2nd time at Elma's but the first time I came for the Palace cheesesteak, so this experience was light years of difference. Booked the Feast of the 7 fishes pre-fix experience on Christmas Eve. Reservation time was for 7:30pm, and we were seated at 7:45pm. Although not an extremely long wait, Elma is an intimate restaurant with no standing room for non-diners, so when they are running behind that involves guest waiting outside ... in the cold. While I understand "things happen, The owner/chef handled the communication of the delay poorly, in my opinion. He was bothered with the inquiries and seemed annoyed that he had to keep coming to the door to answer similar questions from other patrons with the same seating time. Outside of the personnel, the food was decent. Although the menu was set to be a fish/seafood forward one, I did appreciate the variety of the dishes served that day. I do however feel the temperature the food was served at, was a bit luke-warm and that's coming from someone who despises overly hot served food. This however, leaned towards cold. Would I give Elma another shot, yes! I want to visit again on a regular day and get their regular menu, and choose dishes of my preference. I do also think they could benefit from a hostess :) read more

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Elma is the perfect spot for an intimate, comfortable, yet elevated dining experience. There are 10 tables at the most and the kitchen is in plain view. The aromas coming from that kitchen let me know I was in the right place. My husband and I came to celebrate our anniversary. We went "all in" which is their version of a chef's tasting. We had: Herb focaccia Mozzarella bufala, squash Fried Calamari, puntarelle, bagna cauda Tagliatelle, crab, Thai basil Paccheri, broccoli rabe, hot sausage Gnudi, pepperoni xo, shrimp Wagyu, nduja, polenta Every single bite was simply delicious! Everyone we encountered from our server to the chef was so warm and pleasant. This is a place you keep coming back to. read more

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Every single bite was delicious. Very small, intimate space and the service was excellent. It was pretty cool having the chef serve some of the dishes. My wife and I chose the all in option which allowed the chef to choose our dishes. The wagyu was the best dish hands down. The focaccia was a great compliment to all the dishes with sauces. The desserts were delicious as well. Not one bad bite. Highly recommend this restaurant. read more

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Another amazing visit here, and again we ordered way too much food. The focaccia, stracciatella with nardellos, meatball, and especially the broccoli rabe were all perfection -- that broccoli rabe was so incredible we got one to go. They had a baked rigatoni special that had some kick to it and was incredible. The trofie with mushrooms was also basically perfect. We'd probably skip the chicken parm next time. We loved the eclair with pumpkin cream for dessert. read more

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Great pastas - firm and chewy, and not quite aldente. But the star of the show was the focaccia! The thickest I've every seen, with a savoury yeasty flavor with a squeeze of lemon. Will definitely come back again to try other pasta dishes read more

it's such a shame how terrible of an experience we had here, the food was honestly solid. however, i can't give this restaurant higher than 3 stars even if the food was perfect given the appalling service and nightmare logistics. my boyfriend had a 7p reservation on a saturday for a date night. important to note, this reservation was very easy to make, and there were earlier times available that we could have taken. we show up punctually, wait outside for 15 minutes, and are seated at 715p. the owner/chef was waiting on the tables/seating the customers. upon seating us, he tells us that we only have 1 hour for dinner since he had a 10-person reservation at 815p for which he needed our table. we should have just gone somewhere else -- 1 hour for a full sit-down dinner is rushed even for my boyfriend and i who typically eat pretty fast. i think that it's absolutely INSANE that we were given a 1h time limit to eat and leave. it feels unprofessional, disrespectful, and rushed. the owner/chef should not be accommodating more than he is able to. if we had known beforehand, we would have made an earlier reservation or chosen a different time. scheduling mishap aside, i was personally not a fan of the attitude of the owner/chef. while he was friendly and chatty, it was odd to me that he boasted about how there were 70+ people on his waitlist for that evening... which i struggle to believe is true considering how easily we were able to make a fairly last minute reservation despite there only being 16 seats. not a fan. he also primarily talked to my boyfriend... it always rubs me the wrong way when they assume the male is in charge. as for the food, it was solid. we had the meatball, the hiramasa crudo, the duck wings, the tagliatelle, and the brick chicken. the meatball was solid, but i would not pay $9 for a singular meatball. the crudo was good, but not extraordinary compared to other hiramasa crudos in the city. i did enjoy the duck wings and the tagliatelle. the duck wings were uniquely seasoned, and the tagliatelle was flavorful and packed with crab salad. i was not a fan of the brick chicken which was dry and uninspiring. the highlight of the night was the dessert, which was the corn brûlée. unfortunately, we did not get to enjoy it at the restaurant and has to take it home. at that point, our unreasonable 1 hour time limit has run out and we were rushed out of the restaurant. far from the ideal experience. to apologize for the rush, the chef/owner did offer a "few" free things. he gave us the meatball and dessert on the house. we thought the hiramasa was on the house too since it was not an item that we ordered, but when we were paying found that we were charged despite it being not something we asked for. while i would not have paid $18 for a not-super-exciting hiramasa dish, we had no more fight in us. honestly, the whole debacle was kind of ridiculous. i still can't believe a restaurant would be so unprofessional and chaotic, clearly the owner/chef is incapable of managing reservations. due to the rush, the whole dinner was not a pleasant experience. we didn't get to properly enjoy the food as the chef/owner was rushing us with every dish. it was clear that the kitchen was feeling the pressure too with the high turnover rate. we could hear the chef/owner barking orders in the kitchen, it felt like we were caught in the middle of an episode of the bear. didn't hate the chaos, it was kind of entertaining, but it didn't feel appropriate for the environment. it's such a shame i can't recommend this restaurant to anyone due to the owner's incompetence at scheduling, but the food here really is pretty good. i would consider coming back if they can demonstrate better professionalism and improve upon their ability at managing reservations. read more

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What an experience! Elma has the option for 4 or 6 course menu and I am so glad we picked the 6! The service is incredible and James and the rest of the team made our experience top notch. The food was incredible and just enough to keep us wanting (and having room) for more. I love that it's a BYOB and love the small intimate setting of the restaurant. Can't wait to come back! read more

Elma - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Incredible food and a unique setting. We loved everything we ate. The pork chop was wild in the best way. Tangy and spicy and perfectly cooked. All the pastas slammed and I am still thinking about the Thai flavors of the crab pasta. This place is tiny and our server Maureen was friendly and helpful. The chef visited all the tables multiple times while we were there (it is an open kitchen) and you could tell he really loves the food. I will be back again very soon! Make sure and save room for dessert. read more

Elma - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We went when brand new Pasta dishes were de-lish Hot af inside* *went when they opened and we were 1 of 2 tables seated. Small place and got to talk with the chef. Overall a positive experience other than the weak AC read more

Delicious cozy restaurant. Fabulous waitress! Had an appetizer, a pasta and dessert, and one course was better than the next. Will absolutely return. read more

Intimate but welcoming and comfortable. They make you feel at home. Food was excellent and portion size was good. Can not say enough good things about this place. I do not usually write reviews but was compelled to write one as my experience was so good. read more

James and his team were absolutely amazing. Every course was absolutely outstanding--beautifully presented, perfectly balanced, and full of surprising flavors. The experience ended on a high note with the best Biscoff crust cheesecake I've ever had. Totally worth the trip to Fishtown. The vibe was just right, too--chill, welcoming, and paired with a perfect playlist that set the mood. A fantastic dining experience from start to finish! read more

Elma - Swordfish (modification for non- meat eater) - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The meal was fine, but nothing special. A couple of dishes were bland, and service felt rushed. Not a bad experience, just not impressive enough to make me return quickly. read more

We had an incredible experience at Elma! Chef Nardone ensures he and his staff are only delivering the best, with their pre-fix/rotating menu. For 6 courses at $100 a head, it's also very reasonable (+BYO). It is pretty cool to see what they created out of a small space. It is an intimate setting, thoughtfully done and clean...bringing in only 2 seatings a night with a max of 12 people. Simple decor, but the open concept is brilliant, as you have a consistent sneak peek into the kitchen and preparation. Also has a solid playlist going throughout your meal. Their dishes covered the gamut - fish, pork, beef, pasta, shellfish, etc. What a ride! Everything was delicious, but if you've followed the chef at all, you know pasta has deep roots into his culinary expertise, so those dishes stood out to me the most. Major love for their one server who took care of all the tables. She was super attentive to any small need, personable, and very friendly. Definitely made the overall dinner that much greater! Something really cool that they do, is they will use ingredients from the night before to then serve creative breakfast concepts the following morning. You gotta love the sustainable approach, but it also gives you a chance to double down on something you may have particularly liked and try it in a new dish. As a small side note, reservations can go pretty quick and a nice feature is paying upfront when you make the reservation (including tip). As you close out dinner, it was much appreciated to just get up and go. read more

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Food excellent preparation according to our taste not too hot Service too Lovely interior read more

We had dinner at Elma on Oct-27. We had been wanting to try it for some time and were excited that the stars finally aligned. I was a little surprised to find only one other couple at the 8:30 seating. The owner/chef was super friendly and told us about some recent and upcoming changes. For starters, apparently they had been requiring the full cost of dinner when booking. That has changed to only charging $50/person. Secondly, they have started allowing for day of/ last minute reservations. In the future, they will also be introducing some more traditional ala carte options to make the menu more accessible. Apparently this place really listens to their customers' feedback! The menu on the night we ate their consisted of steak tartare, crab cake, ricotta gnudi, barchette, an optional tagliatelle in a bolognese bianco (which we opted for), a NY Strip, and raspberry tart for dessert. Everything was incredible, but our favs were the steak tartare (mine) and the ricotta gnudi (my wife's). The optional tagliatelle was served family style and in my eagerness to dive in, I forgot to take a pic. I had never had a bolognese bianco before and, except for being super stuffed at the end of the meal, was very glad we opted for it. In general, all of the dishes were unique and the flavors were well balanced. The courses were well paced and the staff was super attentive. At each course I grew more surprised that the place was not at capacity - people really don't know what they are missing. We will definitely be going back! read more

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Had dinner on Elma on 7-15. The food was spectacular! Crab gnudi and the semolina cake were particular favorites. Incredible value for money - as other reviewers have said, they could be charging way more for what you get. And love that it is BYO! Note that, because the meal is prepaid, there is no need to settle up at the restaurant. (Kind of wish they had explained that, it was a little confusing at the end.) Also, the AC was broken when we were there - but they did have fans going and the door propped open to circulate air. Minor service critiques aside, we had a great experience. Will definitely be back! read more

Elma - Menu 7-15-23 - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

All around exceptional. Highly recommend. Get the whole menu- EVERYTHING! Made another reservation for next week while we were still there.

We absolutely love Elma!! If we could afford it we would go every month when they change their menu!! For now we will continue to come here for special occasions and look forward to it every time!! Wish we could give it honors because it deserves more than 5 stars read more

What an inspired and inspiring new restaurant for our neighborhood. The dinner tasting menu at Elma is all the things you want in a fine dining experience (and please don't avoid Elma for fear of the worst excesses in this strata of restaurant): unpretentious, inventive, seasonal (without being over predictable because of it), delicious, occasionally challenging but never atypical just for the sake of it. Elma isn't trying too hard but it's definitely trying in the right places. We'll be back for the next menu set and we'll bring two bottles of wine this time because it's an experience that deserves to be savored. read more

Great spot. Authentic Italian fare. Super small spot but well executed. Looking forward to coming back here.

Next level deliciousness in a setting reminiscent of your own kitchen. The space was so intimate, we were able to conduct a running conversation with the staff. Take advantage of the BYO option...this place is not to be missed. read more

We had a wonderful dinner and dining experience this evening at Elma! My goodness...every course was thoughtfully designed and amazing. Lots of seafood tonight and everything was just delicious. And add a fantastic blueberry dessert...wow. The staff is so great...very friendly and also so informative if you are curious about their preparation and technique. Highly recommend!! read more