I'm going to Philadelphia in a few weeks. I've never been there before, and thought I'd ask for recommendations for places to eat, have a cold beer and whatever else that comes to your mind. Anyone?
Visit the Mutter Museum . One of the best sights in Philly. And when you're done at the Mutter Museum, stop by Monks Cafe for Belgium beer.
Take advantage of a nice day and walk around Old City and Society Hill. Just strolling along and checking out Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and cool old buildings is quite enjoyable. Monk's is a great bar, also check out the Dark Horse on 2nd street between Pine and South. Also don't feel bad about enjoying some Philly cliches. Go to the Philadelphia Art Museum so that you can run up and down the steps ... but then go check out the museum itself. And a trip to Pat's and/or Geno's is a worthwhile experience. Oh yeah, Man United are playing Celtic July 28th and Lincoln Financial Field and AC Milan is playing Chelsea about a week later.
Take a tour of the Masonic Temple. They give tours on the weekends. It's by far the best kept secret in the city.
Geno's is overrated my friend, if you want a better cheesesteak, hit South Street and go to Jims...Much better steaks IMO, I think most Philadelphians would agree. Try the Masonic temple, Mutter museum, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Manyoo/Celtic on the 28th of July, Old City, The Zoo, a Phillies game, Italian Market, and the Phila Museum of Art, it's decent. (i work there), etc. etc. anyway, if you want more info PM me.
Wow! You all have been GREAT!! Thanks so much... btw~Danks81-I didn't mean to make you feel badly about your recommendation. You just caught me off guard. I do have one question, tho. HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW??????
i still say that the claymont steak shop is better... although theres a cool record shop across the street from jims...
Oh there are plenty of better places to get a steak, but for a visitor it would be too confusing...and inconvenient.
Millified, have you visited Philly yet? If not, what types of things do you like to do? I'll throw out some random suggestions before knowing the answer to those questions. I think McGillan's (sp?) is a neat bar to visit, because it's the oldest one in the city. They have all the liquor licenses going back to 1860 or something ridiculous like that. I also think the new independence hall area is great. You can see the liberty bell for free, and the constitution center is $6. A really helpful thing to do is to get a free national park service map of center city from the visitors center -- more useful than you can imagine when you're walking around town. Also, a bit more off the beaten path is Elfreth's Alley. If you like history, it's a neat street, and a tour of a home is only $2, although you can walk down the street for free. Philly has too many good restaurant's to name, but one that has pretty unique decor is Pod, in West Philly by Penn's campus. In fact, if you're curious, Penn's campus is pretty cool too. They have the greatest basketball stadium in the country, so if you're a basketball fan and you can get into the Palestra, it'll be well worth your time. The Fine Arts library (a.k.a. the Furness building) is also pretty amazing. Anyway, I'm happy to throw out more ideas, as I'm here for the summer and know a bit about the city, but I'll stop now since this might all be too late anyway. Oh, one last thought: the new Phillies stadium is open. It's a great place to catch a game.