Frommer's best bets for dining in Philadelphia

Best Continental Cuisine: The Fountain Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, 1 Logan Sq., between 18th Street and Franklin Parkway (tel. 215/963-1500), is consistently rated best in town for understated, complex versions of classic Continental dishes. Since the food is so uniformly excellent, my advice is to go with the chef's choices on the fixed-price menu.

Best French Cuisine: Right now, it's the serene Lacroix in the Rittenhouse Hotel, where the exquisite menu is rooted in classical French cooking, but benefits from Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix's modern technique.

Best Italian Cuisine: Philadelphia must have 1,000 Italian restaurants, but the Saloon, 750 S. 7th St. (tel. 215/627-1811), is a dignified, elegant place for fine pasta and steak that draws everyone in town sooner or later.

Best Seafood: The best in town is Striped Bass, 1500 Walnut St. (tel. 215/732-4444), located on the most chic dining block in the city. The dinner scene in The Sixth Sense was filmed here. For those on a budget, Philly's McCormick & Schmick's, 1 S. Broad St. (tel. 215/568-6888), part of a chain of seafood restaurants, serves fresh fish at affordable prices, in a clubby environment.

Best Steakhouse: With a half-dozen great choices, including the Capital Grille and the Palm, the top choice is the Prime Rib, 1701 Locust St. (tel. 215/772-1701), offering great porterhouse served with fresh shredded horseradish. The ambience is a timeless 1940s-style place -- jazz combos and formally clad waiters included.

Best Burgers and Beer: In this case, bigger is better. The Independence Brew Pub, at 1150 Filbert St., right under Reading Terminal Headhouse (tel. 215/922-4292), has hundreds of seats, all happily occupied with diners chowing on delicious thin-crust pizzas and spectacular sundaes. An on-site brewery produces five different ales, porters, and lagers fresh each day. No reservations for parties under six.

Best Pizza: Marra's, 1734 E. Passyunk Ave., between Morris and Moore streets (tel. 215/463-9249), in South Philadelphia, has pies with thin crusts and delicious, spicy traditional toppings, baked in brick ovens; enjoy them in old wooden booths.

Best Cheesesteak: A great cheesesteak achieves a certain balance between cheese, meat, onion, and roll, and Jim's Steaks, 400 South St. (tel. 215/928-1911), cooks up a mighty, meaty combo. Line up with the masses on South Street and be sure to specify "with" or "without" onions.

Best Hoagies: Also known as submarines, grinders, or torpedoes, hoagies are what you want on hand as you cheer on the Eagles' latest Super Bowl bid. South Philly's Primo Hoagies, 2043 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/564-1264), have the perfect ratio of dense, chewy roll, spicy meat, wonderful oregano, and oil.

Best Desserts: Weekends, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 10 Avenue of the Arts (tel. 215/523-8000), offers a dessert buffet in its grand lobby, and this wonderfully excessive spread of 40 desserts has become a popular way to end a Friday or Saturday evening downtown (8pm-midnight). Priced at $19 per person, you may want to skip dinner altogether and save stomach space for tarte Tatin and chocolate gâteau.

Best Breakfast: The Down Home Diner at Reading Terminal Market (tel. 215/627-1955), open from 7am, has wonderful blueberry pancakes, fresh eggs with garlic grits, and a breakfast "pizza" with sausage biscuits, smoked cheddar, and tomato. All ingredients are fanatically organic, from small-scale producers wherever possible. Lunch has its charms, too, with meatloaf, black-eyed pea and ham-hock soup, and pecan pie. The vintage jukebox plays great old American tunes.

Best Brunch: Nearly every restaurant offers Sunday brunch, ranging from standard bagels with spreads to a full brunch menu. The White Dog Café, 3420 Sansom St. (tel. 215/386-9224), in West Philadelphia, swings both ways, offering everything from simple breakfast dishes to elaborate late-morning feasts in a completely comfortable, unpretentious environment.

Best People-Watching: Beautiful types head to Washington Square, 210 W. Washington Sq. (tel. 215/592-7787), the sophisticated American restaurant and bar in an Art Deco landmark building, with an outdoor area of tables and banquettes next to a leafy park. Rouge, at 205 S. 18th St. (tel. 215/732-6622), is a bistro with alfresco cafe tables that become the city's most sought-after real estate from May through September. If you want to spot a celebrity (Cameron Diaz and Mel Gibson both dined here), head for another of the Stephen Starr-owned operations such as Buddakan, 325 Chestnut St. (tel. 215/574-9440), where a huge gilded Buddha presides over a trendy crowd.

Best Afternoon Tea: The advent of true luxury hotels in Philadelphia has brought with it exquisite afternoon teas served all over town. The Cassatt Lounge at the Rittenhouse Hotel, 210 W. Rittenhouse Sq. (tel. 215/546-9000), has muted, lovely decor, a tucked-in garden, and Mary Cassatt's drawings commemorating her brother's house, which once stood on the site.

Best for Pretheater Dinner: At sleek Bliss, 220 S. Broad St. (tel. 215/731-1100), the eclectic menu features pastas, Asian-inspired dishes, and grilled fare; it is next door to the Kimmel Center and the Merriam. Ernesto's 1521 Café, 1521 Spruce St. (tel. 215/546-1521), is an affordable, modern Italian trattoria with handmade pasta.

Best Outdoor Dining: In Center City, head for 18th Street along Rittenhouse Square, between Walnut and Locust streets: Anywhere you park among Devon Seafood Grill, Rouge, or Potcheen and Bleu (both at the Sheraton Rittenhouse Square,) on that block is great, with Bleu serving the best cuisine.

Best Late-Night Dining: When it's after midnight, I head for Chinatown. Shiao Lan Kung, 930 Race St. (tel. 215/928-0282), while not very impressive in its decor, has wonderful hot pot dishes, and you can order fresh sea bass from the tank.

Best Ice Cream: Bassett's Ice Cream (tel. 215/925-4315), an original 1892 tenant of Reading Terminal Market, has long claimed supremacy for its rich, smooth flavors. Plus they make a terrific milkshake. New Capogiro Gelateria at 109 S. 13th St. (tel. 215/351-0900) hand-makes irresistibly rich Italian gelato in exotic flavors such as Mexican chocolate with chipotle peppers.

For a complete listing of Frommer's-reviewed restaurants, visit our online dining index.

Frommer’s is America’s bestselling travel guide series. Visit Frommers.com to find great deals, get information on over 3,500 destinations, and book your trip. © 2006 Wiley Publishing, Inc. Republication or redistribution of Frommer's content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Wiley.

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