Last night I took some colleagues to Osteria, the #1 rated restaurant in Philadelphia by Philadelphia Magazine. We ordered the Lombarda pizza as the review recommended. When we finished, there were two slices left. When the waitress asked if we’d like it wrapped, all of us shook our heads no. This pizza couldn’t hold a candle to Rick’s pizza at Delorenzo’s. Searching the menu, there wasn’t a single entrée that popped out at me. When it came time to order, I asked the waitress for her recommendation. She told me to order the rabbit. It was served in a bowl, on a bed of buttered grits. I had a hard time separating the meat from the bone. Ultimately I think I ate about 3 mouthfuls of meat, if that. The grits were good and the meat I was able to extricate was good but c’mon! I was expecting something really fabulous. And no, my sights weren’t set too high. The food was just mediocre.
DO NOT GO TO OSTERIA! FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT.
I really think some money must have changed hands for that rating. There is no other explanation.
I’ve found a lot of magazine recommendations to be biased by advertising dollars and personal friendships.
Have you read the US Airways magazine recently? They have “best” of random cities every month which are largely a joke. I haven’t found Philadelphia Magazine to be uber-reliable.
Hi Doona! We were just in Philadelphia last week and I had spent a lot of time on chowhound.com doing research on the Philly restaurant scene. People kept talking about Osteria for seafood. We ended up eating in a nice Italian BYOB called Bronzino near Rittenhouse Square. Not cheap but we brought along a nice bottle of wine and had a great dinner. About 80 bucks for 2. I had soup and desert.
TRY HOLLYEATS.COM
FOR MY FAV LOW CLLASS RECOMMENDATIONS