Need recommendations from Philadelphia PSers!!

[zhuzhu]

Hello PSers from Philadelphia (or near Philly).

First congratulations for your big win!

I will be in Philadelphia for a couple of conferences from 11/5 to 11/15, residing near the convention center. I was wondering if you could recommend some cool places to visit during my free time? Restaurants, museums, fancy jewelry stores..etc would be of great interest!

Thanks!
Zhuzhu

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Hope you enjoy your trime in Philly!
We have some wonderful museums and attractions:
The art museum is at 26th & the Parkway. the Academy of Natural Sciences is at 19th & the Parkway, the Franklin Institute is at 21st & the Parkway, the Rodin Museum is around 23rd & the Parkway. The Constitution Center is at 6th & Market. Independence Hall is at 5th & Chestnut.

The best jewelry stores are Tiffany''s at 15th & Walnut (next to the Bellevue Hotel), Linde Meyer in Liberty Place (on 17th Street between Chestnut & Market Streets), Jack Kellmer (between 15th & 16th & Walnut) and Govberg''s (they have a store inside Boyd''s at 18th & Chestnut and another store in the Comcast tower at 17th & Kennedy Blvd). For light comedy, Jeweler''s Row is on 8th Street between Chestnut and Walnut.

And then there''s the King of Prussia Mall, which has Cartier, Tiffany, Milanj, J E Caldwell, Bailey Banks & Biddle, Neiman Marcus (great jewelry salon), Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Nortstrom and lots of other great stores. You can catch the route 124 or 125 bus at 13th & Market to get there.

This is an excellent opportunity for a Philly get-together!

 

[zhuzhu]

Thank you Bijoux for the suggestions! I am indeed very interested in all these places you mentioned!

I would love to meet you and other Philly PSer during my Philly stay, please help spread the word!

Zhuzhu

 

[Octavia]

Hi Zhuzhu! I''m also in Philly, and Madam Bijoux''s suggestions are spot on. Also, if you are looking for things to do in the evenings, you will be very close to the Avenue of the Arts, which is the 6-7 blocks of Broad Street south of city hall. I''m not sure exactly what will be happening while you''re here, but the Philly Orchestra is fantastic, there may or may not be an opera or a ballet going on, and there are always lots of plays. The Kimmel Center''s website gives information about many cultural events, and Philly Fun Guide is another good place to look.

Your hotel will be close to Chinatown, where there are several good restaurants -- Vietnam on 11th between Race and Vine is one of my favorites. Caribou Cafe at 12th and Walnut, which is vaguely French-bistro-esque, is quite good. There are plenty of good places to eat on the Ave. of the Arts, and you''re also a quick walk/cab ride from lots of great restaurants in the Old City and Rittenhouse Square areas.

Please let us know if you have any specific questions, I do love talking about our city! I''ll keep checking back to see if there''s interest in a GTG, too!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 10/30/2008 9:25:30 PM
Author: zhuzhu
Thank you Bijoux for the suggestions! I am indeed very interested in all these places you mentioned!

I would love to meet you and other Philly PSer during my Philly stay, please help spread the word!

Zhuzhu

MB gave you great advice on jewelry stores and museums to visit Zhuzhu. I will take a stab at restaurants.

Rouge is off of Walnut, overlooks Rittenhouse park, great views, great food.

Park is Steven Starr's newest restaurant, it's in the city, my daughter has been there twice, had great reviews.

Capital Grille it's on Broad street, lunch or dinner. Love it.

Buddhakan, could be spelling it wrong, but it's in the city, fabulous food, asian fusion food.

Make sure to go to the Reading Terminal market for lunch, you'll see the whole metling pot there, oldest farmers market that I know of.

Have a blast, Philly is a great city.

Oh and don't forget to go to The king of Prussia Mall as MB said, you will have a great shopping experience there. They have all the high end stores.

 

[Octavia]

Ooooh, I also just realized that you''ll be here for First Friday

. Many of the art galleries in Old City have open houses on the first Friday of each month, and there''s usually a great vibe, especially in November and December when people start getting into the holiday mood. It goes from about 5-9pm, and my favorite galleries tend to be on the 2-3 blocks north of Market on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th streets. I haven''t been to FF in a long time, but I''ve always had fun when I''ve gone!

 

[zhuzhu]

Cool these sound exciting! Just to clarify, is galleries in Old City the same as the Ave of Arts? I do look forward to art gallary outings!~

Yes I will be staying in Travelodge in China town. Prob nothing fancy but it''s close to the convention center and other fancy hotels where some meetings will be held. Any other restaurants names you could give me to add to my "to-eat-list"?

In fact I need a specific recommendation for a nice (not too pricey) Italian restaurant to take my in-laws to for Friday night (11/7). I will be picking them up from the airport. Anything in between the airport and Chinatown that you like?

Thanks again ladies!

 

[Octavia]

Zhuzhu, Old City is roughly Walnut to Vine between Front and 6th streets -- it's a little bit east of where you're staying, near to the Delaware River. There are a lot of colonial buildings around there, including Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross house, Elfreth's Alley (the oldest continuously inhabited street in the US!), churches, etc. The neighborhood more or less south of there is called Society Hill (down to about South Street), and below that is Queen Village. Chinatown is to the west of Old City (roughly Market to Vine, 10th to Broad), Washington Square is west of Society Hill, and Bella Vista/Italian Market is west of Queen Village. Then you hit Broad Street, which is called the Avenue of the Arts for a few blocks. Go a little west of there and you're in the Rittenhouse/Fitler Square area (usually refers to a pretty big area, basically everything west of Broad to the Schulykill River and between South and Market streets), and if you go north of there you'll be in the Logan Square/Parkway/Art Museum area, where all the museums MB referred to are.

Sorry, this is kind of confusing, but if you have a Philly map you can probably see what I'm talking about!

There's not much down by the airport, but there are lots of Italian restaurants not far from where you're staying. Many of my favorites are BYOB and cash only, though. We like Ralph's, which is at 9th and Fitzwater (I think) and it has a wine list but is cash only. It's the opposite at La Fontana, which is on the corner of 17th and Spruce. La Viola, which is on 15th between Walnut and Locust, is also very good and is both BYOB and cash only. Ernesto's is on Spruce between 15th and 16th, has a wine list, and accepts cards. On Broad Street at the corner of Locust (on the Ave. of the Arts) is Sotto Varalli, and I've never eaten there but I've heard good things. You should be able to google most of these to get an idea of menus and prices, but prices are generally ~$8 for appetizers, ~$15 for pastas, and $18-25 for entrees at everywhere but Sotto Varalli (I don't know what their prices are).

Another super-yummy restaurant is Mixto, on Pine between either 10th and 11th, or 11th and 12th (can't remember). It's Cuban-style food and very tasty, especially for brunch. Penang, which is right by the Chinatown gate and I can never remember the address, is Malaysian food and very affordable. Warsaw Cafe is on 16th between Spruce and Pine, and serves Polish food. I'll keep thinking of more!

 

[zhuzhu]

That list is getting really good, I can''t wait to see/eat them all!