<p>I’m bringing my daughter to Penn this weekend for move-in and told my parents, who live in Philly, that we would all go out to dinner the night before, but just realized I’ve done nothing about finding a restaurant. </p>
<p>I need something that is an easy drive from the art museum area (where my parents live) and has parking readily available and is accessible for someone in a walker. And also, my father has some dementia, so a quiet place with friendly staff would be best. Also good food for my foodie husband and a vegetarian option for my daughter (but accessibility and parking are the most important things). Any suggestions? My parents don’t go out much any more so they don’t know what to suggest. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>I am going to recommend one of my favorites, Osteria, on North Broad between Spring Garden and Fairmount (i.e., about 10 blocks due east of the art museum area). I have taken my wheelchair-bound mother there with no problems. It is not particularly quiet or intimate (open kitchen, fairly popular), but there is a back room that is quiet (and the last part of the restaurant to fill up) that you can request. The service is friendly and accommodating. It’s not super-fancy or snooty; there are always families in there with kids or old people; dress is informal. The food is first-rate; it’s the somewhat-less-fancy (and somewhat-less-pricey) offering of Marc Vetri, one of the city’s best chefs. It has great vegetarian offerings. And great wine by the glass.</p>
<p>I know, the hurricane is making things extra stressful. </p>
<p>I called a couple of places to ask if they can accommodate someone with a walker and they said no. I don’t see how that’s legal, but I don’t want to take my dad to a place that doesn’t want him.</p>
<p>Hotels all have on site parking; must, by law, accomodate walkers; tend to have helpful staff; and are usually somewhat sedate. The restaurants at the Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, for example, have excellent reputations (although high prices) and are close to the art museum. </p>
<p>If the big names are booked, the Penn’s View Inn, by the water, has an adjacent parking lot. I did not eat at its Italian restaurant when I stayed there, but the wine bar had an excellent selection and the family owns the La Famiglia restaurant, so it might be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks – that’s a very good suggestion about hotel restaurants. I’m going to look into that. Meanwhile my daughter is running around here stressing out about needing to buy extra contact lens solution etc. – she is unconvinced that there are actually stores in Philadelphia. And I am stressing about the hurricane.</p>
<p>[The</a> Victor Cafe](<a href=“http://www.victorcafe.com/]The”>http://www.victorcafe.com/) may fulfill none of your requirements, but it was highly recommended to me by a co-worker when she found out that our son would be in school in the Philadelphia are. I can’t wait to try it.</p>
<p>When I went to Penn this Summer, I noticed that Walnut Street had many more stores than it did while I was there, so your daughter will be fine. I also could not believe how much more elaborate the cafeteria had become–vegetarians in my day would have starved. I wish her a great year.</p>
<p>OK, here’s another: Matyson, on South 19th between Market and Chestnut, i.e., the heart of the business district, and about 1.5 miles from the Art Museum. Small, high-quality mainstream fare, popular with foodies, no steps up as far as I remember, commercial parking lot across the street. Not a big vegetarian destination, but if you ask when you make the reservation I’ll bet they will do something for you. Philadelphia has a great BYOB scene – which makes it cheaper to open and to run a gourmet restaurant, and cheaper to eat at one, too – and Matyson has been one of the best in class for the past 5-6 years.</p>
<p>Also, you can think about Jack’s Firehouse, which is on Fairmount in the Art Museum area. 20 years ago, it was the hippest of the hip restaurants, an Americana pioneer. I haven’t been there in awhile, but it’s still open and still under the same management, so its probably still good, if no longer cutting edge. Not sure about parking, though.</p>
<p>Victor Cafe is one of those places where the waiters sing opera. It’s a variety of dinner theater. You don’t go there for the food or for conversation.</p>
<p>Hotel restaurants in Center City that are good, in descending order of my preference: Lacroix (at The Rittenhouse), The Four Seasons, Square 1682 (at the Palomar)(but not sure about parking here), Sofitel (quite good classic French, of the sort you don’t really see elsewhere anymore, and never full), XIX (at the Bellevue). The first two are $$$$$ restaurants. I have not eaten at Four Arts, the Ritz restaurant, but that’s because no one says anything good about it.</p>
<p>Might want to check out Jack’s Fireplace menu before you commit. Not sure it meets needs for foodie husband, and limited Vegetarian selections, daughter and I were not impressed couple years ago. Fairmount area is convenient for you, though. </p>
<p>Recent Best of Philly Magazine, listed “Union Trust” as place to take “grandparents”-
was there last week for SIPS- the Wednesday Happy Hour experience, and didn’t eat there.
Perhaps someone more familiar with it (JHS?) might know more. It’s a renovated high ceiling, spacious space, and that would be good. </p>
<p>Union Trust and Butcher & Singer are both steakhouses (although they probably each have some vegetarian thing on the menu). I don’t go to steakhouses much, I have never been impressed with their value proposition, and I haven’t tried either. For what it’s worth, everyone seems to like Union Trust more than any other steakhouse in the city.</p>
<p>I defer to JHS’s local knowledge of Philly places, but am a little surprised at the rap on 10 Arts at the Ritz, as the chef there was on the Top Chef program, which Simpkins’ “foodie” husband might watch. Between his status and the Ritz’s prices, if it is good–but not extremely good–it would likely generate a lot of disappointed customers.</p>
<p>While in Philly this Summer, I was struck by how many obviously very expensive, chic restaurants there were–but this week the Philly branch of the Federal Reserve said the Philly economy was still in a recession. I guess the rich get richer and the poor get McDonald’s dollar menu.</p>
<p>For future reference, Simpkins’ daughter might want to try Philly’s Chinatown, which has good options for a vegetarian on a student budget, such as the Vietnamese-Thai place on 9th and Race streets.</p>
<p>[Snockey’s</a> Oyster and Crab House, Welcomes You to enjoy our freshest and best quality oysters, clams, crabs and other seafood to the Greater Philadelphia, PA area since 1912](<a href=“http://www.snockeys.com/]Snockey’s”>http://www.snockeys.com/)</p>
<p>I haven’t been to Phila. in a long time, but I remember this as a family place.</p>
<p>I also remember how many expensive restaurants came and went in Phila. It only took one bad review to kill a place.</p>
<p>There are not so many restaurants in Philadelphia that would be very expensive by New York or Chicago standards, and it is possible to get really good, not-so-expensive food here, although the value goes up if you leave the Center City area and go into the neighborhoods, or Chinatown. </p>
<p>10 Arts: There are a lot of disappointed customers, or at least there were. Maybe things have been fixed. The setting is absolutely gorgeous – what used to be the central area of the main branch of Girard Trust Company. Yeah, the chef was on TV, and it was the Ritz, and as I said visually stunning . . . and I still haven’t heard anyone say he liked it yet. My wife likes to try anything with any buzz (except steakhouses), and 10 Arts has never made it onto her list.</p>
<p>parent1986, your remembrance of Snockey’s made me wistful–my parents took me there to celebrate my graduation from Penn in 1974.</p>
<p>NYC standards of expense are unique in the US for restaurants, just as they are for apartments. The vast numbers of super-wealthy Wall Streeters and tourists eating out every night of the week creates an echelon where price is not only no object (especially since so many are on expense accounts), but a point of pride. It is similar to the recent Times story about the many Manhattan superluxury condos which are sold out, but usually almost empty, because their owners are out of towners.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much; I am saving the names of all these places for future visits! It’s strange but I’ve been to Philadelphia many, many times but have rarely gone out for a nice dinner. We used to come into the city to go to Bookbinders for lobster when I was growing up in the suburbs, but I think they are long gone. Or else we would go to Chinatown. </p>
<p>For this visit, so many places were booked for this Saturday – I obviously should have dealt with this sooner. Finally I searched on Open Table until I found a place that was near my parents and supposedly wheelchair-accessible, with parking across the street. Rose Tattoo? It seemed to have good reviews and a couple of veggie items. I’m waiting to hear back from my mother about whether that will be okay for my dad.</p>
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And I am stressing about the hurricane.</p>