Frankford Avenue has more good food per block than most cities have downtown.
That is not a Philadelphia thing to say — we do not do boosterism here — but walk from Girard Avenue up past Norris Street and count. Lebanese, Japanese yakitori, Texas-style barbecue, Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, and a pizzeria with a museum attached. All inside about fifteen blocks.
These are the 15 best restaurants in Fishtown, Philadelphia, with addresses, what to order, and how to string them together into an actual day.
Why Fishtown Is Philadelphia's Best Food Neighborhood
Fishtown was a fishing and manufacturing neighborhood on the Delaware River for most of its history. The restaurants arrived in the last fifteen years, and the density is what makes it unusual — this is not one good restaurant surrounded by nothing. It is thirty of them within walking distance of each other.
Two things follow from that. First, you can plan an entire day here without a car. Second, the competition is real, which keeps the quality high in a way that isolated destination restaurants never quite manage.
The spine is Frankford Avenue. Most of what follows sits on it, and the rest is a block or two off.
The Best Restaurants in Fishtown
Suraya — 1528 Frankford Avenue
Lebanese café, market, bakery and restaurant in one building, with a garden out back that is the correct place to be in September. Breakfast is calm, dinner is beautiful, and the market up front means you leave with something.
If you take one recommendation from this list, take this one.
Pizzeria Beddia — 1313 N. Lee Street
A block off Frankford and worth the detour. Beddia spent years as a two-pies-a-day operation with a cult following before becoming a full restaurant, and the pizza survived the transition.
There is also a private hoagie room. An entire room. For hoagies. Philadelphia is not a subtle city.
Wm. Mulherin's Sons — 1355 N. Front Street
Wood-fired pizza and seafood in a converted whiskey blending house. There is a small hotel upstairs, which becomes relevant if the wine list gets away from you.
nunu — 1414 Frankford Avenue
Japanese yakitori. Skewers, smoke, and a room dark in the right way. Sit at the bar and over-order.
Fette Sau — 1208 Frankford Avenue
Barbecue by the pound and bourbon by the long list, at communal tables. You order by weight, you sit wherever there is room, and you do not get precious about it.
Johnny Brenda's — 1201 Frankford Avenue
The menu changes daily and the upstairs is one of the better small music venues in the city. Dinner downstairs and whoever is playing upstairs is the most Fishtown evening available.
Elwood — 1007 Frankford Avenue
Pennsylvania Dutch cooking with native ingredients, taken seriously. This is the neighborhood's quiet argument that regional American food deserves the same respect as anything imported.
Kensington Quarters — 1310 Frankford Avenue
Nose-to-tail dining. They know where the animal came from and they will tell you if you ask.
Aether — 1832 Frankford Avenue
Seafood and a raw bar, further up the avenue where the blocks start to thin out.
Hiroki — Lee & Master Streets
High-end omakase. Book well ahead and understand that you are booking an evening, not a meal.
Pizza Brain — 2313 Frankford Avenue
Brick-oven pizza attached to a pizza memorabilia museum. It sounds like a gimmick. The pizza is good. Both are true.
Loco Pez — 2401 E. Norris Street
Mexican gastropub with ten kinds of taco, open late. This is the after place.
Philly Style Bagels — 1451 E. Columbia Avenue
Beer-boiled bagels. Go early — they sell out and they are not sorry about it.
Front Street Cafe — 1253 N. Front Street
All-day café. This is where you go when the group cannot agree, and it is genuinely good rather than merely acceptable.
Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop — 1 W. Girard Avenue
Making cheesesteaks since 1949, with a vintage soda fountain and real milkshakes. It sits at the southern edge of Fishtown and it is the neighborhood's entry in the citywide cheesesteak argument.
More Fishtown Restaurants Worth Knowing
Fifteen is a list. The neighborhood is deeper than that, and these are the ones locals reach for when the obvious picks are booked.
Cadence — 161 W. Girard Avenue. Imaginative tasting-menu cooking, and a BYO, which in Philadelphia means the bill lands somewhere reasonable for the ambition on the plate.
Ekta — 250 E. Girard Avenue. Indian BYOB, the sort of neighborhood standby that never makes national lists and never has an empty table.
Castellino's — 1255 E. Palmer Street. Italian market and deli. Sandwiches to take away, plus the shelf goods to build a decent dinner at home.
Da-Wa — 1204 N. Front Street. Japanese and sushi, quieter than nunu and easier to get into.
Stock Fishtown — 308 E. Girard Avenue. Vietnamese pho, small and fast, the correct answer in February.
Murph's Bar — 202 E. Girard Avenue. An Irish bar with genuinely good Italian food coming out of the kitchen. Nobody would guess from the outside, which is the entire appeal.
Pizza Shackamaxon — 115 E. Girard Avenue. Walk-in pizza, no ceremony.
A note on BYOB
Philadelphia has one of the strongest BYOB cultures of any American city, a side effect of Pennsylvania's liquor licensing being expensive and difficult. Fishtown benefits from it directly — Cadence and Ekta both let you bring your own, which typically saves a table of four somewhere between $40 and $80 on a dinner. Check before you go; licenses change.
The Best Coffee Shops in Fishtown
Fishtown takes coffee seriously enough to support an entire morning of it.
La Colombe — 1335 Frankford Avenue — is the flagship roastery and bakery and the anchor of the scene. But stopping at one is missing the point, which is why PlateWalk maps a five-stop Fishtown Coffee Trail rather than naming a single winner.
The Fishtown Food Trail on PlateWalk
Fishtown has two PlateWalk trails, and they are built for completely different days.
Fishtown Eats & Drinks — 2 stops. For when dinner is the plan and you want it settled.
Fishtown Coffee Trail — 5 stops. For when you have a whole morning and no obligations.
Both are GPS-guided, so you are not standing on a corner with your phone out working out which place is closer. Check in at each stop as you go. Complete either trail and you earn +50 PlatePoints, redeemable for rewards at partner restaurants.
Start a Fishtown trail on PlateWalk →
How to Eat Through Fishtown
Getting there. The Market-Frankford Line stops at Girard and at Berks, both of which drop you on the avenue. Driving is possible and parking is a negotiation.
Reservations. Suraya, Pizzeria Beddia, Wm. Mulherin's Sons and Hiroki all need booking on a weekend. Fette Sau, Loco Pez and Front Street Cafe do not — just turn up.
A realistic day. Bagels at Philly Style early. Coffee up Frankford. Lunch at Front Street Cafe. Walk the avenue in the afternoon. Dinner at Suraya or Beddia. A show at Johnny Brenda's. Tacos at Loco Pez when it gets late.
One warning. Weekend nights in Fishtown, Philadelphia get busier than visitors expect. If you want a specific table at a specific time, book it. Friday and Saturday after 7pm, walking in somewhere good without a reservation is a matter of luck rather than planning.
For more of the city, see our guides to the Italian Market and Philadelphia's best cheesesteaks. Visit Philadelphia also maintains a broader Fishtown restaurant roundup worth scanning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fishtown Philadelphia known for?
Fishtown is a riverfront neighborhood in Philadelphia known for its restaurant and music scene along Frankford Avenue, its coffee culture, and venues like Johnny Brenda's. It has one of the densest concentrations of well-regarded restaurants in the city.
What are the best restaurants in Fishtown Philadelphia?
Suraya for Lebanese food and its garden, Pizzeria Beddia for pizza, Fette Sau for barbecue, nunu for yakitori, and Johnny Brenda's for dinner plus a show are the most consistently recommended.
What street are most Fishtown restaurants on?
Most sit on Frankford Avenue between Girard Avenue and Norris Street, with several more a block or two off it on Front Street, Lee Street and Columbia Avenue.
Is Fishtown Philadelphia walkable?
Yes. Nearly everything on this list falls within about a mile along Frankford Avenue, and the Market-Frankford Line stops at both Girard and Berks.
Where is the best coffee in Fishtown Philadelphia?
La Colombe's Frankford Avenue roastery is the flagship, but the neighborhood supports enough good coffee to make a morning of it — PlateWalk maps a five-stop Fishtown Coffee Trail for exactly that.
Do you need reservations in Fishtown?
For Suraya, Pizzeria Beddia, Wm. Mulherin's Sons and Hiroki on a weekend, yes. Fette Sau, Loco Pez, Front Street Cafe and Joe's Steaks are walk-in.
