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    Bistro Romano

    4.1 (683 reviews)
    ModerateItalian, Wine Bars
    Closed Closed
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    BISTRO ROMANO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Intimate
    Romantic
    Moderate noise
    Dressy

    Recommended Reviews - Bistro Romano

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    Reviews With Photos

    Charred broccoli
    Analiese K.

    This place was the perfect pre-Christmas reunion spot--and what an unforgettable experience! My best friend made reservations so we could meet up before the holidays. She flew in from Kansas City, we drove up from Frederick, MD, and this restaurant already held a special place in her heart. She has fond memories of dining here years ago with her aunties and even turned it into an annual tradition with her son. For me and my husband, though, it was our very first visit--and wow, were we impressed. From the outside, it looks like a tiny little spot. You walk into a small wine shop, then pass through into the bar area, and I remember thinking, Wait... where is the restaurant? Then you descend the circular staircase into the basement and--WOW. What an incredibly cool space. Rustic, cozy, and intimate, with gorgeous original brick walls and a clean, high-end dining vibe that somehow feels both elevated and welcoming at the same time. Our waitress greeted us with a huge smile and delivered non-stop, attentive service all night long. We ordered quite the feast: Mussels, burrata, and olives to start--then the special black truffle gnocchi, lamb chops, veal saltimbocca, and the gluten-free version of the black truffle gnocchi. Let me just say: the mussels were friggen incredible. That sauce? Fully drinkable. I could've asked for a straw. The burrata was good, but honestly, it didn't stand a chance following those mussels. ‍ We ate mostly family-style, sharing bites, and I have to say--the veal was my personal favorite. Absolute perfection. The lamb chops were a close second with amazing flavor, and the gnocchi was an all-out flavor bomb. The special version stole my heart thanks to those big, crispy chunks of lardo. And then... dessert. Even though we were completely stuffed, we somehow made room--and thank goodness we did. The tiramisu was fantastic, but the cannoli? Holy moly. And I don't even like cannoli. That alone should tell you how good it was. This is a true hidden gem in Society Hill, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Cozy, memorable, delicious, and full of character--we'll absolutely be back.

    Tiramisu
    Madison R.

    My fiancé and I dined here for our first restaurant week in Philly! We loved every dish we got, with every one being tasteful and filling. I also really enjoyed the ambiance - dark, moody, and steamy! Our waitress was great at recommendations and was very kind.

    Caesar Salad and Sea Salt Focaccia & Ricotta
    Megan C.

    Great location in Headhouse, romantic basement atmosphere, and good Italian food. My friend and I went for their $20 pasta and wine deal at the bar, but after seeing the gorgeous downstairs menu and ambiance we decided to do a full meal instead. Service was prompt and courteous! The vibe here skews older and more corporate, and the menu reflects that kind of clientele. We went with the focaccia and ricotta to start along with a Caesar salad. The bread dish was the stand out of the evening for me! Great soft focaccia creamy ricotta makes for a decadent start. Too much for two people! Delightful. The Caesar was as basic as Caesars come and, while fine, something I would skip the next time. The hugo-inspired Romano spritz was drinkable but needed soda to cut the St. Germain and tartness from the fruit. The pasta dish came out piping hot and was very much your standard bolognese. We each got a fabulous glass of Montepulciano with our pasta. I loved that the wine list focussed on Italian heavy hitters and would come back to the bar in a heartbeat for the wine. This rating really stems from the fact that there's just SO MUCH good Italian food in the city. This is a great spot for pleasing a group and for fairly specific occasions, but not one I find to be as remarkable. Thanks for the fab hospitality from the team here!

    Veal Saltimbocca
    Sydney B.

    Loved the wine and saltimboca. The olives were warm and delicious. Wasn't a fan of the ceasar salad. Great date spot. Service was on it and super nice and quick. Would definitely go back and big big fan.

    FETTUCCINE BOLOGNESE
    Deedee G.

    Bistro Romano is an intimate, delicate romantic experience. The overall experience was delightful. The restaurant is beautiful inside. The offer wine bottles to purchase. This is multi leveled and you are able to reserve seating in the wine cellar. We were sat upstairs where the pianist played live music. The wine was delicious. The calamari was tasty. I enjoyed my FETTUCCINE BOLOGNESE however, I will say the pasta was somewhat hard in some parts so there was a miss there. I did give 4 stars due to ambience, and attentiveness with service. Our waiter was patient and checked in constantly. They were very mild mannered in temperament however I appreciated the attentiveness. Definitely a date night spot to try out in our city.

    Duck. Amazing. Absolute perfection.
    Dave P.

    Incredible! I finally made my way to Bostro Romano. We had the Ceasar salad, the arancini balls, seafood risotto and the duck. I would highly recommend the risotto and duck, both were exceptional!

    Tortellini,  Mafaldine Pesto
    Ariana C.

    This restaurant was such a treat! From the food to the service to the ambience, everything hit the mark. The live piano music was a cherry on top. Our server, Emily, was so wonderful. We are visiting from out of state and she, along with the other staff, were eager to give us a list of Philly cheesesteak recs. Everyone was so lovely to talk to! We got the tortellini and mafaldine pasta without crab, both were delicious! They have a dedicated vegetarian menu which was amazing. Would definitely recommend and would definitely come back!

    Lavender lemonade

    My wife and I came here for their valentines menu, it was definitely worth the price. The pasta was absolutely delicious, the ceaser salad was fresh and the crab on top was the perfect touch. I will absolutely be coming back to try their regular menu. Our server was nice, but there was a female server that was walking around assisting with all the tables, she was so friendly and outgoing. She went above and beyond to make sure everyone was having a good time. The only thing I could recommend for them to do different, the second floor dining wasn't as romantic as I was hoping because it was very bright in there. I would say adding currents to the wide open windows would be a great touch to help make it a little bit more romantic and relaxing. Other than that everything was great.

    Jamie M.

    Went here for an early Valentine's Day dinner and it was exactly what I was looking for. The ambiance is so nice and romantic and cozy. Our server was Bill and he was incredible. His service was beyond perfect and was probably the best I've experienced in Philly. The food was delicious - I scarfed down my lobster ravioli in about 5 minutes. My boyfriend had the fettuccine bolognese and it was so good as well. The manager came back to check on how everything was going and was very sweet. I could not recommend this place more! Go here for the perfect date night or a night out with friends.

    Veal Saltimbocca

    Celebrated my girlfriends birthday here. Great food and great service. Recommend the pork chop and veal

    Sally R.

    Excellent service! We started with the Caesar salad, which had an excellent light dressing the gnocchi was fluffy and wonderful. The veal Ossobucco fell off the bone, served with broccolini and polenta. Absolutely perfect meal!

    Fang Jun Q.

    The restaurant has 2 floors and they had a live pianist which was nice. The environment is really dark and intimate. It's a good place for family dinner or a romantic date, not really for friends to sit down and catch up in my opinion. The food was good/okay, just regular fancy Italian food. Our waiter was very nice and pleasant though. We ordered 2 dishes (chicken parm and a pasta dish) and an appetizer and the bill came up to $95 which is quite pricy. I'd recommend this place for a fancy dinner date, or celebrating a special occasion.

    Brussels Sprouts Cacio E Pepe
    Andrew T.

    I love coming to Bistro Romano. It's in Head House Square and in a nice cozy spot. Service here is slower - though, I think is appropriate because it mimics true Italian dining where you are given time to eat and chat. The food is amazing - I highly recommend the Grilled Swordfish, Pan Roasted Pork Chops, and the Garganelli.

    crème brûlée and tiramisu

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    Page 1 of 18

    Ask the Community - Bistro Romano

    Is this place BYOB?

    Hello Justine, We do not offer BYOB at Bistro Romano. We do have a full service bar and award… Read more

    Does anyone have a sense of whether they are LGBTQ friendly (in terms of couples on dates)?

    Just celebrated my girlfriend and I's anniversary there! They were super friendly with us and gave us excellent service.

    View All 4 Questions

    Sassafras Bar - This burger is ridic.

    Sassafras Bar

    4.4(456 reviews)
    0.5 miOld City
    $$

    I wish Jen and I had shown up in matching flapper dresses because Sassafras feels like stepping…read morestraight into the 1920s. Huge bar, giant wall of liquor bottles, dim lighting, and a cool old-school vibe. I told the bartender that ordering a beer in a place like this felt like I was insulting him. He laughed and told me not to worry about it. The drink special was called "Naked and Famous," which honestly sounded like the perfect cocktail to order in honor of Jen. But then I spotted a dark beer on the menu that sounded too good to pass up. If you follow me, you know I'm slowly becoming a dark beer guy. I liked it a lot. The sandwich special was a cheesesteak. Sorry, I should've taken a picture of the menu. But I really enjoyed it, and for $18 it came with a mountain of seasoned fries, which feels like a bargain these days. Bomb Shell: the two people working absolutely crushed it. I don't know if they were understaffed or if Monday night got busier than expected, but they were working their tails off the entire time. Even with that, they stayed polite, friendly, helpful, and incredibly accommodating to the guy carrying around a mannequin. Great visit to Sassafras!

    I had wanted to come here for sooo long and I should have gone sooner! Sassafras bar is soooo good!…read moreSince it was Valentine's Day we had about a 10 min wait to get seats at the bar - not bad. We both ordered a special cocktail - pornstar martini - and wowwwww it was so good. We didn't have time to stay for more unfortunately but I can't wait to go back. Great ambiance and our bartender was awesome.

    Photos
    Sassafras Bar - Bar

    Bar

    Sassafras Bar - French snap and an old fashioned

    French snap and an old fashioned

    Sassafras Bar - French 95

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    French 95

    Le Caveau - chips & roe

    Le Caveau

    4.3(20 reviews)
    0.5 miSouth Street District, Bella Vista

    We came to Good King Tavern an hour before our res because we are a couple psychopaths, and they…read moresaid they couldn't seat us but have a cute wine bar upstairs if we wanted to kill some time. Reasonable. We walked upstairs into the cutest little dimly lit romantic wine bar I've ever seen. That was a lot of descriptors, but I felt them in my soul. We ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir and got a side of fries ($5) and pickles ($5), as there is no better date night than wine and fries. One of the most underrated combinations in the food game. They are oddly reminiscent of Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge, just so underappreciated. We sat there, watching the USC and Florida football games on our respective phones between sips of Pinot Noir and bites of these phenomenal fries. These Good King Tavern fries are my favorite I've had in Philly. Both of our teams suck this year, but both won that night. HUGE! Le Caveau delivering miracles... IG @jnov_ Tiktok @jnov_reviews

    Such a nice wine bar! Glasses are on the pricier side in my opinion, but their $12 Negroni was…read moredelicious and felt like a steal. Ambiance was pleasant with romantic dim lighting, but definitely on the louder side. Food wise, we ordered some fries, their French hot dog (came on a sizable baguette) and chocolate mousse which was the perfect finish. Would definitely come back! Was also nice to get a table without having to wait on a Saturday night

    Photos
    Le Caveau
    Le Caveau
    Le Caveau

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    Grace and Proper

    Grace and Proper

    4.4(68 reviews)
    0.7 miBella Vista

    Our favorite spot in Philly!…read more My husband claims that Claude AI recommended this place. We absolutely loved it! The entrance is so charming. With potted flowers all over the restaurant. Smattering of patio tables on both Eighth Street and Carpenter. When I saw it, I said yes before even looking at the menu. We ordered drinks at the bar and took them outside. It's very chic but also casual. There were mostly pairs or trios - no families. Not th. We saw people ordering a little bit of everything. Honestly, the menu looked great! The kale Caesar salad, the piri piri buffalo chicken dip, bacon wrapped plums, etc. The drinks were the best we had on our Philly trip! The Spanish Monk which had gin, lemon juice, frothed egg white and smoked paprika. I had the GGG which they carried over from their old menu. Can't remember what was in it but she said it was similar to Bee's Knees which is one of my favorite! There's self service still water and sparkling water in the back of the restaurant. Perfectly chilled. Perfectly bubbled! Such a lovely spot!

    This is an interesting bar to grab drinks. The menu is cool. The vibe is chill. Ive never heard of…read morethis place before but I would definitely recommend. The bartenders were nice. The drinking water comes out the sink! Now wait! Before we jump to conclusions, the sparkling water comes out the sink which I thought was pretty cool. Now you do have it self serve which is fine. We didnt have any food as we just left dinner.

    Photos
    Grace and Proper - Interior

    Interior

    Grace and Proper
    Grace and Proper - The cutest! Find me here in warm weather

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    The cutest! Find me here in warm weather

    Bistro Romano - italian - Updated May 2026

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