Beautiful ambiance and such a great spot in University City! Louie Louie has a French-inspired…read moreatmosphere that really makes you feel like you've stepped into a café or brasserie somewhere in Europe. The décor is colorful, stylish, and inviting, while still feeling relaxed enough for just about any occasion. The food is reasonably good, with French-inspired dishes like Steak Frites, which fits the whole Parisian brasserie vibe perfectly. I've come here for a date, met up with friends, and even had a work meeting here...it works surprisingly well for all three. The staff is always friendly and the bar tenders are easy to talk to and know their stuff about drinks. Being right near the Penn and Drexel campus environment gives the restaurant a nice energy without taking away from the upscale feel. Definitely a good option if you're looking for beautiful surroundings, a European-inspired experience, and a versatile place to eat and connect.

Cool spot. Spent more than a few snowstorms there. Work in U City…read more TBH, the bar staff was less than friendly or even engaging. I felt as if I was being dismissed while simply making small talk. Just me.

Got seated quickly at the bar after walking in on a saturday morning - good coffee and yummy salad…read more Standard brunch food

So I've been meaning to try this place for a long time. Well luckily we got our chance today. Met…read morewith a Swedish paper mill today and wanted to take them to a nice lunch spot. We chose this because the menu had a nice mix of southern and American favorites that they weren't accustomed to. You should've seen two northern boys trying to describe grits to a Swede. Our waitress was awesome. She was great at explaining things and talking about each dish. Of course there were questions. Some things probably got lost in translation but everyone was happy with their choices. I also feel like servers are always put in an awkward position when you ask them to help you choose. Food is like art. It's so subjective. So for starters we got the fried greet tomatoes and the Burrata. Burrata was not ideal for sharing with people you do not know. It was one large piece of toast. So she actually took it back and someone cut it into 4 sections for us. The fried green tomatoes were awesome. It had a nice tangy sauce with sweeter pickles that came along side. My colleague got the open faced chicken sandwich which was an enormous amount of food. It was two fat chicken pieces on two thick slices of toast. I got the salmon sticky rice bowl with a side of the charred broccoli. Both were so delicious. The salmon had some broccoli in it too. So I really over did it. The charred broccoli side had crusted Parmesan in it and a creamy sauce. Both dishes were just knock outs. Almost forgot I got the love latte too. That was really good. I got it with oat milk. So I highly recommend this place. Great for a business lunch too. Easy to hear one another. Music wasn't too loud. Oh they were very gracious with us. We were 15 minutes late because I wouldn't stop talking in the pre lunch meeting. Yeah I'm that guy. Figures I'd be on Yelp.

FANTASTIC place. Totally recommend and would absolutely go back…read more Easy to make a reservation over the phone and our party of 5 was welcomed and brought to our table upstairs. The upstairs area has a chill vibe with some Mario-themed art as well as a TV. It seems that the kitchen is upstairs, so a lot of waiters were flying by out table to the staircase. Our waiter was pretty chill. Apparently an O's fan, he was excited to learn we're from Baltimore. Food was all fantastic. The style of fries isn't my preference, but they were decent. Other than that, I was blown away. Child #1 and Child #2 got some items from the Kids' menu - grilled cheese and cheeseburger. Bread and Butter appetizer. Is it expensive for just being bread and butter? Yes. Is it worth it? Also yes. The homemade bread is great, but combine it with honey butter with flaky salt, and it's incredible. Loads of reviews on Yelp talked about the sausage roll. GET IT. It's greasy and filling in all the right ways. Goes great with a beer. My wife got the burger and she found it to be very tasty. I got the Grilled Maitake Mushrooms dish and holy cow; it's perfect. Even if you're not a vegetarian (I'm not), you can appreciate this dish: crispy rice cake (not the dry kind from the store), tender baby bok choy, and of course the well-cooked mushrooms are tied together with black vinegar, garlic-whipped tofu (!), and a peanut sauce. A++ would absolutely get again. The food menu has some staples, but overall it does change nightly, so make sure you check it out before you come. Apparently, on Sundays, they do a different experimental flavor of wings. I was curious, but my stomach has only so much room, so I had to draw the line. There is a respectable drink menu. My wife got the blood orange mezcalita, which she liked, but thought the smoke flavor was more subtle than described. I got the Plum Fizz and would totally get it again. Pleasantly-sour with a nice fizz. It's a nice pub in a nice neighborhood of a major city - be prepared for prices to match. But it is absolutely worth it.

Found a great burger in Philly! Fresh meat, seasoned & grilled well with a perfect dark char. So…read moreflavorful! This was house special of the day with Gruyere cheese and arugula, delicious! The bread roll looks large but it's just so super fluffy, made locally (Lost Bread Co), and was a perfect compliment to the burger. Bad Brother I'm told makes their own sourdough bread and Chef is out of San Francisco so he knows bread. Known for their sriracha wings which are a 2-day process to make (brined then soaked before cooking). I didn't try this trip but 7 orders at the bar while I was there speaks volumes. Bartenders are foodies too so drinks are creative, plus they are fun and engaging with the crowd. Weekly specials offer locals savings. Will definitely be back soon!

We began our long weekend in University City with lunch at the White Dog Cafe. The bright and ample…read morespace, set in three Victorian brownstones, was very comfortable, easy to converse in and the decor really embodied a sophisticated rustic charm. We began our meal with cocktails and an Artisan Cheese Plate which was accompanied by fruit, nuts, pickles, crusty bread and the most delicious strawberry and apricot spreads. The cheese selections were unique and very tasty! Definitely a must have as an appetizer or a nosh with cocktails. For our mains, we selected the Spicy Lamb Bolognese and the Impossible Patty Melt. The lamb ragu was very flavorful and the pasta was perfectly cooked. The Impossible Patty Melt was well cooked and the star of the show was the smoky onion jam and spicy pickles. This was a perfect intro to the foodie scene in and about the University City area. The staff was warm and friendly and the overall vibe makes it easy to linger long after the meal is done.

I really wanted to like this place. One of my friends recommended it, and then another group of…read morefriends invited me to go after a talk, so I was actually pretty excited to finally try it. And honestly, the restaurant itself is SO cute. Aesthetically, I adore it. It has this old European pub / rustic countryside feeling, especially with the dim lighting. There's a bar in the front and seating toward the back, and they really committed to the whole theme. Mason jars, wood details, the menu attached to a wooden board, and dog-themed decorations everywhere. It's very thoughtfully decorated and has that cozy rainy-day feeling where you just want to sit around and chat. The staff were also polite and checked on us pretty frequently. They kept our water glasses filled, which I appreciated. Food-wise, though, this is where things fell apart for me. We shared the mussels and charcuterie board, and I ordered the seafood cavatelli for myself. The mussels were easily the best thing we had. They came with a choice of red or white, which I'm assuming refers to the sauce or wine preparation, although I wasn't totally sure. Either way, the mussels themselves were really good and the broth was flavorful. The bread was perfect for soaking up all that juice. Honestly, 10/10 for the mussels. The charcuterie board was less impressive. It felt pretty sparse for the price, with the usual salami and ham but no prosciutto. Some of the other items also felt pretty basic for what I expected to be a more upscale board. There was even an egg on it, which just wasn't really my cup of tea. Nothing was necessarily bad, it just didn't feel worth the price. Then came my seafood cavatelli, and unfortunately... DAMN, it was greasy. The sauce was much more oily than creamy, and after a couple bites I already knew I wasn't going to finish it. I didn't want to leave a giant plate of food untouched at the table and look rude, so I took it home and gave it to someone else. For $31, I really didn't think it was worth it. The shrimp and scallops tasted like they came straight from the frozen section, and the tomatoes had that oily, jarred quality to them. Everything just seemed to be sitting in oil. The cavatelli itself was slightly overcooked, although I'm more forgiving of that because the shape can have a little variation in texture. But the grease was just too much. So overall, I think this is one of those places where I really want to love it because the atmosphere is fantastic, but the food just didn't justify the prices for me. The mussels were genuinely good, but that's about where my excitement stopped. I could definitely see myself coming back to sit at the bar, have a drink, and chat with friends because the space is really lovely. But if you're coming specifically for the food, I'd temper your expectations. Beautiful restaurant, lovely atmosphere, nice staff. Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the setting or the price for me.

Our best sit down meal in Philly…read more Food: 5. Service: 5 Atmosphere: 4.5 Cost to worth it rating: 3 Opentableable: no but resy Return worthiness: yes! Eve award: best foie toast Highlights: - Foie toast: smooth and rich terrine slices w jam was out of this world. Bread was perfect combo of crunchy and soft as a base. 5 stars - Crab pasta: super fresh flat string pasta with crab chucks and crunchy pollen for texture but the magic was in the sauce so complex and delicious. 5 stars - Pork chop: cooked perfectly with a tasty Korean glaze. 5 stars - Blueberry pie: crusty and lovely blueberries. 4.5 stars - Roast chicken: juicy version. 4.25 stars - Chocolate flan: rich almost coffee like flavor 4.5 stars - Ian: fun and helpful waiter. He was great. 5 stars! - Atmosphere: maze of different dining rooms. We ended upstairs with the wine - Wine: fine selections and got a surprising glass of Austrian red wine I enjoyed the waiter recommends. Midlights: - Fish was pretty plain but tender. 3 stars - Eggplant toast the spicy harissa didn't work for me but others liked it. 3 stars - Couldn't do pork chop plain without the glaze for my picky teen Lowlights - Out of the bottle of wine we wanted was excited to see on the menu. And the substitution the lady said was from the same region but was not--not even the same state.

Sat at the chefs counter which is the way to do it! So fun watching the food prep and scope out…read moresome of the menu items before ordering. We ordered: - tuna tartare toast: fan fave for a reason, the mayo is so good on this! - oysters: self explanatory, the ginger condiment isn't my favorite thing I've had on an oyster but it was tasty. - grilled halloumi with blueberry Agua chile: I absolutely loved this, I'm a sucker for halloumi and the sweetness from the blueberry balanced it out so well. This was a special for the evening. - zucchini: this was the veggie dish I was least interested in on the menu but our waitress described it so well that we decided to try it. The ricotta on top was so creamy and the zucchini is charred from the wood fire grill - whole fish of the night: whole dorade stuffed with lump crab.... Insanely good, not too fishy at all and perfectly charred. Even better with some of their homemade hot sauce which we ended up purchasing a bottle of ($8), the fish was $82 - blueberry pie: only on the menu for a limited time once per year, it was the perfect dessert We each got one cocktail and I had one glass of wine. Our bill was $325 with tip which we felt was slightly more than we thought we would spend but we also could've done without one dish as we were stuffed and had leftover fish. Not dying to return but would recommend it for a nice date night!

Big fan of Middle Child and was excited to try their sitdown restaurant. My boyfriend and I got in…read moreline at 11:50 AM on a Saturday, ordered by 12:15 PM, and got our food by 12:25. The baller sandwich with avocado was the top highlight, and I loved the sour pickles. The big pancake was also great. Will return for more sandwiches!!

Tried breakfast at Middle Child, and instantly the cast iron styled pancake stuck out. I also went…read morefor the latke without the roe. Off the back the pancake was decent. In someways similar to golden diner, Sunday in BK and Cafe Lulucs. I wasn't a fan of the orange/citrus infused syrup, though it did sound interesting. I'll have to say my favorite pancake in this style is still Cafe Luluc, but this comes in as a close second for the pancake by itself. The latke was great as usual but I didn't fancy the dill cream as much. I preferred the dinner variant I had on a previous visit. All and all, a pleasant visit, though I probably would get the pancake with maple syrup next time. Definitely, interested to try other options on my next visit.

Such an eclectic, whimsical, romantic atmosphere--you immediately feel like you've stepped into…read moresomewhere special. Our waitress was an absolute sweetheart. You could tell she genuinely wanted to connect with every guest and make sure they had a great experience. We started with the roasted oysters, and they were easily the best roasted oysters I've had in a very long time--if not the best ever. For pizza, we went with our waitress's recommendation and ordered the corn and jalapeño pizza. Definitely not a combination I ever would have thought to put together, but whoever came up with it--thank you! The homemade crust was perfectly crispy, and the combination of flavors was incredible. Sweet, savory, a little heat--it was a total flavor bomb in the best possible way. Such a fun atmosphere, wonderful service, and food that surprised us in all the right ways. We'll definitely remember this one!

Food Quality & Taste- 3.5/5 The food was good. Standouts?…read moreThe Butternut Squash Soup! The Butternut Fried Chicken Sandwich was a little spicier than I anticipated. It was also a nice portion size, particularly since it was a lunch special. -Mantra Meldoy- 3/5 -Butternut Squash Bisque- 4/5 -Butternut Fried Chicken- 3/5 Service- 4/5 The service was great! Very quick and attentive. I appreciate a server who is anticipatory. My water glass was never empty. Atmosphere- 5/5 Wilder is beautiful inside. There's an upstairs and downstairs, and each section of the restaurant gives a different vibe. There's even a small outside seating area, if the weather is nice. Value- 4/5 Some prices are a little expensive, but the lunch special pricing is a steal. Generally, I think it's a strong value and would recommend the restaurant. Opportunities for Learning- 4/5 I went during Black History Month, and they had BHM drink and food specials. It was very creative. Also, how the restaurant got its name is also kind of cool! It's inspired by Gene Wilder. There are a few things to learn here, and I definitely left a little smarter.

Seems like a neighborhood spot with a bunch of regulars, few bartenders, and mixed genre music…read more Drink menu is complex and most drinks are fairly strong in liquor with crafted combinations in harder to find ingredients. Bar is clean, space is tight, but you can walk in. I had the octopus and tartare both were great. Octopus was the best, tartare did not have mustard.

We had a wonderful experience at Friday Saturday Sunday. Each course was thoughtfully paired and…read morethe food was incredibly flavorful, beautifully presented, and clearly prepared with a lot of attention to detail. The progression of the meal felt very intentional, and every dish brought something unique to the experience. The only area for improvement was that some of the descriptions of the dishes from different servers were a little difficult to hear and at times felt rushed. Given how thoughtfully each course was prepared, I would have loved a little more time and clarity to fully appreciate the story and details behind each dish. Overall, a fantastic dining experience and one we truly enjoyed!

Absolutely phenomenal experience. From the service, to the food, to the amazing atmosphere out on…read morethe patio, I will have no hesitation in coming back here in the future. Started with a special, which was the brie (Garden Fresh Figs and Brie - Figs from our garden, Brie Couronne, House made Lavash cracker and candied pistachios) and cornbread (Fresh Baked Cornbread - pepper jack & slivered scallion, chipotle honey butter). Both of these dishes were amazing from start to finish. My entree was the bolognese (Slow Braised Spiced Lamb Bolognese - handmade pappardelle pasta, summer tomato, herbs and basil whipped ricotta) and it was heaven in a bowl - so rich and flavorful I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life. Am so glad to have been able to try this place.

Food Quality & Taste- 3/5 The food was fine. While the…read morefrittata was average for me, the waffle was really good! I liked the cornbread feel of the waffle. Service- 5/5 Service was excellent! I received a warm greeting from the hostesses and was quickly seated. My server was also very quick to take my order, kept my water glass full, removed used plates from the table quickly, and was quite responsive to all requests. Really impressed with the service! Atmosphere- 4/5 It's beautiful inside. There's bar seating, outside seating, and a variety of spaces inside to sit. It is also quite "cozy." The pillows, dim lighting, and low floor lamps made for a really nice brunch. I'd go back just for the atmosphere. Value- 4/5 Great value! Nothing too expensive, and there are a variety of options at different price points. The service and atmosphere really make this a great option. Opportunities for Learning- 5/5 There are many learning opportunities! There are different seasonal options/ menus, many different dishes that would teach you something (ex., the Italian frittata vs. the French quiche), and some cool ingredients that would make you Google.

What a gem this place is! If you are looking for an experience where the restaurant has its own…read moreenergy and vibe, this is the place! The waitstaff are highly knowledgeable and attentive. Our server set the stage from her warm greeting. You feel like you are about to have a unique experience- and you are! It's very dark in the restaurant. This creates an intimate ambience. However the energy is very vibrant. Their menu- New American Cuisine- offers both small and large plates. My scallop dish is considered an entree- and it delivered in flavor and aesthetic. You know you are experiencing truly fine dining when you are at the Harp and Crown. If you are in Philly- check this place out!

I usually go to Harp & Crown during happy hour so this was my first time sitting down and dining…read more Went for brunch as they have a buffet style where you can eat for around an hour and a half. You do have a server for drink orders, they explain the buffet, and then you're free to get up and grab a plate. There's a cold side, hot side, and juice portion. The cold side has sweets, salads, seafood, bagels, cheeses, and other various finger foods. The hot side has an omelette station, meats, pasta, and typical breakfast fixings. The omelette station can be easy to miss and I initially did. It's a relatively small portion of the bar where they have the omelette menu to let the cook know what you'd like. There was also a carving board that had prime rib and salmon. The prime rib was unfortunately dry which is common with these kind of setups. There was a wide variety of food to choose from and I liked that there were some atypical breakfast choices to lean more into the "lunch" portion of brunch.