Restaurants in Pennsylvania

Food Culture & Dining Scene in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a food powerhouse anchored by Philadelphia, one of America's most exciting and underrated dining cities. The Philly cheesesteak, born at Pat's King of Steaks in 1930, remains the city's most iconic food, but Philadelphia has evolved far beyond tourist-trap steak shops. The city's restaurant scene spans James Beard Award-winning fine dining, the nation's best BYOB restaurants, a thriving Chinatown, South Philly's Italian Market, and the historic Reading Terminal Market where Amish vendors sell scrapple, soft pretzels, and whoopie pies. Pittsburgh has undergone its own culinary renaissance, with the Strip District market and neighborhoods like Lawrenceville and East Liberty attracting ambitious restaurants. Lancaster County's Pennsylvania Dutch heritage contributes shoofly pie, chicken pot pie, and family-style meals at restaurants surrounded by working farmland. The state's large Italian-American, Polish, and Eastern European communities have created food traditions that run deep across both major cities and small towns. With approximately 27,500 restaurants, Pennsylvania offers a dining landscape shaped by immigration, agriculture, and two cities that increasingly compete for national culinary recognition.