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Philly's food experience is dominated by the notorious cheesesteak, soft pretzel, and water ice. No stay in the city is complete without a sampling of one or all of them in one sitting (hence the large waists in this city).

Although the cheesesteak steals the mainstream show, oddly enough, I feel like Philly outsiders are most intrigued by the city's quality and vast amount of BYO restaurants. Let's face it, Philly's cuisine can stand up to that of NYC's or Chicago's, but it's key differentiator is how mainstream BYO's have become.

Most notable restuarants around Philly are BYO's. For as long as I can remember, a night out to dinner in town typically demanded a trip to the liquor store too. To me this is a great extension of the standard dining experience. BYO's allow you to be part of the meal and, if you're into it enough, it forces you to become a sort of connoiseur of food/wine pairings - a great social trait.

For restauranteurs BYO's seem to be a pro in that they don't need to employ bartenders and don't have to obtain a pricey liquor license. It allows the chef and server to focus on the cuisine, which is what diners are focused on.

For diners the BYO concept benefits them for the reasons I listed above, and it also saves the diner some cash. Some of the best bottles of wine can be bought for $12, meanwhile 2 glasses of wine at a non-BYO restuarant might run you $12. For me, a typical dinner for 2 at a BYO run's me about $50-$70 plus a $12 bottle of wine. Meanwhile, my bill at a non-BYO restaurant typicaly runs upwards of $80-$100.

Fortunately for Philadelphians, the concept has boomed into the burbs and cross cuisine. Years ago BYO's were typically the area's Italian restaurants, now many Thai, American, Fusion, Indian, French, etc restaurants carry the BYO label.

Check out the link to the BYO map next time you're heading out to dinner. It allows you to search for BYO's by neighborhood and gives you the location to the nearest liquor store.

Here are my top 3:

1. Audrey Claire (Rittenhouse Square)

2. High Street Caffe (West Chester Borough)

3. Chabba Thai (Manayunk)

Interactive BYOB Restaurant Map

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