rocky. He is at the bottom of the museum.

 

cheesesteak

 

Great old school italian at Ralphs

 

Don't get in a little fight, or your mom may get scared.

 

Damn, too fast

 

Go to Monks for beers in east Center City. they have like 20 Belgian beers on tap. try the flemish sour ale, it is really tasty and hard to find in the USA. be sure to also get their pot of mussels. they are possibly the freshest and tastiest mussels i have ever had.

the whole independence hall and liberty bell thing is kind of cool too and i think it is free if i recall. the philly zoo is also one of the best zoos i have ever been too and it is surprisingly good for being in the ghetto. it is definitely better than the houston zoo by far.

 

Ishkabibble's FTW on the Cheesesteak front.

Surprised no one has brought it up. Geno's got ish on Ishkabibble's!

 

manayunk

 

Ben Franklin museum isn't too bad either. Go take a pic with the Rocky statue.

 

What if he does want to move to Bel-Air? Did you stop and think about that?

 

As a now former Penn student (Eng. '09), guess I have to step up and rep the city.

Pats and Genos are a must, 9th and Passyunk; I'm an unabashed Pat's guy; make sure to get "whiz wit", onions and cheese whiz (the true Philly cheesesteak).

Morning Glory on 10th and Fitzwater is absolutely outstanding for brunch; it's small and the service isn't great, but that's how I like my breakfasts; brusk and to the point. I love the pancakes.

There are two outstanding craft breweries in the city that I've been to: Triumph Brewery company; on Walnut between 1st and 2nd; They've got a great happy hour: $3/pint, plus 1/2 price burgers (that are really good). They've also got an 8 beer sampler flight for $8.

Dock Street Brewing Co. on 50th and Baltimore is my personal favorite; Pizza there is outstanding; and the craft brews are great (the coffee ones are unbelievable, and the IPAs are some of the best I've ever had). The owner and staff is super friendly. Toured the facilities, too.

As for bars, Moriarty's on 11th and Walnut, Irish Pub/Rum Bar on 20th and Walnut are quite good.

Best sandwich in the city is located at 43rd and Spruce, Koch's Deli. Sandwiches are huge; loaded with great meat. Service is slow, but the counter guys are constantly cracking jokes and handing out free samples of the meat and cheese; be sure to tell them it's your first time going.

For sit down restaurants, Philly is all about the BYOB. Tre Scalini on 1915 East Passyunk is my favorite Italian place; the black squid ink noodles are amazing. Effie's on 11th and Pine is a nice little Greek restaurant, Lolita on 13th and Sansom has some really nice classy Mexican food. For Seafood, Little Fish on 600 Catharine is small, but has huge flavor.

If you've got cash to burn, Stephen Starr's restaurants are always great; Buddakan, Morimoto, Continental (Midtown location), Barclay Prime, El Vez. I would also plug Cuba Libre (good brunch here as well) and Amada (awesome Tapas)

Liberty Bell is free, Independence Hall costs around $10 for a tour. Philadelphia Museum of Art has the famous steps which Rocky ran up, and is free on Sundays; the statue is off to the right of the stairs. Franklin institute is great for kids; Mutter museum of medical oddities is awesome if you're in to seeing freaky stuff, Rittenhouse Square is a very pretty park where you'll see people walking their dogs, playing music, and lounging around; there's also some expensive designer shopping around the area as well. (Ladder 15, as someone mentioned before, is nearby and is pretty cool as well) Check out South Street; between 2nd and 8th or so; it's a really neat place with a bunch of cool bars, hole in the wall shops, and Lorenzo & Sons Pizza, as well as Jim's Steaks, which are awesome.

The Reading Terminal Market is also a neat place to walk through and grab lunch; "organized chaos" is how I'd best describe it inside. There's everything from handmade Dutch bread to freshly caught crab, gourmet cheese, organic vegetables and homemade ice cream.

That should get you started. For the rest, you're on your own...

Have a great time in Philly, I know I did...

 

Jim's on South Street has the best steaks (nobody calls them "cheesesteaks") in the city. But Geno's / Pat's are a must on a trip to Philly. (Oh, and Geno's sux.)

Reading Terminal Market -- best cookies you'll ever have at the cookie stand near the entrance. Also, the Thai stand has great basil chicken.

Good call on Manayunk and Monk's.

Brunch at Marathon on the Square is the best (chocolate chip cookie dough pancakes!). Take a stroll to Rittenhouse Square afterwards. (You're likely to see a local celeb or 2 at brunch there on Sunday.)

Just echoing a couple of HI Mana's reccomendations -- Effie's is awesome. The Stephen Starr restaurants are great - I was just at Budakan Sunday and that place never disappoints. Continental is a tun of fun, too.

Check out the lobby of the Comcast Building in downtown -- amazing gigantic flat panel screen!

The Liberty Bell/Independence tours are really good and free. While you're there, drop a few bucks and hit the Constitution Center. Sounds boring, but it's really interactive and cool.

While you're downtown, take a walk down Pine Street either in Old City or Center City for a flavor of the residential parts of downtown.

Monk's was a great suggestion for a place with a good beer menu -- but it does get really crowded early. Get their fries!

I'm sure I'll think of more. I don't get out that much anymore now that we have 2 kids.

 

make sure you wear an astros jersey and go to a philly's game
or wear a jersey to whatever team they are playing

 

Read the "opposing team's jersey" thread?

That's what she said.

 

NSFW Language

Spoiler

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philly is a cool town and they love their phillies. go see a game decked out in amazin's gear and talk about how philly is your favorite NYC suburb. you will make friends you'll never forget, trust me.