Philly’s Best According To Travel + Leisure, New York Times & More

America’s Best Restaurants 2022 , The New York Times

West Chester ’s beloved farm-to-table restaurant has attracted the well-deserved affection of The New York Times . Tony Andiario built his restaurant’s sophisticated menu around local ingredients like mushrooms, radicchio and Pennsylvania guinea hens. While Italian restaurants have a long tradition of sourcing quality local ingredients, the Times says Andario takes it even further, “persuading diners to believe, at least over the span of a meal, that there are few places better situated for cooking Italian food than this college town …”

America’s Best Restaurants 2022 , The New York Times

Thanh Nguyen’s South Philly restaurant has received bottomless praise since its opening in 2021, garnering raves from The Philadelphia Inquirer and Eater. Recent coverage in The New York Times praises dishes like water-fern dumplings topped with crackled pork and shrimp, and the catfish hot pot with tomatoes and okra, adding “the presentation of the food here is as thrilling as the flavors, and a meal can quickly turn into a party.”

Best New Restaurants in America, 2022 , Esquire

The 50 Best New Restaurants of 2022 , Bon Appétit

Esquire has leaned into the cozy vibe of Her Place , a restaurant that captures the food and vitality of the dinner parties chef Amanda Shulman used to throw in her apartment. The tiny Center City eatery offers just two seatings of 24 a night and a set menu inspired by the best seasonal ingredients. Esquire noted the personal touch of Shulman circulating among guests at meal’s end with freshly baked cookies. Bon Appétit applauds how the 2023 James Beard Award nominee serves up “whimsical, complex yet comforting set menus that feel as deeply personal as they are expertly executed,” noting the Italian, French and Jewish influences. Reservations are hard to get, but well worth the effort.

The 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022 , Bon Appétit

“The best pasta in the country right now …” That’s high praise from Bon Appétit , in an article that calls Irwin’s “a loft love letter to the island of Sicily.” Charmed by the BOK Building location, the allure of vintage lamps and mid-century furniture, and the view of the skyline from the rooftop terrace, writer Amiel Stanek raves most about the food. Describing the fritto misto, a sticky agrodolce chicken and the crisp swordfish milanese, Stanek says the cooking “dances on the razor’s edge between rusticity and precision that makes good Southern Italian cooking so thrilling.”

The Best Meals Our Editors Ate in 2022 , Condé Nast Traveler

Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s juggernaut Kalaya has moved from South Philly to Fishtown, but not before it hosted a Condé Nast writer who sang its praises , to the tune of “faultless Thai food” with food so good “it shocks the hell out of you.” Special mention went to the chef’s trademark violet-blue Sakoo Sai Hed (peanut and shiitake-stuffed tapioca dumplings) and the Tom Yum Kalaya, seafood soup with enormous prawns. It’s easy to see why Suntaranon is a three-time nominee for a James Beard Award.

The 50 Best New Restaurants of 2022 , Bon Appétit

Bon Appétit has given baker Phil Korshak some love on its most recent Best Restaurants list , focusing on his commitment to quality: “Even the most basic elements of the menu are crafted with extravagant care.” Korshak ferments his bagels for 48 hours before boiling and baking them. They recommend the Egg-rything Bagel with whitefish salad, the Cooper Sharp Long Hot Bagel with Korshak schmear, and the Pumpernickel Bagel with pastrami-smoked salmon.

The 50 Best New Restaurants of 2022 , Bon Appétit

Bon Appétit has given baker Phil Korshak some love on its most recent Best Restaurants list , focusing on his commitment to quality: “Even the most basic elements of the menu are crafted with extravagant care.” Korshak ferments his bagels for 48 hours before boiling and baking them. They recommend the Egg-rything Bagel with whitefish salad, the Cooper Sharp Long Hot Bagel with Korshak schmear, and the Pumpernickel Bagel with pastrami-smoked salmon.

The Top 50 Pizzerias in the U.S. , USA Today, 2022

It’s hard to believe that it was way back in 2015 that Joe Beddia was credited by Bon Appétit for making the best pizza in America , before the opening of his restaurant in Fishtown . So it’s nice to see that all these years later his pizza still makes the cut (or the slice, as it were). In this taste test, more than 1,000 anonymous inspectors evaluated pizzerias across America, scoring contenders on dough quality and topping ingredients, along with service and drink menu. Beddia made the list .

Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region , James Beard Awards, 2022

Chef Cristina Martínez won a prestigious James Beard Award in June of 2022 for her two acclaimed Mexican restaurants on 9th Street. South Philly Barbacoa is a colorful and lively spot serving tamales and tacos in the Italian Market. Casa Mexico opened nearby in 2020 to help fill the insatiable appetite for her Mexican cuisine. Martinez hails from Capulhuac, Mexico, and started out selling her barbacoa from a cart. Aside from her scrumptious food, Martínez has received praise for her work with the city’s immigrant community.

The 25 Most Important American Craft Beers Ever Brewed , Food & Wine , 2023

The Philadelphia area has a large footprint in the history of craft beer , and Downingtown-based Victory Brewing is one of the American beer scene’s founding fathers. Food & Wine ’s recent article broke down the evolution of American brewing by landmark beers, and two of those 25 are produced by Victory. Its flagship Hop Devil was recognized as a bold move in the introduction of hoppy beers on the East Coast. Prima Pils was the other list maker, returning to a traditional style largely rejected by microbrewers and doing it expertly. Taste these and others at one of Victory’s taprooms, located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philly, as well as in Downingtown, Kennett Square and Parkesburg.

The 37 Best Art Museums in America , Time Out , 2021

In its survey of art museums across the country, Time Out lauds the Barnes Foundation for its diverse and eclectic collections, which include African and Native American art, ironwork and Pennsylvania German furniture displayed alongside marquis modern and impressionist masters: Cézanne, Renoir, Picasso, Matisse and Van Gogh, among others. They also praise founder Albert C. Barnes’ vision as an educator, “a believer in social justice and the idea that art, as well as people, should not be segregated.” In the 1920s, Barnes established a scholarship to support Black artists, writers and musicians.

The 12 Best Botanical Gardens Across the United States , Fodor’s , 2023

In Fodor ’s recent survey of the best botanical gardens in America , Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square topped the list. The travel leader says it looks to botanical gardens as an important and often overlooked part of a trip, and Longwood leads their national list as a “charming respite” outside of the city. They call out Longwood’s Chrysanthemum Festival, the Festival of Fountains and a Longwood Christmas, along with the orchid house, the prickly plants of the silver garden and springtime blooms in the 1,100 acres of “stunning” gardens.

The 37 Best Art Museums in America , Time Out , 2021

In a ranking of best art museums in the U.S. , is it any wonder that the Philadelphia Museum of Art would land in the top 10? Time Out ’s editors were drawn to the massive scale of the collection (200 galleries containing some 240,000 objects) and its gatherings of American painting and decorative arts, especially its Pennsylvania German art and 18th- and 19th-century furniture and silver. They mention works by American master Thomas Eakins and surrealist Marcel DuChamp, as well as the Frank Gehry addition to the historic building. And the writers remind you that the Rodin Museum , home to the artist’s largest collection or works outside Paris, is included with the admission ticket (and conveniently located just a few blocks away).

Must-see Pieces of Public Art Around the World , Travel + Leisure , 2022

This City Has More Than 4,000 Murals — and Counting , National Geographic , 2022

Philadelphia’s public art and mural scene regularly garners national and even international attention. Travel + Leisure ’s recent article charted the growing interest in street art and profiled 11 important public cities around the world, including Philadelphia. The article acknowledges the Association of Public Art, Mural Arts Philadelphia (MAP) and the city’s commitment to public art and sculpture, name dropping murals by Keith Haring and Amy Sherald. And National Geographic recently profiled the decades of work of Jane Golden, MAP’s founder, and Mural Arts and its long-term impact on the city and its neighborhoods.

Inside the World’s Most Beloved Independent Bookstores , Architectural Digest 2021

When Architectural Digest scoured the planet for unique and remarkable book stores , they landed in London, Paris, New York, Porto, Berlin and — Chester County . Yes, the publication was drawn to the remarkable five-floor shop built in a 19th-century dairy barn, and by the impressive collection of used, rare and antiquarian books it contains. The sense of history and atmosphere is palpable at this shop named for original owners William and Lilla Baldwin, who sold books from a wagon in the 1930s. Baldwin’s is featured in Bookstores: A Celebration of Independent Booksellers , a book by photographer Horst A. Friedrichs and writer Stuart Husbands, that inspired the article.

Profiled in Fast Company in 2021, after the business won a BeyGood grant from Beyoncé.

Yes, you read that right. The singer’s philanthropy gives $10,000 grants to groundbreaking Black-owned businesses, and West Philly-based apparel company Grant Blvd fit the bill. The award and the mountain of local and national press it has generated, recognize the sustainable fashion business for its beautiful hand-made clothing, its unique upcycled designs and its commitment to activism. Aside from offering an antidote to fast fashion, founder Kimberly McGlonn and her design team create shirts with messages like “End cash bail” and “earth bae.” They share their profits with organizations like Books Through Bars and work to employ formerly incarcerated people. Note that a new flagship store, also in West Philly, is set to open on April 22, 2023.

10 Best Black-Owned bookshops in the U.S. , Time Out, 2022

Profiled in Oprah’s Daily , 2022

Time Out went looking for Black-owned book shops and reading recs for their global audience, and they found Harriett’s Bookshop, an activist shop named after Harriett Tubman and run by Jeannine A. Cook. Located in Fishtown, the store “specializes in literature written by Black women that celebrates Black women, from artists to activists.” Cook also grabbed attention from Oprah Winfrey: “The mother, mentor and activist believes in connecting individuals within a community.”

(Her book suggestions for Time Out ? Kate Clifford Larson, Bound for the Promised Land , Toni Morrison, Beloved , Michelle Duster, Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells )

5-star rating in the 2023 Stars Awards , Forbes Travel Guide

Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center towers as North America’s highest hotel, offering memorable views of some of the city’s most beloved landmarks. Forbes says the space balances sleek design with warmth and comfort, using dramatic florals, windows and mirrors and even an infinity pool to bring the outside in. And its cutting-edge tech is noted, perhaps an inevitable trait of this hotel that crowns the Comcast Center.

It List 2022: Our Editors’ Picks of the Best New Hotels in the World , Travel + Leisure

Welcome to Gilded Age elegance. Travel + Leisure reviewed the Italianate townhouse of the New Century Guild, which was an organization for local suffrage-era activist women. The hotel ’s rooms are named after members, and the historical provenance and comfortable nostalgia are part of the reason for its write up —  a memorable experience, staying in a National Historic Landmark and feeling the ghosts of feminists past.

An Insider’s Guide to Philadelphia: Where to Stay, Eat, and Shop , Vogue , 2022

In the heart of historic Old City, this trendy, small design-forward hotel boasts six suites. Vogue likes it for the highly curated experience each room offers, with Philadelphia flair and locally sourced artisan goods. As they put it: “Staying here feels like stealing away for a few nights at a chic friend of a friend’s on holiday.”

5-star rating in the 2023 Stars Awards , Forbes Travel Guide

The Best Boutique Hotels in the U.S. , Town and Country , 2021

Located on Rittenhouse Square , this luxury hotel continues to wow critics for its proper but friendly service, elegance, and access to the rich vitality of Center City’s dining, culture and neighborhoods. Forbes says the hotel feels “fresh and intimate” and appreciates the amenities, including the Lacroix at The Rittenhouse restaurant and the Mary Cassatt Tea Room. Town and Country likes the spa and cocktail-focused Library Bar.

The Best Boutique Hotels in the U.S. , Town and Country , 2021

This historic riverside hotel in charming New Hope made Town and Country ’s 15-hotel national list for its rich history, dating back to 1794. It’s named for actress Odette Myrtil Logan, who ran a bistro and cabaret here in the 1960s. In its current iteration, it receives praise for its piano bar, its beautifully and quaintly appointed rooms, and the Odette restaurant.

An Insider’s Guide to Philadelphia: Where to Stay, Eat, and Shop , Vogue , 2022

This old Fishtown whiskey distillery turned boutique hotel (and one of the hottest Italian restaurants in Philadelphia) was recently recognized by Vogue magazine as a stylish retreat that “carefully balances old charm with modern design.” Its four suites include custom-made furniture, stylish wallpaper, exposed brick and handsome vintage accents.