Philadelphia eats at the counter and on the curb: a 140-year-old outdoor market on 9th Street, roast pork sandwiches locals rank above the cheesesteak, cannoli filled to order, and beer gardens in old warehouse shells. Three walkable days, plenty of cash needed.
The 9th Street curb market has run since the 1880s and is the oldest continuously operating outdoor market in the country. Nine blocks of produce stalls, the Di Bruno Bros cheese counter (1939), Fante's cookware and Anthony's espresso.
Sandwich counter at 1017 S 9th Street inside the market. The Arista (roast pork, broccoli rabe, sharp provolone) and the Paesano (beef brisket, horseradish mayo, fried egg, roasted tomato) run $12-14. Almost no seating.
A half-mile diagonal strip of roughly 40 restaurants and bakeries: Marra's coal-oven pizza (1927), Essen Bakery challah and babka, Mighty Bread Co sourdough croissants, plus Fond and Laurel for tasting menus. Walk it from the Singing Fountain.
Rooftop bar on the eighth floor of a shuttered 1936 vocational school in South Philly. Draft beer around $8, cocktails $13, pizza from a rooftop oven, and a straight view up Broad Street to City Hall. Open roughly May to October.
The two 24-hour cheesesteak rivals face each other across Passyunk Avenue. Pat's claims the 1930 invention; Geno's opened opposite in 1966 under neon. Order 'whiz wit' — Cheez Whiz with fried onions — for about $13-14.
A 1930 corner shack near the Snyder Avenue rail yards, named a James Beard America's Classic. Slow-roasted pork with garlicky broccoli rabe and sharp provolone on a seeded roll is the sandwich most Philadelphians rank above the cheesesteak. Open 06:45-15:00, closed Sunday and Monday.
South Philly bakery on 8th Street since 1921, still run by the founding family. Cannoli shells are piped to order so they stay crisp, about $4 each, alongside pizzelle, sfogliatelle, Italian rum cake and a small espresso bar with a few stools.
Michael Solomonov's Israeli restaurant on a hidden Society Hill courtyard, James Beard Outstanding Restaurant 2019. Set menus built around salatim, hummus with laffa pulled from the taboon oven, and wood-grilled lamb shoulder or pomegranate chicken.
One of the last Chinatown halls where dim sum still comes past your table on rolling carts rather than a paper checklist. Har gow, shu mai, turnip cake, chicken feet and egg tarts run $4-7 a plate; carts start around 08:00.
Old City soda fountain opened by the Berley brothers in 2004 and built to 1900s pharmacy standards: marble counter, hand-cranked register, staff in bow ties. Egg creams, phosphates, and sundaes such as the molasses-drenched Mt. Vesuvius.
Stephen Starr's Fishtown biergarten inside a rebuilt warehouse shell: gravel courtyard, communal picnic tables, fire pits and a retractable roof in winter. Half-litre and litre pours of German draft ($8-16), pretzels with obatzda, bratwurst.
Philadelphia's oldest continuously operating tavern, pouring on Drury Street since 1860 and surviving Prohibition as a speakeasy. House ales are contract-brewed locally, Yuengling is on tap, and the walls carry signs of long-dead Philly businesses.