Am\u00e1 on the corner of Front and Oxford Streets in Fishtown<\/a>. The restaurant serves dinner daily and falls in the $$$ price range, with most dishes under $30.<\/p>\nEater Philly describes the spot as \u201can ambitious, high-end take on Mexican dining, more similar to something you\u2019d find in Mexico City than anything else available in Philly.\u201d The cocktail menu features Mexican ingredients like sotol, tascalate and totomoxtle. Dishes to watch include a tuna tostada with avocado and salsa macha, a seasonal Oaxacan tlayuda topped with vegetables like squash blossoms, and larger plates meant for sharing: whole wood-fired pulpo and a wagyu carne asada served with ancho butter, mole and chochoyotes, a masa dumpling similar to gnocchi.<\/p>\n
For diners who don\u2019t have time for a full meal, the spacious bar serves drinks and snacks.<\/p>\n
Vernick expands beyond Center City with Emilia<\/p>\n
Greg Vernick, who has run the acclaimed Vernick Food & Drink in Center City for over a decade, opened Emilia earlier this year in Kensington. It is his first restaurant without his last name attached and his first focused on specifically regional cooking. The menu is Italian, with dishes like porchetta ribs, bucatini all\u2019Amatriciana and swordfish puttanesca alongside cocktails and Italian wines by the glass.<\/p>\n
Eater Philly calls it \u201ca sexy restaurant in Kensington, with tight service and a thoughtful, seasonal menu that hues to Italian tradition without feeling rote or boring.\u201d A few tables in the bar area are available for walk-ins. Emilia is open for dinner and priced at $$$.<\/p>\n
Vernick Fish, his seafood concept in the Comcast Center, was rotated off the list in the same update.<\/p>\n
Kalaya, Sulimay\u2019s and other Fishtown fixtures hold their spots<\/p>\n
The Fishtown and near-Kensington corridor continues to dominate the list beyond the new additions. Kalaya, the Southern Thai restaurant from chef Nok Suntaranon, won the 2026 James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award and recently moved to a larger Fishtown location. The menu expanded with the move, adding dishes like miang pla phao, a whole grilled branzino served with pineapple, herbs and rice noodles, and a towering tom yum kalaya with giant river prawns. Weekend lunch service is available, but Eater recommends booking ahead for dinner.<\/p>\n
Sulimay\u2019s, the Fishtown diner with walls plastered in Tastykake tributes and local sports memorabilia, also held its place. The breakfast and lunch spot is known for omelets stuffed with local kielbasa from Czerw\u2019s in nearby Port Richmond and what Eater calls possibly the best hash browns in town. The Fishtown scrapple, made with spicy whitefish and finished with a fried egg and pickled peppers, is a signature dish.<\/p>\n
Down North Pizza in Strawberry Mansion, known for its Detroit-style square pies and its mission of hiring formerly incarcerated workers at fair wages, also remains on the list. The restaurant is open Thursday through Sunday from noon until sold out.<\/p>\n
How the list works and what it costs to eat<\/p>\n
The Eater 38 is updated quarterly and spans the full city and beyond, covering cuisines from Korean barbecue to vegan fine dining. Each entry now includes hours, a price tier and an insider tip. The price tiers break down simply: $ means most dishes under $10, $$ under $20, $$$ under $30 and $$$$ at $30 and above.<\/p>\n
Kim\u2019s Restaurant, one of the few Korean barbecue spots in the city still cooking over hot coals rather than gas burners, sits at $$. Pietramala, the unapologetically vegan restaurant from chef Ian Graye that sources produce predominantly from Pennsylvania farms, is $$$. Honeysuckle offers a tasting menu at $135 alongside a la carte bar snacks.<\/p>\n
Middle Child Clubhouse, the bigger sibling of Matt Cahn\u2019s original sandwich shop, is also expanding. A location is opening at the Philadelphia airport.<\/p>\n
What Northeast diners should know<\/p>\n
None of the 38 restaurants sit within Northeast Philadelphia\u2019s borders, which is a familiar frustration for local diners. But several of the list\u2019s strongest entries are a short drive or bus ride down Frankford Avenue in Fishtown and Kensington, the corridor that picked up the most additions this cycle.<\/p>\n
For readers who want to suggest a Northeast spot for future consideration, Eater Philly accepts tips through its website or at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. Restaurants must be open at least six months to be eligible. The next update is expected in fall 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eater Philly released its summer 2026 update to the Eater 38, the publication\u2019s quarterly list of essential Philadelphia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-270664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}