Where To Eat And Drink On South Street

Cilantro, a Middle Eastern restaurant with an Egyptian focus, has been a South Street classic since it opened in 2019. The casual spot serves puffy homemade pita, showstopping lamb chops, and the best hummus within a five-mile radius. If you come in the summer, they have a crispy eggplant wrap and a frozen mango drink to cool you off. If you come in the winter, or really anytime you need to warm up, it's all about the tender beef shawarma that comes with two or more sides. It’s also a BYOB, so if you’re like us and think a glass of wine should accompany every dish, come prepared.

Few shops set the gold standard of banana pudding like The Sweet Life Bakeshop on South Street. The cheery shop has hits by Stevie Wonder playing and adorable, sprinkle-topped cupcakes on display in flavors like strawberries and cream and vegan peanut butter and jelly. But it's the banana pudding—with more of a light, whipped pudding texture than the standard heavy base—that's the main event here. You can get the rich and sweet mixture in the classic way, with a soft vanilla wafer centerpiece, or get varieites like salted caramel, peanut butter, and chocolate chip. Whichever you pick, you'll leave with a good time in a cup form that has drawn us to South Street like a magnet.

Walk into Puyero Venezuelan Flavor and the let the scent of stewed meat and the sounds of Oscar D'León lull you into becoming a regular. The crispy empanadas and super stuffed arepas are some of the best in Philly, and the cheese-stuffed tequeños are our favorite appetizers on South Street. It works for an impromptu meal on a casual night with a few friends, or when you don't want to share a fragment of your beautifully-stacked patacóne with anyone—even though it can easily feed two. Stop by and pair it all with a chuggable cilantro limonade, order an empanada or three, and count down the minutes until you can come back tomorrow.

Destiny’s Child dropping a member. SEPTA accepting phone swipes over tokens. Sometimes, a shake up is welcome. Queen Village’s Redcrest Kitchen switching from experimental cuisine to comfort food is the latest evidence of this. It’s a sandwich-heavy menu with four fried chicken options and a juicy smash burger, but the half fried chicken is a must. The meat is buttermilk brined for 24 hours and then pressure fried, so it’s insanely crispy and perfectly seasoned. After a lifetime of eating fried chicken, biting into this drumstick made us fall in love with it all over again. It comes with two super-sized buttery biscuits and tender collard greens that you won’t want to share. Sit by the windows or at the long bar, and have a casual meal that proves remixes don’t always suck.

Shiso Noodles feels very South Street. The dining room has some upscale touches, like an entirely glass entryway and a sleek u-shaped sushi bar, but you’ll also find groups in the corner sneaking sake shots underneath the table. It’s an energetic, easygoing place to get overwhelmed by an enormous menu of chicken buns, ramen, dry aged ribeye, and sushi. Skip the indecision and the ramen, and instead opt for the miso cod in a sweet glaze, and crunchy spicy tuna. They have classic maki, hand rolls, and a chef’s tasting that features rare cuts like citrusy Japanese shako. Stop in for lunch or to fill up with plates of sashimi before or after a night of chaos nearby. 

Rex at The Royal is one of those places to check out when you don’t want to be on the wild end of South Street. And when it comes to date night, you’ll get a better dinner-and-a-show experience here than hitting up the TLA a few blocks down. With a menu full of Lowcountry favorites like creamy crab fondue, shrimp and grits, and crawfish pot pie, you’ll get to choose from a lot of tasty dishes that are perfect for any night of the week. And if the date goes well and you want a nightcap, they have a bottle shop inside where you can grab some merlot to go.

This South Street restaurant and shop serves—you guessed it—banh mi and craft beer. But thinking that’s all they do is like thinking Tom Hanks just does a little acting. They also have sophisticated cocktails, along with an extensive menu of Vietnamese street food and snacks. The chicken wings are perfectly crispy, the stuffed clams are tender and deliciously spicy, and the pork bao buns are a must-order. Pop into the industrial space anytime you’re feeling peckish—the small plates are always changing—but make a reservation if you’re going with a group (it tends to get busy on the weekends).

When people mention Japanese breakfast in this town, we don’t know if they’re talking about the Philly-based alternative band or getting a roll from Kei Sushi before noon. One of the best sushi spots in Philly, they open at 11:30am, which means it’s a great place to come and ditch the office for a long early lunch. The space is pretty small, so it’s easy to relax at the sushi counter and watch as mackerel, hamachi, hirame, and salmon belly all get plated for the handful of families and people on first dates inside. Come here for a few handrolls full of chopped spicy tuna and chunks of crab meat, a few orders of pork gyoza soup, and the silky black sesame mochi ice cream for dessert.

Chicken wings and donuts have a lot in common: they’re handheld, can get a little sweet depending on what they’re coated with, and nobody’s sure if they’re a snack or a meal. So it’s no surprise that this spot (with a few locations all over the city) decided to put them both in one shop. On any day, the scent of crispy chicken right out of the fryer and sugary churro or strawberry lavender donuts can waft through the casual corner spot. With the TLA just down the street, an order of perfectly seasoned coconut curry wings with a subtly sweet rub, a fluffy cake donut, and a quick drink at Tattooed Mom might be our favorite pre-show pregame. 

Jim’s is back, baby. The retro counter-service spot on South Street is better than ever after being closed for two years following a fire. But the line around the block remains thanks to the delicious cheesesteaks and hoagies. All are served on a soft, buttery roll, and are generously packed with tender ribeye or quality cold cuts. You can get both for under $15 at the cash only spot (with an ATM on site). Bring a beach chair for the wait, and leave with one beautiful, meaty sandwich. 

On any given night, you’ll find that Bob & Barbara’s is absolutely packed. That’s for a few reasons. For one, it’s a classic. It’s been around since South Street’s prime, and it’s the birthplace of the Citywide. Plenty of other spots serve the famous four-dollar citywide combo of a shot and a beer, but this place invented it in the ’90s. They also have pierogies to pair with your classic drink and live music every weekend. They’ll keep everyone dancing until the bar closes at 2am —and cheering at events like drag shows and trivia on weeknights.

Tattooed Mom is your no-words-needed introduction to South Street. The walls, top to bottom, are covered in years of stickers, spray paint, and sharpie, and it would take an exhaustive “I Spy” search to find all of the different murals by both famous and local street artists. Outside of the atmosphere, it’s the food and drinks that make it one of our favorite bars in the city. When it comes to the menu, you can expect lots of veggie sandwiches like vegan Nashville hot chicken and sriracha “chicken” wraps, or classic burgers, cheesesteaks, and plenty of filling sides like cheesy tater tots. It’s the kind of place you’ll only find on South Street–with a sticker and marker-covered bumper car in the entrance—and one that’ll impress your friends just for knowing it exists.

With Lorenzo and Sons and Rita’s nearby, you’ll usually find a crowd near 3rd and South that looks like the one near the Swann Memorial Fountain on a hot summer's day. But it’s Nora’s Kitchen—with their lineup of tacos, tortas, and burritos dripping in smoky habanero and salsa verde—that offers the best option on the busy corner. Everything they put on their house made corn tortilla here is excellent, including the shrimp, carnitas, and al pastor. And since they have plenty of vegan options like chorizo tacos made out of TVP (textured vegetable protein), it’s a fast and casual place where you can bring any of your friends when you want a laid-back spot that’s not near one of the busy bars on the street.

The blend of melted provolone, soft onions, and ⅛-inch-thick chunks of beef from this South Street spot is the perfect thing after a few slushies from nearby Fat Tuesday. One of the few places in the city that has more chicken options than beef, Ishkabibble's cheesesteaks can either be topped with American, provolone, or whiz, and go great with their half-lemonade, half-grape Gremlin drink. Whenever you stop by, you’re guaranteed to get a steak that’s on a long crackly roll and is the perfect squishy texture from all of the residual steak juices.

Walking through the doors at Brauhaus Schmitz is like finding a portal to Germany. The all-wood space is covered in German flags and photos of Deutschland soccer teams, and the waitstaff looks like they’ve been teleported from Oktoberfest. There aren’t many great sports bars on South Street, and this is by far the most enjoyable place to watch a game. From currywurst, smokey speckwurst, and pretzels to pilsners, it’s a great place to bring a group of friends and pack the beer hall-styled tables.