Where should I eat in Old City?

I'd personally just eat and drink at Khyber given the choice but I'll throw out a few other options - Zahav (Israeli), Amada (tapas), or the 'ol Handynasty (Chinese). These could go above your budget if you're really hungry but they are reasonable and usually have some decent beers on the menu (bottles).

 

Walk to the train station, if you are close enough, and use the train into 30th Street. Check out Bridgewaters. It fits your criteria and you don't have to drive. Among the bottles on offer is the 2003 Aventinus that was aged in the brewery's Eiskeller. Just don't miss the train back. :-)

 

Bierstube is pretty cool, and has tasty German dishes

 

I'd eat at Triumph

 

Zento for sushi

 

If you like BBQ and don't mind the less romantic atmosphere, I'd suggest the Khyber. I love the food their and their beer list is obviously quite good.

 

I think that Matishopbrew made three excellent suggestions.

Khyber Pass makes excellent New Orleans cuisine. I think that the Shrimp Étouffée and Gumbo are outstanding. They have other great dishes as well.

Han Dynasty is an authentic Sichuan restaurant. The food is spicy; they provide a spicy scale (1 – 10 stars) which is very accurate. I like mildly spicy food so I go for 3-4 star dishes.

I have heard great things about Zahav. It is located near Society Hill Towers. MY wife and I stopped there one time but the wait time was too long.

Have a good meal (and drink good beers).

Cheers!

P.S. Have you ever been to the Irish Pol? Great selection of draft beers and great happy hour prices.

 

Zahav is wonderful, but between two people you're looking at a minimum of four small tapas sized plates (5-6 to get the full experience) for two people and most of them are around $9. With drinks, they'll have no shot at staying within that limit.
Agree on Irish Pol. Not much for atmosphere, and I have not tried the food (no idea what they have, but by dumbass law they have to serve some kind of food) but they usually have a very good list and are priced quite well for the city.

 

Thanks for the tip about the economics of Zahav.

“Agree on Irish Pol. Not much for atmosphere, and I have not tried the food (no idea what they have, …” I have never eaten at the Irish Pol but every time I go there I ‘wonder’ about their pierogies. I really like ‘good’ pierogies but ‘bad’ pierogies really disappoint me.

Has anybody had the pierogies at the Irish Pol?

Cheers!

 

My wife and I ate at Jose Pistola's once. It thought the food was good and reasonably priced. My wife was not too thrilled with the ambiance of Jose Pistola's though.

I hope you and girlfriend have a great time tonight! It is hot & steamy; a good day/evening for some cold beer!

Cheers!

 

“ …down for the night” Oh, I thought this meant tonight. My mistake.

I am sure that the 21st will be a good day/evening for cold beer too!

Cheers!

 

irish pol's food is very meh. everything fried (even the ravioli). just bar food.

 

i'd def pass on the food at irish pol. you're much better off eating at khyber, bierstube, philly bar and restaurant or eulogy.

 

Farmicia. You'll be cutting it close on budget, but it won't be a total blowout like Zahav.

Seconded on Handy Nasty. Dan Dan Noodles... Mmmm....

If you feel like hoofin' a little bit, both Fat Salmon (Wash West) or Kisso (3rd/Race) have good sushi....FS is expensive for booze and Kisso is BYO. I've also heard good things about Nomad Pizza (Wash West).

Don't succumb to gastropub food! You are in the city, have something different