How to Experience Philadelphia Like a Local
The City of Brotherly Love is known for its rich U.S. history and some incredible attractions, from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall to the Philadelphia Art Museum and its iconic east entrance steps, immortalized in the 1976 film, “Rocky.”
But if you’d like to experience Philly like a local, it’s important to veer away from the well-trodden path and get to know those hidden gems — culinary, artisan and otherwise — that truly make this city of neighborhoods shine.
Where to Eat and Drink in Philadelphia
Tucked along South Philadelphia’s 9th Street corridor, close to its legendary Italian Market, Mawn is a culinary masterpiece. This 28-seat eatery bills itself as a noodle house with “no rules,” a lively BYOB space where spicy Cambodian papaya salads go hand-in-hand with Thai crab rice and Night Market Noodles, served cold and topped with crispy neighborhood ramen. Though Chef Phila Lorn’s family hails from Cambodia, the cuisine is more South Asian experimental. Request a table near the open kitchen for a proper night out and watch the magic unfold.
A West African grill in the city’s Northern Liberties neighborhood, Suya Suya serves up fast-casual cuisine in a laid-back corner space. The eatery uses imported Nigerian spices to craft traditional suya — a spiced, smoked meat skewer with onions and tomatoes — though they’re as equally well known for their combo bowls, pairing chicken, turkey or beef suya with jollof rice, a Nigerian specialty. Fresh ginger lemonade and banana oat smoothies are also par for the course here.
With nearly a dozen locations throughout the city, Federal Donuts bakes up fresh cake-style donuts in styles ranging from classic milk-glazed to fancier flavors like pumpkin pie and raspberry ginger. Pair them with hearty helpings of twice-battered, hand-fried chicken and you’ve got yourself one decadent meal. Although this mini-donut empire has recently expanded outside Pennsylvania, its roots remain pure Philly.
To partake in the time-tested Philadelphia diet of soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, both locals and visitors alike head to Reading Terminal Market, Center City’s indoor public market that’s served as a gathering space since 1893. Today, over 100 vendors operate shop here, including purveyors of Italian hoagies, Pennsylvania Dutch sticky buns and homemade peanut brittle.
Attractions in Philadelphia
Follow the displays of carefully placed mosaic work to find Magic Gardens, a quirky South Street classic. Philadelphia-based artist Isaiah Zagar began creating this three-dimensional, immersive artwork in the mid-90s, and today, it remains his largest piece, spanning three city lots (though you can find his works in over 200 public spots across Philly). Along with indoor gallery space, the gardens include a bi-level outdoor sculpture garden that winds along narrow pathways covered in mosaics made up of everything from china serving ware to bicycle wheels. Everywhere you turn, there’s something new to look at. Take advantage of one of the gardens’ self-guided scavenger hunts, and you’ll wander around for hours.
19th-century writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe is a master of macabre who spent his life moving between some of the East Coast’s largest cities, including Philadelphia. Though he lived in several homes here, only one of them survives. The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site preserves this historic red-brick structure where Poe lived with his wife, Virginia, and his mother-in-law for about a year. It’s a sparse space, with not much more than some entry exhibits highlighting the author’s work and those of his literary contemporaries, a film on Poe himself and three stories of empty rooms where you’re left to let your imagination roam. The property’s basement is particularly creepy since Poe wrote his short story “The Black Cat” while living here, and it’s a space that’s quite similar to the one that appears in his work. A small onsite reading and listening room features copies of the piece for the uninitiated.
Consider yourself a literary buff? Philadelphia’s Free Library is an absolute treasure chest. Its Rare Book Department is home to the taxidermied remains of Charles Dickens’s pet raven, an avian that helped inspire Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” and both authors’ original works. Complementary tours that include a visit to the department take place daily.
Delve into the city’s lesser-known past with a visit to its 7th Ward. As the heart of Black Philadelphia in the 19th century, this historic community once had over 15,000 Black residents and was an integral part of the Underground Railroad. It later became an endpoint for the Great Migration, a 20th-century movement of six million Black people from the U.S. rural south to urban locations Northeast, Midwest and West. Set out on a self-guided tour of the district (now known as the riverside neighborhoods of Queen Village and Society Hill), which includes the still-standing home of Underground Railroad conductor William Still and Mother Bethel Church. Established in 1794, it’s the oldest parcel of land in the U.S. continuously owned by African Americans.
Arts in Philadelphia
The design-forward Yowie is a boutique shop that showcases independent artists and designers, selling everything from hand-stenciled ceramic plates to cargo tie midi dresses. Native Philadelphian Shannon Maldonado created the space in 2016, which, along with the store, now includes a neighboring cafe and above them both — a self-check-in boutique hotel overlooking South Street. Each of its 13 rooms are entirely unique, with hand-picked furnishings that are brightly colored and in large part made locally. The bulk of them are also for sale from the Yowie store or through in-room catalogs.
Bold, colorful, experimental and creative, The Fabric Workshop and Museum is a contemporary art space devoted to innovation. Past exhibits have included the textiles, comics and drawings of Heterodoxy, which explored a secret feminist society of the same name and the complex relationships it facilitated, and the aptly named Sonic Presence (or Absence): Sound in Contemporary Art. The multistory space also hosts everything from classes in pillowcase making to record release parties. It features an artist-in-residence program that has seen painters, photographers and architects working with materials and media that extend well beyond fabric.
See Philadelphia’s own artists, designers and crafters at work at the BOK Building, a former technical school now housing the workspaces of glass blowers, architects, musicians and tattoo artists. The building’s one-time car mechanic shop has been transformed into a first-floor marketplace with shops, coffee and a bakery specializing in traditional French breads and pastries. There’s also a rooftop bar and public events such as Intro to Weaving and rooftop yoga. Most businesses on the other floors at Bok are private workspaces or by appointment only, though some offer drop-ins.
Bonus: BOK is an easy walk to cheesesteak giants, Geno’s and Pat’s King of Steaks if the desire to live out your best tourist life remains just too strong.