PHLGuide
The 13 Best Deals For Center City Restaurant Week
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
It’s early in the year, which means there’s plenty of time to break your resolutions and also that Center City Restaurant Week is upon us. Or as we like to refer to it, "The Two Weeks Where Chefs Throw In A Free Tiramisu And Call It A Day." Center City will be packed with people eating cheaper meals than usual—specifically two-course lunches for $20 and three-course dinners for $45. There are more than 100 restaurants participating, so we're here to help you narrow things down. We crunched the numbers and found several excellent restaurants offering deals worth knowing about. Here are a few that caught our eye.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: GAB BONGHI
The Deal: $45 Dinner
This South Street restaurant serves Low Country food in a glam, historic space that used to be a theater. For Restaurant Week, you can choose eat things like she crab soup, Creole-style shrimp with rice and okra, and pecan pie.
photo credit: Gab Bonghi
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The Deal: $45 Dinner
You’ve been to Barbuzzo. Your friends have been to Barbuzzo. And your dog’s veterinarian has been to Barbuzzo. But maybe it’s been a while. Depend on this Mediterranean spot in Midtown Village for dishes like roasted beet salad, butternut squash arancini, braised short rib with polenta, and salted caramel budino.
photo credit: Gab Bonghi
The Deal: $45 Dinner
A classic for seafood any time of year. Rittenhouse’s Oyster House has a massive oyster bar and lots of tables for groups. Bring your friends for Sweet Amalia oysters, tuna crudo, crab cakes, or a lobster roll. Head's up: Oyster House isn't running CCRW specials on Saturdays.
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
The Deal: $45 Dinner Osteria's greenhouse makes it one of the most beautiful dining rooms in town. But the Italian food is also consistent. During CCRW, they're serving a grilled broccolini caesar, octopus with calabrian chili, and a bunch of good pasta.
The Deal: $45 Dinner
This American BYOB on South Street has seasonal, comforting dishes. You could start with a winter vegetable soup and then eat flank steak and olive oil cake. Or you could mess with a chicory salad with stracciatella, move into braised chicken and polenta, and a chocolate torte.
The Deal: $45 Dinner
If you’re in the mood for fried pickles and burgers, Village Whiskey will be your Camelot. You can basically design your own burger with whatever toppings you'd like. The deal also includes one cocktail. (Most CCRW menus don't.)
The Deal: $45 Dinner
One benefit of this restaurant week menu—outside of the good Spanish food—is that a super-sized tapas menu shrinks to just a large one. Get the garlic shrimp.
The Deal: $20 Lunch And $45 Dinner
If you live in Center City and still haven’t been to this Indian restaurant before, that's probably because it's located in a bit of a no-man's-land area. But the samosas, lamb chops marinated in ginger, and spiced crab naan are all consistently good.
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The Deal: $20 Lunch And $45
Koto Sushi is a reliable neighborhood sushi place in Washington Square that's offering set meals for Restaurant Week. You're going to see people eating seaweed salad, spicy tuna tolls, and green tea mochi ice cream. And you should probably eat them, too. Especially for $20 at lunch.
photo credit: Banh Mi and Bottles
The Deal: $45 Dinner
This South Street restaurant and shop serves—you guessed it—bánh mì and beer. But they also have cocktails, along with an extensive menu of Vietnamese street food and snacks. Get the crispy chicken wings and the spicy stuffed clams.
The Deal: $20 Lunch And $45 Dinner
This BYO in Graduate Hospital has one of the longer CCRW menus we've seen. This means you can choose between polenta bruschetta, short rib fettuccine ragu, and pork chops. They also have dessert available during both lunch and dinner. Now that's living.
photo credit: Amina Philly
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The Deal: $45 Dinner
This Old City restaurant makes comforting Southern food informed by African ingredients and cooking traditions. CCRW menu highlights include smothered short rib with grits, chicken with cornbread dressing and collard greens, and blackberry handpies. Amina won't be offering Restaurant Week deals on Saturdays.
photo credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO
The Deal: $45 Dinner
By now you probably know this as the Center City vegan place that plays horror movies. For Restaurant Week, they're offering a four-course meal with dishes like vegan whipped ricotta, lasagna, sandwiches, and an oreo beignet sundae. And screams, probably.
