The N.Y. Times and Washington Post have highlighted Philly’s restaurant scene. How did they do?
Both the New York Times and Washington Post dropped in recently to weigh in on Philadelphia’s “best” restaurants. There is one important dining category both missed, however.
Philadelphia will be at the center of the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebrations this summer, and as the visitor buildup begins, national outlets are already pointing diners toward the city’s restaurants.
Last week brought two notable examples. The New York Times updated its “25 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia Right Now” feature, while Washington Post critic Elazar Sontag published a weekend eating itinerary under the headline, “Philadelphia’s dining scene is better than ever. Here’s where to eat.”
Taken together, the pieces amount to a welcome verdict from out-of-towners. Philadelphia is not being framed as an offshoot of somewhere else. It is being recognized as a dining destination with a point of view.
The Times’ list — first published in 2023 — leans heavily on the familiar names that recur on both local and national roundups: Friday Saturday Sunday, Her Place Supper Club, Kalaya, Angelo’s Pizzeria, and River Twice, along with standbys such as Middle Child Clubhouse, Zahav, Vernick Fish, and Vedge. There was one change since the Times’ June 2025 update: Picnic in Kensington dropped off the list, replaced by Meetinghouse, a Kensington taproom.
» READ MORE: The 76: The Inquirer's guide to Philadelphia's most vital restaurants
Meetinghouse, which Inquirer critic Craig LaBan praised in his 2023 review, has become one of the clearest examples of the kind of restaurant that national writers now seem to want from Philadelphia: confident but unfussy and neighborhood-rooted.
In the Post, Sontag praised it as “undeniably old-timey, but never in a kitschy, built-for-Instagram way.”
Sontag’s broader point seemed to be that Philadelphia works because diners will go anywhere for good food, and because even with all the recent acclaim, the city still values a scrappy, DIY spirit. His route made that case through a small but telling set of stops in addition to Meetinghouse: Griddle & Rice, Kalaya, John’s Roast Pork, La Jefa, and Sao.
That mix says a lot about how Philadelphia is being seen right now. The national picture is no longer limited to polished destinations.
But the national picture seems to consist of the same restaurants. That is because recognition tends to build on itself. Once a place breaks through locally, national outlets start paying attention.
Let’s take Kalaya, chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s Southern Thai destination, as a prime example.
After opening in 2019 as a BYOB in South Philadelphia, Kalaya quickly drew local acclaim from The Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine. That attention helped propel it onto the national stage.
In 2020, Kalaya became a James Beard semifinalist and nominee for Best New Restaurant and landed on best-new-restaurant lists from Food & Wine and Esquire. Suntaranon remained a Beard contender until winning Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2023, the year after its move to larger quarters in Fishtown.
The recognition continued to build. In 2023, Kalaya made the New York Times’ list of Philadelphia’s top 25 restaurants. In 2025, it was a Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant and ranked No. 7 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Suntaranon earned both a place on the TIME100 and the title of North America’s Best Female Chef. Kalaya also was one of Inquirer critic Craig LaBan’s selections for best restaurants and made the Michelin Guide as a “recommended” restaurant. In 2026, Kalaya returned as a Beard nominee for Outstanding Restaurant.
Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Philadelphia dining list without Kalaya.
What these national snapshots still miss, though, is one of the biggest forces shaping how Philadelphians eat now: the bakery and café boom.
Philadelphians who may not splurge on full meals still spring for a croissant, a bagel, a slice of cake, or a pastry and coffee.
This rise of “little treat culture” is a major force behind a wave of openings defining Philadelphia’s scene, among them the Bread Room in Center City and Erby’s in South Philadelphia. Today’s bakery boom is not just about baguettes and cupcakes.
It is also being driven by more personal and culturally specific baking styles, such as the Jewish/Cajun hybrid at Paige and Zach Wernick’s Rougarou Baking in Queen Village; Kenan Rabah’s Majdal Bakery in Queen Village, influenced by his upbringing in Golan Heights; Zahra Saaed’s French pastry shop La Maison Jaune in Fitler Square; and Saif Manna’s Levantine-inspired Manna Bakery opening in May in Kensington. Add to that a wave of Asian cafes, such as Omi Kitchen, Baby’s Kusina, and Seaforest Bakeshop.
A fuller picture of Philadelphia’s food scene would include not just hard-to-book dinner spots, but also the places drawing lines for highly personal styles of baking.
That is not a small omission. Right now, some of the most active energy in Philadelphia food is not only in dining rooms, but at the pastry case.
