Cool Shit in Philadelphia

Morimoto - Iron Chef Japan's sushi joint on Chestnut Street. Amazing decor. Amazing food. Surprisingly not awful prices.

Jones - Good comfort food in a kitschy Brady Bunch-esque environment. Everyone raves about the mac and cheese. I rave about their fish tacos. It's also on Chestnut Street.

Philly has no good "event" movie theaters. Sorry.

Food:

Mexican Fine Dining: Tequila's. I have eaten things there I've never seen offered anywhere. My single favorite restaurant.
Awesome Asian Fusion: Buddakan. Order the drink with cilantro in it.

Chill bars/casual food/where you will likely run into me:
Good Dog on 15th
Jose Pistola's also on 15th
Royal Tavern on Passyunk
El Camino Real in Northern Liberties
Silk City Diner on Spring Garden
North 3rd on 3rd and...Brown? Good food. Naked lady paintings on the walls.


Shit to do:
Edgar Allan Poe House - an underwhelming structure but a geek must-see.
Mutter Museum - a collection of medical oddities. Go here if you go nowhere else.
Elfreth's Alley - the oldest street in America.
Philadelphia Art Museum, and not just for the "Rocky" steps.
Franklin Institute has the Cleopatra Exhibit for another month and a half, and the only real IMAX theater in town.

Strip Clubs:
Gold Club (the nasty shit) on 15th, across from Good Dog
Delilah's (expensive, good looking strippers) on Spring Garden
The Republican (scary after hours place; tip the big dude at the door)

Movies:
Ritz Theaters - three art house movie theaters in the historic district, within walking distance of each other.

Make sure you wander the Italian Market (9th & Christian Street)
Walk through City Hall, so you can see what Travolta drove a jeep through in Blow Out.
Stay out of Kensington and don't go south of Oregon. (24 hour diner at 3rd and Oregon for when you're hammered).

Day trip? If not, where you staying?

Let me know what part of town the hotel is and I will offer up places that are easy to walk to. If you feel like driving around, it opens up your options a bit, and Philly's a straight up grid, easy to find your way.

I think Harry Potter is playing on the Imax dome in the Franklin Institute, but I shudder too think how much that costs. Plus regular movies on domed screens are yucky.

Haha. Yeah, you're fucked. But if you take a shuttle to the airport, and take the airport line SEPTA train, it will drop you in the center of town (misleadingly called Suburban Station). But if you're not going to get shithammered, maybe just drive in and park somewheres. You can probably find a lot for under 20, or just hop around parking meters all day.

Cheese Steaks

Sonny's Steaks on 2nd and Market
Ginos and Pats are world famous
Tony Lukes is the best in my opinion

Also try Reading Terminal Market on 11th and Filbert. You can see some shops run by the Amish. Great Food. Check out DeNick's roast Pork in the Center.

Movie Theatres suck in Philly. There is the Roxy but that is a piece of Shit. The Prince is playing first run movies. It is advertised as one of the biggest screens in town.

I think Tony Luke's is shit.

The Reading Terminal (and DeNick's in particular) is a must.

Cheesesteaks are garbage you eat when drunk. Go to the continental on chestnut and get the cheesesteak egg roll.

What are some good record/music stores in or around Philly? I'm moving to Prospect Park this weekend from a town that has only one decent record store.

Record stores:

 

Beautiful World Syndicate - two locations.  one in south philly on passyunk.  one in west philly.  haven't been to in awhile but they have always had an incredible used selection for ridiculously reasonable/cheap prices.

AKA Music - 2nd st. in old city.  little bit pricey and hip.  they's gots new stuff and used.

Repo Records - on south st. near 6th.  gots both old and used.  lotta used stuff in the basement.

 

those are the best 3 to check out imo

Thanks, Mike. I'll check those out!