About Philadelphia Picks

This city doesn't do generic

Philadelphia has never taken kindly to generic advice. It's a place where people will cross Broad Street for the right roast pork sandwich, where a corner bar in Fishtown can keep the same regulars for thirty years, and where the plumber who understands a hundred-year-old rowhome is the most valuable number in your phone.

From South Philly and Point Breeze to Northern Liberties, Manayunk, Germantown, Mount Airy and the Northeast, every neighborhood has its own go-to spots, and residents will defend them to the end. Ask anyone in Bella Vista about their bakery and you will see what we mean.

What Philadelphia Picks does

Philadelphia Picks exists to answer one question: where should you go? We answer it with independent rankings in sixteen categories, from food and drink, health and home repair to beauty, cars, legal help, real estate, sports, pets and technology. Each list covers a single type of business, so you are never weighing a BYOB against a sports bar.

Why we're picky

Our editors work through every category across the whole city, not just Center City. We favor businesses with years of earned loyalty behind them, check addresses, phone numbers and hours, and cut anything that has closed or no longer measures up. Lists get updated on a regular basis, because Philly changes faster than its reputation suggests.

Who we write for

Lifelong Philadelphians who suspect their usual spot has been coasting. Students at Penn, Drexel and Temple figuring out the city for the first time. New arrivals who just closed on a rowhome and need a roofer they can trust. Visitors with a weekend to spare who would rather skip the obvious.

Own a business here?

If your business is on Philadelphia Picks, you can claim it on our For Businesses page and add photos, opening hours and the story behind what you do. Customers like knowing who they are dealing with.