1. Open in Market East since December 2011, the Walnut Street Supper Club mimics a 1940s-style supper club, with roomy booths set around a baby grand piano where Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald tunes are played. The menu offers classics like baby back ribs and New York strip steak, and the 175-seat dining room is available for buyouts.
2. Set a few blocks from both Penn’s Landing and Independence Hall, Taste is a new option at the recently renovated Sheraton Society Hill Hotel. The contemporary American menu offers dishes like a pulled-pork sandwich with apple-fennel slaw. The 80-seat dining room has hardwood floors and a long, curving banquette, and it’s available for buyouts.
3. Popular local mini-chain Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House opened it first location in Philadelphia proper, with a University City restaurant that opened in February 2012. A seafood menu including lobster summer rolls and wasabi-pea-crusted ahi tuna is served in the main dining room, which can host events for as many as 100, and in two small private dining rooms.
4. Christopher Kearse, the chef behind popular eatery Pumpkin, opened Will in August. This South Philadelphia B.Y.O.B. restaurant serves creative French-inspired fare like Parisian gnochi with maitake mushrooms and pumpkin. The intimate, 30-seat space has a clean, sparse decor and large windows looking out onto Passyunk Avenue. The restaurant is available for buyout.
5. With a local and seasonal focus, Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar opened in University City in September, serving flatbreads, sandwiches, and specialties like cider rosemary-glazed harvest moon chicken. The upper-level private dining room seats 50.
6. In the Main Line suburb of Wayne, Ella’s American Bistro has a private, 20-seat dining room outfitted with vintage photos and memorabilia and one long table set underneath chandeliers. The restaurant, which opened in May, serves creative takes on hearty classics, like lamb shoulder risotto with a balsamic reduction.
