Best Neighborhood Gem Restaurants in South Philly

Bottom line: will be back. Not the only BYOB around with this level of quality and price, but very good food and a welcome addition to the scene. We went on a Friday night and the atmosphere was boisterous. Had to shout a little to talk and the staff had a good, friendly attitude but they seemed pretty hurried. Good for starting a fun night if that’s your vibe, but definitely a bit more chaotic feel than some places. Had the pork chop special, the paccheri with duck ragu and crème brûlée cheesecake. All were great.

We enjoyed everything from the moment we waked in to the moment we left. Our anniversary was acknowledged by the hostess, our server and a manager. They also sent out a sweet little dessert. Timing was very fluid. I was very impressed with the acoustics- the restaurant was totally packed but you can not hear another individual conversation and can still make out the music. Hard to achieve without seeing visible panels or an abundance of heavy drapery and rugs which there is not. Food was perfect.

We got lucky and got a last minute reservation yesterday after being on waitlist for a few days. Felt like I hit the lottery lol, as I know this restaurant starts booking up in October for the holidays! Timing worked out perfectly as we had to get my daughter to her bus back to another city where she lives — and we had exactly one hour to eat. Got seated right away, thankfully. Atmosphere is always festive this time of year, which is the main reason we wanted to eat here. Food arrived promptly and was tasty, service was good and we were on our way out the door on time as very satisfied customers! We will be back ☺️

Wow! This was an awesome experience! As a fan of the Rocky film series, I knew about this place from the Rocky Balboa and Creed films. It is so much more than that, though. As the founder was a major player in early 20th century opera recordings, The Victor Cafe has an opera theme permeating its soul. The walls are adorned with photos of the opera greats, opera music plays softly in the background, and, most importantly, the waitstaff are all classically-trained opera performers. Every half hour or so, they gather everyone’s attention to perform a selection from a popular opera, complete with a synopsis of the story they’re about to tell through their performance. Every performer was wonderful and this made for a unique, joyful and memorable experience for my family. I grew up on Italian cuisine, and this was among the best I’ve had in a long time. We shared the Calamari Fritti, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that we could have substituted Smelts for the calamari. This was a staple of our Christmas Eve dinners when I was young. My Veal Saltimbocca was perfect, as was my Daughter’s Prince Igor (penne with a vodka blush, salmon, tomato, and Asparagus). We enjoyed our cannolis while watching our last performance of the evening. Breathtaking! Special shout out to our server, Brenna, who took our dessert order mere seconds after completing her duet! Remarkable! I can’t say enough about The Victor Cafe; if you’re looking for a classic South Philly Italian Restaurant, paired with one of the most wonderful and unique experiences you’ll find today, then this is the place for you.

The food here is delicious and the portions are large. I have ordered from here many times and will continue to order from here. On the whole, the staff was super friendly. Of note, they do not have Coke products. There was an issue with our order- something forgotten- and one of the staff yelled at another staff member and that was upsetting. The noise level was low except for the same staff that yelled being very loud on the phone.