25+ Awesome Places to Eat in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood
Essential spots on 13th Street and beyond...
Tucked inside the larger Midtown Village neighborhood , the Gayborhood is an enclave known for lively nightspots and excellent restaurants.
Running from Pine Street to Chestnut Street and 11th Street to Broad Street, the area offers a variety of cuisines, price points and unique settings from which to choose.
Find a handful of diverse restaurants from powerhouse duo Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, like the throwback Bud & Marilyn’s and the Spanish-inspired Jamonera.
An array of other hotspots line the lively 13th Street corridor and its offshoots, including Double Knot, serving up modern Japanese food and top-notch coffee, and Tredici Enoteca, which features a wide selection of wines and small plates.
Read on for our roundup of great spots to dine in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood, arranged in alphabetical order .
This elegant 40-seat steakhouse introduces a meat-forward option to Michael Schulson’s string of restaurants along 13th Street, which include Asian-inspired spots Sampan and Double Knot. His dry-aged meats, cooked over a wood-burning hearth, are paired with classic sides and appetizers like beer-battered onion rings, Parker House rolls and shrimp cocktail. Contemporary and classic cocktails and an extensive wine list further elevate the steakhouse experience.
Barbuzzo is best known for its budino, a heavenly pudding cup of salted caramel and chocolate perfection. Before dessert, a menu of charcuterie, colorful vegetables, wood-fired pizzas, handmade pastas and gorgeous plates of seafood are sure to excite the tastebuds. The space is small, but the experience is well worth squeezing into tight quarters.
Where: Barbuzzo, 110 S. 13th Street
Bud & Marilyn’s , a retro-inspired restaurant and bar, is a hotspot from partners Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran. Inspired by Turney’s Midwestern restaurateur grandparents, the restaurant serves new takes on American classics like meatloaf, wedge salad and fried chicken, paired with cocktails like daiquiris and the Marilyn’s O-F, a brandy old-fashioned.
Hip, candlelit and craft-cocktail-laden are all perfect ways to describe this vegan restaurant in the heart of the Gayborhood. The small plates that line the menu feel indulgent without requiring a single animal-based ingredient, and the ambitious cocktail menu is impressive enough to keep even committed carnivores content.
Chef Chatayee Kapugthong bypasses fusion cooking to focus on the traditions of ancient Thai cuisine at her spacious namesake restaurant on bustling Walnut Street. Her two menus — one for vegans and another for carnivores — feature pad thai, massaman and panang curries and satay along with a large selection of inventive craft cocktails, beers and wines.
Upstairs, Double Knot stands as a casual yet sleek lunch, happy hour and coffee spot, offering items like banh mi, rice bowls and a few house-made baked goods to pair alongside pour-overs from Elixr beans. The basement offers an entirely different scene, where the menu includes a huge array of robatayaki (grilled) dishes, sushi and a full menu of pan-Asian flavors in an almost speakeasy-like setting.
An array of house-made guacamoles, an inventive margarita menu and modern Mexican specialties draw a diverse see-and-be-seen crowd to this lively spot . The photo booth in the back adds a splash of added fun to the experience.
Where: El Vez, 121 S. 13th Street
Specializing in breakfast, lunch and brunch, Green Eggs Café is known for its over-the-top, full-of-flavor dishes like the chicken and waffles Benedict and red velvet pancakes. On weekends, the line to get in can be long, but the payoff for waiting is oh-so-sweet.
Most of Philly’s Indian restaurants tread a well-worn path of take-out standards, but Indeblue ups the game with Indian-inspired dishes like the samosa chaat with tamarind chutney, crispy cauliflower, vegetarian options and meaty entrees. On select days, diners enjoy their meals alongside live sitar and tabla music.
Where: Indeblue, 205 S. 13th Street
Paris’s Left Bank meets Philly’s Gayborhood at this cheerful, picturesque French bakery run by pastry chef Bastien Ornando. His display case is rife with treats both sweet and savory, including perfectly flaky almond croissants, eclairs, lemon and chocolate tarts, and freshly baked French and sourdough baguettes. All of that pairs divinely with a strong cup of La Colombe coffee, which is brewed and served onsite.
13th Street Restaurant Group owners Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran bring their culinary magic to this cozy Italian-American concept inspired by nearby South Philly. Little Nonna’s features many of the characteristics of the duo’s signature hospitality style — intimate seating (for 40 inside and another 40 on an enchanting, candlelit patio), a studied but not overly circumscribed approach to cuisine, a fun flair for design and a warm, inviting atmosphere.
Open since 2004, the Mexican outpost Lolita started things off for Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran. The menu consists of tacos, tostadas and vibrant authentic dishes.
Where: Lolita, 106 S. 13th Street
Chef Evan Turney creates a market-themed contemporary Italian menu at this cheery BYOB hotspot that highlights fresh, local ingredients. Don’t miss the cheese board, fontina-stuffed meatballs and short rib ragu.
Where: Mercato, 1216 Spruce Street
Executive Chef Townsend Wentz serves Spanish dishes such as wood-fired tapas, squid ink rice, short rib croquetas, roasted sea scallops and braised lamb shank at Oloroso . An eye-catching, 35-foot, hand-painted wall mural depicting the Conquest of Majorca enhances the Spanish vibe.
Where: Oloroso, 1121 Walnut Street
Opa ’s modern Greek food brings a taste of the Mediterranean to Sansom Street. Diners can create a meal of mezedes (small plates) with options like grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and walnuts, beef meatballs with crispy shallots and tzatziki, and spreads like fava bean hummus and melitzanosalata (charred eggplant). Fire-kissed entrees, including lamb gyros, grilled octopus and bright vegetable sides, allow the experience to feel rich without being too heavy.
Where: Opa, 1311 Sansom Street
Sampan brings small-plate Asian cuisine to the Gayborhood. The open kitchen dishes up beautiful satays, noodle dishes, dumplings and sushi inspired by the Pacific Rim and beyond.
Where: Sampan, 124 S. 13th Street
Steaming bowls of bibimpap, freshly made kimchi and other traditional bites make up the extensive menu at this Gayborhood outpost of long-running Olney hotspot Seorabol . Located on the ground floor of the Center City One condominium building, the restaurant also offers an array of sushi and sashimi and a full bar.
Where: Seorabol, 1326 Spruce Street
Tria is dedicated to the fermentation trio of wine, cheese and beer, and like its other locations, the Gayborhood outpost offers plenty of well-thought-out options. For diners who have trouble choosing what to order, the well-trained staff happily delivers insight into the origin behind each item.
This hip lounge attracts a well-chiseled crowd for top-notch cocktails and innovative Mediterranean-Latin fusion. The popular mezze board includes an oversized tasting of hummus, lamb steak, sausage and more. The lively bar scene stretches well into the wee hours of the night.
Where: Valanni, 1229 Spruce Street
While Vedge caters to the non-carnivorous, even the most meat-hungry diners find something to love at the nationally renowned vegan restaurant. From portobello carpaccio to leek tarts, Vedge knows how to turn veggies into creative and memorable magic, paired alongside a crafted menu of beer, wine and amazing specialty cocktails.
Where: Vedge, 1221 Locust Street
The wines are low-priced at Zavino ’s marble-topped bar, and the eats, like antipasti and pizza with toppings like béchamel, local mozzarella and Kennett Square mushrooms, are sophisticated yet similarly affordable.
Where: Zavino, 112 S. 13th Street
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