Best BYOBs in Philadelphia

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

BYOBs are a staple in Philly’s culinary landscape, with long-gone pioneers paving the way. Today, many BYOBS are neighborhood hot spots and may have charming streeteries.

Venture into Philly’s BYOB scene with these nine 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 rib-eye ($49), and northern Thai curry over Neighborhood Ramen noodles with braised chicken, chili jam, red onion, and pickled greens ($24).

📍764 S. Ninth 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 bottles of tequila and beers in hand. The chef-owner of El Chingón is known for whipping up cemitas or sesame roll sandwiches filled with a variety of fillings, from adobo-braised beef with consommé to seared mushrooms with parsley-and-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 hot spot 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; Champagne, pét-nat, and rosé are perfect for wine drinkers.

📍932 S. 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. Second St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19123, 📞 215-970-9541, 🌐 pietramalaphl.com

Inside the 26-seater , 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 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 30-seat Perla celebrates the Filipino tradition of kamayan family-style feasts. 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,and fried shallot ($14) and sizzling catfish with a turmeric dry rub, vermicelli noodles, fermented anchovy, and pineapple sauce ($24). And the vermicelli platter (fried tofu, pork, rice and pork patties, blood sausage, Vietnamese herbs, kumquat, and 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 E. 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 wine while enjoying their $70 per-person prix-fixe menu.

📍232 Arch St.,
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, the 24-seat restaurant is warmed by soft lighting. 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