The Best Restaurants In Queen Village

This takeout-only Queen Village shop, a warm and friendly bastion of Philly’s favorite handheld, makes some of the city’s best hoagies and cutlet sandwiches. Of course there’s a fantastic Italian, but it’s The Papale Special, stacked with pepper turkey, creamy Cooper Sharp, and olive oil that’s the surprisingly simple hoagie standout, while The Damien, a cutlet sandwich packed with hot soppressata, pepper shooters, and fresh mozzarella, is a strong contender for the best sandwich on this side of Broad. Call ahead to order, or prepare to be (extremely) disappointed since they sell out early.

This tiny, tasting-menu-only spot serves incredible Italian food, but the big draw of Ambra is the experience beyond what you're going to eat. There are only two seating options: in the kitchen with the chefs, or at the single communal table in the candlelit, plant-filled dining room where you'll have a wine, caviar, and truffle-fueled dinner party with nine new friends. The menu changes seasonally, but you can always expect things like handmade pasta in a veal and artichoke ragu, perfectly seared lamb loin, and 'nduja-topped oysters. Ambra also proves that exceptional service doesn't have to be so serious—only restaurants making food this good can have this much fun, but most don’t.

Royal Sushi & Izakaya two distinct moods. In the izakaya section, you can sit in a booth and watch anime, pay as little as $4 for a beer, and eat things like chili beets covered in miso or pan-seared pork gyoza. But when you want to have a night where you're catered to like Oprah’s favorite spaniel, try their 17-piece omakase menu. It includes things like Washington state kumamoto oysters and their chutoro caviar–a mix of fatty Spanish bluefin and Osetra caviar. Each option works for different occasions, but they’ll both give you a memorable experience.

If breakfast for you means a bagel stacked with smoked fish, you should start your morning at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen. The Jewish deli is one of the best in Philly, and definitely our favorite place for brunch in Queen Village. It can get as loud and busy on weekend mornings as 30th Street Station, but you can always order your enormous pastrami specials, challah french toast, or matzah ball soup to go. 

There’s gas station sushi (get over it, we’ve all done it), and then there are high-quality omakase meals that can cost as much as a pair of over-ear headphones. Sakana is the latter. The BYOB sushi restaurant in Headhouse Square is the perfect place to bring a bottle of sake to pair with their $178, 19-course experience. All of the raw fish is stellar, whether you’re eating Japanese scallops, toro topped with caviar, or sweet shrimp with gold leaves.

Sure, Isot is where you go when you want incredible Turkish food or can’t get into Zahav. But this cozy spot also has a lot of things that Zahav doesn’t, like plates of grilled chicken and lamb kebabs served with sides of vegetables and about five different Mediterranean salads. The portions are massive, so you can reheat the rest the next night and further delay cooking that salmon filet that’s been in your freezer for the past two weeks.

Little Fish is a small corner BYOB with a menu made up of creative seafood dishes like salmon with creme fraiche, grilled octopus in a hot mustard vinaigrette, and sashimi platters with a house soy glaze. Although the dishes on their rotating a la carte menu can be hit or miss, it feels like you’re part of a test kitchen—where everything you’re eating is coming straight from the chef’s mind (or the sea) and onto your plate.

It’s rare to walk into a bar and have the drinks be an afterthought, but that’s the situation at Royal Tavern. The real draw of this dimly lit bar is the food, which is served until 1am. Get some crispy wings or a burger layered with smoked gouda, crispy bacon, and caramelized onions. Just don't overlook the deeper cuts of the menu, like airy crab puffs, a house-smoked beef and bologna sandwich, and grilled short rib that will impress anyone you bring here for a meal while complaining about life over an IPA. 

Emmy Squared, a restaurant that hails from New York, is one of the best places for pizza in the neighborhood. They focus on crispy Detroit-style pan pizza, with options like a margarita with piles of creamy burrata, and the hot chicken (which packs enough heat to have you reaching for a few extra sips of your sangria), topped with white barbecue sauce and Nashville-style hot chicken. Arguably the best thing on the menu, though, is the “Le Big Matt” burger. It’s a double patty with American cheese, pickles, and something called “sammy sauce,” and it’s our favorite burger in the entire neighborhood.

Like vegan meatballs and Happy Hour during spin class, Square Pie isn’t quite what it seems. Their pizzas come in all shapes and sizes, but no matter what your personal preference is, you’ll always get a pizza with a sweet and savory sauce and crispy edges. Since there’s no wrong answer here, try the pancetta with leeks and rosemary potatoes, or the spinach that’s dotted with Calabro ricotta.

There are a few places where you can eat outside in Queen Village, but nowhere has a better patio than Southwark. The French-American restaurant has a plant-filled backyard where you can order things like savory crab and corn hushpuppies, buttery shrimp and clam bucatini, or the juicy 26oz dry-age ribeye. Inside, there’s a large bar area that serves impressive cocktails named after famous lines from movies, and a dining room for when you want to share a bunch of their half-sized pasta dishes in the AC. For a date night that feels both casual and intimate, Southwark hits the spot.

Marrakesh, Queen Village’s Moroccan restaurant, has been a stalwart of Philly’s dining scene for over three decades. Come here to recline on low couches and admire the traditional Moroccan decor while eating things like spicy cumin chicken, eggplant and carrot salads, and Moroccan pastries (and on Fridays and Saturdays, watch belly dancers do their thing). You’ll have to make a reservation at least a week out, especially if you’re coming with a big group, but for a birthday dinner or reunion with friends, there aren’t many places in the city where you’ll have more fun.

Eleven Eleven is a carefree spot where you can have an incredible meal while Jazmine Sullivan plays in the background. At the small Queen Village BYOB, the gold clocks on the wall are set to 11:11, and the light fixtures are clouds, so you kind of feel like you’re dining in Wonderland—until you hear someone yell “shots!”. From the fluffy Make-A-Wish Funfetti cakes topped with a gold candle to the deep fried brioche cinnamon crunch french toast, everything here is pillowy enough to make you want to get out of bed. The spot can get packed , but for a solid brunch place that feels more like a birthday celebration, it’s worth the wait.

Fitz On 4th is a relaxing plant-based restaurant with lots of greenery and loungey earth toned couches that give you the feeling that the only thing that could rush you out is the Meter Up app. This makes the intimate space the opposite of South Street’s chaos nearby. When dining here on a casual weeknight, go for the edamame dumplings, chickpea meatballs, and sweet potato rigatoni; you won’t have any complaints. Most dishes are large, so bring a friend who doesn’t mind splitting things and gets super jazzed about mushrooms (there are lots on the menu).

This corner gastropub may seem like a harmless place to get a beer—there are 20 on tap. But when it’s game day, the entire neighborhood flocks to the corner spot to boo or cheer in unison. There’s a large u-shaped bar inside—with multiple TVs on each side—where you’ll always find half-empty beer glasses and friends eating nachos. The food here is better than your average bar, so if the teams let you down, you’ll always have a gooey short rib grilled cheese and blackened chicken sandwich to comfort you.