Best BYOBs in Philadelphia

Philadelphia restaurateurs have found a creative workaround to the state’s expensive and restrictive liquor licensing system: bring your own bottle (BYOB) restaurants. This concept allows diners to enjoy their favorite wines, beers, and liquors, helping restaurateurs maintain a vibrant atmosphere without serving alcohol.

BYOBs have become a staple in Philly’s diverse culinary landscape, with long-gone pioneers paving the way and many establishing themselves as neighborhood hotspots with charming streeteries.

Venture into Philly’s vibrant BYOB scene with these 9 restaurants.

Walk into the bustling Mawn in Bella Vista for chef-owner Phila Lorn’s take on Cambodian cuisine. The menu features Cambodian papaya salad with spicy tamarind and dried shrimp ($15), prohok (fermented fish paste) turned “Cambodian chimichurri” atop a sliced 20-ounce ribeye ($49), and northern Thai curry over Neighborhood Ramen noodles with braised chicken, chili jam, red onion, and pickled greens ($24).

📍764 S. 9th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, ✉️ info@mawnphilly.com, 🌐 mawnphilly.com

On East Passyunk Avenue, Carlos Aparicio’s all-day cafe turns into a lively BYOB as evening diners stroll in with tequilas and beers in hand. The chef-owner of El Chingón is known for whipping up cemitas or swirl-rounded sesame roll sandwiches filled with a variety of fillings, from adobo-braised beef with consomé to seared mushrooms with parsley-capers aioli ($17-$22). There’s also al pastor and pollo tacos ($17-$18), ceviche ($24), and bay scallops ($26) to enjoy in the colorful 30-seat dining room or al fresco seating on the sidewalk.

📍1524 S 10th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📞 267-239-2131, 🌐 elchingonphilly.com

Tabachoy, the Filipino hotspot in Bella Vista, serves dishes like Caesar salad with briny bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) ($15) and ube soft serve with coconut caramel and puffed rice, accompanied by a crunchy turon or banana spring roll ($11). Chef-owner Chance Aines recommends light and crushable beers like Kenwood Lagers or Asian beers like Sapporo and Tsingtao to accompany the meal — and Champagne, pét-nat, and rosé are perfect for wine drinkers.

📍932 South 10th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📞 215-315-8720, 🌐 tabachoyphilly.com

Ian Graye’s Spring Garden BYOB serves Italian-inspired vegan dishes that give vegetables the praise they deserve. Folks can dine on parsnip piccata ($25), grilled savory cabbage ($23), and sourdough focaccia with charred leeks ($8) in a cozy, warm-lit restaurant.

📍614 N 2nd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 📞 215-970-9541, 🌐 pietramalaphl.com

Inside the 26-seater dining room, South Street’s Pumpkin BYOB plates three-course meals, featuring dishes like chilled corn soup, crab cakes, and chocolate tort. The meal is $55 and the menu changes daily at this 20-year-old restaurant. Co-owner-chef Ian Moroney recommends sipping on sparkling wines, Champagne, Vinho Verde, or natural wines with his dishes.

📍1713 South St, Philadelphia, Pa. 19146, 📞 215-545-4448, 🌐 pumpkinphilly.com

East Passyunk’s Perla celebrates the Filipino tradition of kamayan family-style feasts. Inside the 30-seat BYOB, chef Lou Boquila serves a $50 per person spread of jasmine rice, lumpia rolls, whole fried Pompano fish, and other Filipino classics for everyone to share.

📍1535 S. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📞 267-273-0008, 🌐 perlaphilly.com

Chef Thanh Nguyen is known for dishing out a repertoire of specialty Vietnamese dishes. There are delicate water fern dumplings topped with minced shrimp, pork crackling, mung beans, fried shallot ($14) and sizzling catfish with a turmeric dry rub, vermicelli noodles, fermented anchovy, pineapple sauce ($24). And the verimicelli platter (packed with fried tofu, pork, rice and pork patties, blood sausage, Vietnamese herbs, kumquat, shrimp paste dipping sauce for $34) is often accompanied by bottles of strong spirits: “whiskey for the millennials and Cognac more typical for the aunts and uncles still sipping the lingering colonial influence of France on Vietnamese culture,” Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan notes in his review.

📍1837 East Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148, 📞 272-888-3298, 🌐 gabriellasvietnam.com

Across from the Betsy Ross House in Old City, Olea boasts Italian and Spanish dishes like artichokes with a garlic butter sauce, ravioli with a pancetta goat cheese cream sauce, and pork chops with a grain mustard cream sauce. The 32-seat restaurant offers an intimate atmosphere for folks to sip on wines and dig into the $70 per person pre-fixe menu.

📍232 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 📞 267-519-8315, 🌐 oleaphilly.com

Venture inside Graduate Hospital’s youngest BYOB to find a small menu that proves less is more. On Grays Ferry Avenue, soft lighting warms the 24-seat restaurant. Plates of rainbow trout, steak, and asparagus make their way out of the semi-open kitchen to diners prepped with their favorite cabernet sauvignon, Riesling, or rosé wines.

📍2241 Grays Ferry Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146, ✉️ info@illataphl.com, 🌐 illataphl.com