The 76 rides again: A letter from the editor
Food editor Margaret Eby on what’s new and exciting about the second annual list of Philly’s 76 most vital restaurants.
Almost as soon as we closed The 76 last year, The Inquirer’s Food team started thinking about how to improve it. The challenge of an annual list is not just to keep it going, but to make sure it stays as relevant and useful as it was in the first edition.
Philadelphia is an incredible city for eating. That’s not news to anyone reading this. As the fine dining scene in Philadelphia — rightfully — draws more national (and international) attention, the danger is that excellent, low-profile eateries will go ignored while kitchens focused on luxe ingredients win acclaim.
» READ MORE: The 76 best restaurants in the Philly area in 2025
What makes Philadelphia’s restaurant scene unique is that there’s room for experiments, for big swings, and for upstarts to express their own culinary perspectives. That’s thanks to a blend of factors: a lower cost of living than other East Coast cities, a confluence of talent, and a diversity of immigrant cuisine. There’s an exciting culture of collaboration and DIY energy in Philly, like going to a basement show of a band that feels destined to make it big.
In the food section, we cover the big award nominees, of course. But we’re equally eager to celebrate an unassuming BYOB, a new-to-us food cart, a killer sandwich, or a fantastic café. It’s not that these places are secret, but they aren’t the national media darlings that some of Philly’s top spots have become. With this year’s 76, we aimed to give those restaurants their accolades, too.
So we enlisted even more eating power than last year, drawing on a newsroom of reporters who travel all over the Philadelphia area every day, telling stories in every community. There were surprises. There were delights. There were at least two cases of food poisoning.
But the results were worth it. This list is unlike any other in Philadelphia, both in its scope and in its depth. I’m tremendously proud of it, and of the immense effort The Inquirer put into it.
As the new food editor at The Inquirer, my aim is to make sure that The 76 keeps evolving, to reflect, as best we can, the vast cultural and culinary diversity in Philadelphia. Don’t worry: We’re already thinking about next year.