Cool Bars
1. The Bards: (20th & Walnut) This is my favorite! A quieter bar with seating and a young crowd!
2. McGillins Old Ale House - 13th and Drury (between Sansom and Chestnut).
3. Doobies: 22nd and Lombardgreat for chill nights.
4. Monks: 264 S 16th St.
5. Irish Pub: (20th & Walnut) A major scene for the grad school and young professionals crowd. Be prepared to wait on line to get in. Lots of fun during St. Patricks Day!
6. The Continental: (2nd & Market) A martini bar. It is an older crowd, very upscale, but a lot of fun. Try the white chocolate martini.
7. New Deck Tavern: (34th & Sansom) In West Philly and caters to a lot of Penn students. On Wed. nights they have trivia games (Quizzo). They also have good bar food.
8. Roosevelts: (23rd & Walnut) A lot of grad students and a lot of Wharton people.
9. Cavanaughs: (39th & Chestnut) a big place for Penn students to hang out, especially for happy hour.
10. Zanzibar Blue: (Broad & Walnut) A great Jazz bar and place to eat. Good blue mango margaritas.
Dance Clubs
1. Club 111: Near the Bourse. Young crowd, crowded dance floor. Good after-hours. Cover is $10.
2. Polly Esthers: 70s & 80s music. Fun place and you can wear all your old high school clothes, or your parents old stuff!
3. Delaware Ave. Clubs: Lots of cheesy dance clubs including Rock Lobster, Katmandu, Egypt, Maui, The 8th Floor, & The Warehouse.
4. Circa: (15th & Walnut) Nice place for dinner and dancing. It is a more upscale crowd because it is expensive but it is a fun place to go for a special occasion.
Coffee Shops & Desserts
1. Tuscany Cafe: (Rittenhouse Square) Nice place to get a drink and bring it to the park. You will see lots of people playing chess or reading.
2. Crimson Moon: (20th & Sansom) Eclectic crowd and interesting decor with great coffee drinks.
3. Xando: (15th & Locust) A major scene with beer, coffee, and interesting alcoholic drinks. There is often a large crowd and is very Friends-like with lots of couches. Try the s'mores - you make them yourself!
4. Borders Books: (1727 Walnut) One of the hippest places in town to see & be seen. The second floor coffee shop is often crowded but spacious. Lots of book signings and readings.
5. Fantes: (1006 S. 9th St.) An amazing labyrinth of cookware store and coffee shop. It is in the Italian Market.
6. Painted Parrot Cafe: (211 Chestnut St.) Great desserts and coffee in the heart of the historic district, especially the Wed, night all you can eat dessert buffet.
7. Pink Rose Pastry Shop: (4th & Bainbridge) Great desserts in South Philly.
8. Starbucks: (3rd & South and 1528 Walnut) Yes we have them here too!
9. Capriccio: (17th & Locust) High quality desserts, coffee and ice cream with seating outside on nice days.
10.Two Sisters Ala-Mode: 1141 Pinethe best pie ever!
11.More than just Ice Cream: 1119 Locust
Restaurants
There are so many great restaurants in Philadelphia that we cant list them all, but here are a few:
1. Cherry St. Chinese: (10th & Cherry) kosher, vegetarian Chinese. You will be sick of this by the end of the year from eating so much of it at your programs!
3. Pamplona: (12th & Locust) A great place for tapas
4. Marrakesh: (near South Street) A very fun Moroccan Place. Everyone eats out of the same plate with his or her fingers and it is a 7-course meal!
5. Friday, Saturday, Sunday: (21st & Spruce) A more expensive place with good food and a great bar.
7. Audrey Claire: (20th & Spruce) A great place to go on a warm night when they open up the windows. It is a nice place for good Mediterranean food.
8. Astral Plane: (1708 Lombard) Very gypsy/70s like! It has great ambiance.
9. Marathon Grill: (15th & Sansom) They have a huge menu with lots of veggie options. It is a nice place for lunch and is not too expensive.
10. Au Bon Pain: (One Commerce Place at 21st & Market) It is a great place to go during the week for lunch to scope out the hot young lawyers that work in the building. Outside seating available. (There is now one in Wharton!)
11. The Italian Market: Great Italian Restaurants including Ralphs, Dante & Luigis, Osteria Romana.
12. Mama Palmas: (Spruce & 23) Good pizzas, veggie stuff
13. Sandy's: (24th and Locust) All star greasy spoon - great weekend breakfast - comfort food with a personal touch.
14. Famous Deli - 4th and Bainbridge (best Lox on the planet)
15. Alyan's Restaurant - 4th St. between South and Bainbridge - (Real deal Middle Eastern Food - amazing Pitot!)
16. Orfeo: 20th and Walnut
17. Lee's Hoagie House: 40th and Walnut (the best Tuna Hoagie in Philly)
18. Abner's: 38th and Chestnut (Best Cheese Fries!)
19. Dmitris: 23rd and Pinedelicious Greek food!
Shopping
1. King of Prussia: Largest mall in the east coast. 30 min. from Center City.
2. Franklin Mills: Great outlet shopping. It is really big!
3. Chestnut & Walnut Streets: (between 18th & Broad) Lots of good shoe and clothing stores, including the Liberty Place Mall.
4. Chestnut Hill: Nice stores in a cute cobblestone road setting!
5. Manayunk: Cool upscale shops that are great for buying gifts.
6. South Street: (between 8th & 2nd) A lot of strange stores, and some more normal ones that are in between many restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.
7. The Italian Market: Go there to buy fresh fruits and veggies, fish, and cheeses. Only open on Saturdays.
8. Reading Terminal Market: (12th & Arch) Lots of food stands with places to eat there and food to take home. Great place to buy meats, veggies, cheese, candy and anything else imaginable. It is a must see.
9. Sue's Produce - 18th between Sansom and Chestnut for produce
10. Metropolitan - 19th between Spruce and Rittenhouse Square, great bread!
11. American Pie - locations on Rittenhouse Square, South Street, and Manayunk (excellent for Judaica and other gifts).
Dont forget to explore the Food Trucks at Pennthey are definitely part of the Penn culture!
Manayunk
Fun to be away from the city. You will find a lot of yuppies. Great craft shows and artsy stores. Great bars & restaurants.
Restaurants: Le Bus, Sonoma, Arroyo Grille, Bella Trattoria
Bars: Grape Street, Flatrock, River Cafe, Main St. Cigar Bar
Chestnut Hill
Great shopping (lots of chain stores like Gap, Limited, and Banana Republic). It is a really cute place to just enjoy a nice day. There are lots of parks around there too and a farmers market open from Thursday to Saturday.
Restaurants: Melting Pot (a must do fondue place), Pollo Roso (upstairs from the Melting Pot), Vegetable Garden (vegetarian), Cin Cin (good Chinese food), and Burdenbecks (good ice cream).
Movies
Call 222-FILM for listings and theaters. If you reserve tickets over the phone they charge an extra $2. Dont forget to bring your ID to get students prices. The movie theater on Front Street and the Sansom St. walkway has especially good student prices. The Ritz at the Bourse has great alternative movies and independent films.
Special Events
1. Penns Landing: During the warm months they have great concerts and ethnic festivals. It is right on the water and is a great place to spend a nice day.
2. First Friday: The first Friday of every month (not in the summer) the art galleries open their doors for free and offer wine & cheese to yuppies who tour the galleries after work (around 5:30 PM).
3. Make it A Night: Wed. nights meter parking is free and the stores are open late and many have good sales.
Arts & Culture
There are a lot of theaters in Philly that have Broadway shows, dancing, and other great stuff. Also the art museum is great, with many special events - call them for details. Franklin Institute is a fun, hands-on, science museum that has laser shows and I-MAX movies where you feel like you are in the movie. There are lots of places to see live music (like bars). Also check out the Orchestra, the Opera, and the Ballet.
Concerts: Mann Music Center is a large theater with lawn seats behind that are pretty cheap. Electric Music Factory has popular concerts. SONY Blockbuster Theater in Camden also has big shows.
Sports: Football - Eagles, Hockey - Flyers, Basketball - The 76ers, Baseball - Phillies, Minor League Baseball - Delaware, Reading, & Trenton. Sporting events are held at the Core States Center, the Spectrum, and Veterans Stadium.
Music Scene :Check the City Paper for bands coming to town.
Some small venues which are great to see up and coming artists at are...
1. Tin Angel: Acoustic Cafe/Bar - 2nd St. between Market and Chestnut (closer
to Market)
2. Khyber Pass: 2nd between Market and Chestnut (closer to Chestnut)
3. TLA (Theater of the Living Arts - 3rd and South)
4. North Star Bar: 2639 W. Poplar
5. The Electric Factory: Ticket Info- 215.568.3222
6. The Cherry Tree (St. Mary's Church - on Penn's Campus) - for FOLK MUSIC
7. Grape Street Pub (Manayunk): 107 Grape
Outside of Philly
1. The Beach is an hour and a half away.
2. Atlantic City has an amusement park and casinos.
3. NYC is 2 hours by car and train. It costs around $90 on Amtrak, or you can take SEPTA and NJ Transit which only costs $30 round-trip.
4. Baltimore is 2 hours away. It costs around $65 on Amtrak.
5. DC is 3 hours away. It costs around $75 on Amtrak.
6. Amusement Parks: Six Flags Great Adventure is just off the NJ Turnpike and is only an hour away. Dorney Park is a water park close to Philly. Hershey Park is about and hour and a half away in Hershey, PA.
7. New Hope is 30 min. away and has a lot of cute shops and restaurants.
8. Boston is 6 hours away. It costs around $150 on Amtrak.
