2019 College Crosse Final Four Visitor’s Guide To Philadelphia

The 2019 Final Four is in Philadelphia and we at College Crosse couldn’t be happier. To assist visitors coming to Philly for Memorial Day Weekend, I’ve created this guide of places to eat and check out while you are in the city.

Before we begin and just to get it out of the way, if you’re looking for recommendations for cheesesteaks, just holler at Chris, as he is the source when it comes to steaks in the city (I am more of a buffalo chicken-cheesesteak man myself & my favorite spot is Kozmo, on South St.). If you Tweet us a picture of your cheesesteak while you’re in the city, I’ll make sure to try and put it in one of the posts this weekend.

Now that we got cheesesteaks taken care of, please also note that this guide is not a conclusive list of all the best places to eat while in Philly. It would be impossible to put all the great or newly opened restaurants in Philadelphia into one post. Given that fact, I highly encourage you to also check out sites like Philly.com, Philly Eater, Philly Mag, UWISHUNU & Thrillist Philadelphia, as they have high quality writers who cover the ever-changing Philly food scene. Moreover, there are also tons of foodie accounts on Instagram that are also great resources if you want to find some hidden gems or new spots.

Moreover, Philly has plenty of options if you are on the go or only have 20 minutes to eat. First and foremost is College Crosse favorite Wawa. There are a lot of them in the city, including the biggest one in the country in Old CIty.

Additionally, you have Reading Terminal in Center City, which provides you nearly 100 different shops, restaurants, merchants, & dessert options all in an enclosed public market that has been around since the 1890s.

If you are in the mood for a more traditional South Philly experience, you can always head over to the Italian Market for one of the oldest and largest open-air markets in America.

Needless to say, you can also find some of the best pizza in the country on just about any street corner in the city as well. You can also get chocolate chip cookies delivered to your hotel room at 2:00 AM if you are in frisky mood.

Anyway, the point is, Philly has it all and the places I highlighted below are merely my favorite spots or locations that came highly recommended by my good friend, current Philly resident, and fellow barrister, Joe Fantini. Without further delay, here’s our 2019 College Crosse Final Four Visitor’s Guide To Philadelphia.

College Crosse Visitor’s Guide: Midtown Village/Washington Square West

I’ll start with Midtown Village/Washington Square West as that’s where I used to live in Center City & unsurprisingly, it is also my favorite part of Philly. Moreover, I was still living there for the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl victory in 2018, so Midtown will forever hold a special place in my heart.

#ThankYouNickFoles

If you are staying in Midtown Village, I highly recommend that you check out Dilworth Park, which is at the foot of City Hall & also check out the the newly renovated Love Park, which is across the street from City Hall. Both parks are excellent free options for sitting outside, taking pictures, or just lounging around while you wait for the games.

Then you got Washington Square West, which provides you Washington Square Park, a wonderful place to catch some sun. Additionally, the surrounding area around Washington Square Park has some of the most scenic streets in the city, if not the country.

You can’t go wrong with staying in Midtown Village/Washington Square West. Most importantly, staying in this area allows for quick access to the Broad St. Line to get down to the Linc for the games on Saturday, Sunday, & Monday, which, of course, is kind of the whole point of this weekend.

College Crosse Visitor’s Guide: Rittenhouse Square

Next up is Rittenhouse Square. This area is probably the toniest part of town, but also one with plenty of shopping, restaurants, and picturesque streets for exploring. Rittenhouse Square itself is also a perfect place to hangout and do some people watching. This area is a bit pricey for sure, but you also got places like Hip City Veg, Federal Donuts, or the 16th street Honey Grow for a quick bite to eat at a reasonable price.

Additionally, Rittenhouse is only two or three blocks from One Liberty Observation Deck, a popular observatory that allows for 360 degree views of the city from the 57th floor of One Liberty Place.

Anyway, with regards to food, if you’re looking to go out to a really nice place for dinner while you are in the city, Rittenhouse is the place to be.

College Crosse Visitor’s Guide: Old City/Independence Mall

Up next is Old City/Independence Mall. Also known as “America’s most historic square mile,” the area in and around Old City/Independence Mall is the birthplace of American Independence and home to the oldest residential street in the country, so this is definitely an area to check out if you want a history tour of our nation’s founding.

If you’re staying in the area, have some time to kill, and want to be outside, You should also check out Spruce St. Harbor, a family friendly urban beach located in Penn’s Landing and Cherry St. Pier a mixed-use space with artist studios, a marketplace, & an event space right next to the Ben Franklin Bridge.

College Crosse Visitor’s Guide: Fishtown

Fishtown is a little out of the way from Center City, but you can easily get to it from City Hall in ten minutes via the Market-Frankford line. It is actually where I will be staying this weekend. One great open area in Fishtown that you should check out is Schmidt’s Commons, with its wide-array of shops and restaurants.

College Crosse Visitor’s Guide: South Philly

No visitor’s guide of Philly would be complete without some mention of South Philly. The first thing you need to check out is South St., as you can pretty much get the total Philly experience in that 9-10 block section of the city.

Additionally, you have Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philly if you are looking for a classic sports bar near the stadium. Anyway, the places below are some of the nicest restaurants in the city and are definitely places you should check out if you are looking for a nice meal in South Philly.

We hope you enjoyed this post. If you are going to be in Philly or have visited in the past, please share some of your food picks down in the comments section.