Topic Wiki

Warning! This wiki is not complete. Please read through the thread for more info.. Info Outdated. Check before you go!

Attractions
Franklin Institute
Please Touch Museum
National Constitution Center
US Mint
Adventure Aquarium (just across the river in Camden, NJ)
Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA (about 45 minutes south-west of the city)
Eastern State Penitentiary
National Museum of American Jewish History
Philadelphia Zoo
Independence Seaport Museum
Smith Playground
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
One Liberty Observation Deck
Liberty Bell (plus a bunch of other historical sites nearby)
Independence Hall
Trolley tour bus

For discounts on admission, consider the Philadelphia Pass or the Philadelphia City Pass (if your visiting enough attractions), or buy the Entertainment book for the coupons. If you order it online, you should be able to print out all of the coupons you need immediately.

Hotels
The Ritz-Carlton located near City Center was originally a Bank and worth a visit.
Sheraton Society Hill is near the Liberty Bell area and the River. (probably the best place to stay for shabbos)
the Westin is by Rittenhouse Sq and City Center is North of City Hall area closer to Museum Row.
The Westin on 17th & Liberty. has some Old World charm to it
Sheraton City Center - was fine. clean, neat, pool and fitness but nothing special
Le Meridian across from city hall
Hyatt at the Bellevue on Walnut and Broad st.
Hyatt Penn's Landing
Homewood Suites City Avenue

Westin a plain hotel over the River in Mt Laurel , NJ
Aloft - Mt Laurel. (Aloft is  not your typical hotel. Very young crowd. Relaxed staff. Place is nice and new).

Restaurants

Center City:
Burger.org - 1901 Chesnut Street CLOSED
Mama's Vegetarian CLOSED
Center City Soft Pretzel Co. - unusual hours

University City:
Kosher Dining at the University of Pennsylvania - check hours/dates, only open during academic year

Lower Merion (20-25 min from center city, but up to 45 in traffic):
Shalom Pizzeria
Citron and Rose - more upscale. Make reservations in advance. Closed but recently reopened (as of May 17, 2017)
The Dairy - very nice dairy restaurant. CLOSED

Star of David Kosher grill- 942 Montgomery Ave, Narberth, PA 19072. Cheaper option for meat, Chinese, sushi
Nana's kitchen in the JCC-Address: 45 Haverford Rd, Wynnewood, PA 19096 Phone:(703) 586-3103- Call before, but usually open in the daytime with seating. Don't have to be a member to attend. Excellent dairy food options and very reasonably priced.

Northeast (35 min from downtown):
Holy Land Grill-permanently closed
Espresso Cafe

Cherry Grill in Cherry Hill, NJ is just across the Delaware River (via Ben Franklin Bridge.). Fairly classy ambience, better than decent food. 3/5 stars. Hechsher by the O-K and the Cherry K Vaad Hakashruth.

This is a pretty good list of the generally accepted kosher restaurants in Philly.
This is the website for the generally accepted community hechsher: http://www.keystone-k.info/

Shuls
Orthodox Jewish Philadelphia Directory
www.phillyshul.com (actually 2 shuls which they alternate between). Run by a very nice chabad rabbi.
Sephardi shul (www.mikvehisrael.org)
Mekor Habracha

Lower Merion (15 min drive from downtown):
Lower Merion Synagogue
Young Israel of the Main Line
Philadelphia Community Kollel - next door to Citron and Rose

Northeast (35 min drive from downtown):
Congregation Ahavas Torah

Bensalem (10 min drive from Sesame Place)
http://www.bensalemoutreach.org/

Eruv Maps
http://www.philly-direct.com/frum/eruv.html


Author Topic: Philadelphia Master Thread  (Read 187298 times)

Offline Der Deutsche Jude

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #420 on: June 27, 2016, 10:57:58 AM »
I am looking for options of getting from PHL airport to Lakewood. Is there public transportation or decent ride-share?

(Age:20)
Train + bus will take 3.5 hours for a 1.5 hour drive

Offline itsyehuda

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #421 on: June 30, 2016, 11:55:05 PM »
Heading down to Philly for July 3rd and 4th.

Gonna try to burn expiring free night certificates for Marriott and IHG

What's the best Cat 5 Marriott in the Area? We do want a pool for the kinderlach.

For activities we're thinking of the Franklin Institute, Ducks, Zoo and Smith Playground.

Food: C&R and Dairy Cafe.

Any advice for me from those in the know?
I remember when a coke was a nickel, and you could buy VRs in OD.

Offline itsyehuda

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #422 on: July 01, 2016, 03:01:23 AM »
I booked the Residence Inn PHL using the certs.
The reviews for the Sheraton Downtown on SPG.com are TERRIBLE - so I cancelled that.
For second night I booked two rooms at the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill. It seems to be recently renovated.
I remember when a coke was a nickel, and you could buy VRs in OD.

Offline skyguy918

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #423 on: July 01, 2016, 02:19:11 PM »
Heading down to Philly for July 3rd and 4th.

Gonna try to burn expiring free night certificates for Marriott and IHG

What's the best Cat 5 Marriott in the Area? We do want a pool for the kinderlach.

For activities we're thinking of the Franklin Institute, Ducks, Zoo and Smith Playground.

Food: C&R and Dairy Cafe.

Any advice for me from those in the know?
What ages are your kids? Smith Playground is fantastic, but our kids were very young. On the flip side, Franklin Institute might be better appreciated by older children. The Aquarium in Camden is really nice too (though it's pretty expensive). I highly recommend the Independence Seaport Museum. The museum itself is really nice, but what the kids will really enjoy is touring the submarine and cruiser. It also puts you by the waterfront, which is a nice area - Penn's Landing.

In case you're interested in fireworks, they're doing the July 4th show at the Museum of Art (the Rocky steps):
http://www.visitphilly.com/events/philadelphia/wawa-welcome-america-fireworks/#sm.0000awzdj538yelhqtq24liqmilxu

Offline Abebee

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #424 on: July 01, 2016, 06:33:22 PM »
I booked the Residence Inn PHL using the certs.
Have a certificate to burn as well and Philly was an option. Please update how it was. Thank you

Offline Adam101

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #425 on: July 03, 2016, 06:17:51 PM »
Is Star of David still open? # doesn't work...

Offline yakrot

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #426 on: July 03, 2016, 06:56:08 PM »
Is Star of David still open? # doesn't work...
I was there a month ago...didn't seem to be on its way down

Offline Adam101

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #427 on: July 04, 2016, 09:48:14 AM »
On way to shachris i saw a new (I think) fro-yo place called Yos'l on Montgomery across from Starbucks. Can add to wiki.

Offline CS91

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #428 on: July 04, 2016, 10:39:03 AM »
On way to shachris i saw a new (I think) fro-yo place called Yos'l on Montgomery across from Starbucks. Can add to wiki.
Been there for a while.

Offline Adam101

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #429 on: July 04, 2016, 10:41:00 AM »
Been there for a while.
Not in the wiki

Offline CS91

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #430 on: July 04, 2016, 10:46:19 AM »
Not in the wiki
I meant that it has existed for a while.

Offline itsyehuda

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #431 on: July 04, 2016, 10:36:36 PM »
Have a certificate to burn as well and Philly was an option. Please update how it was. Thank you

The Residence Inn PHL was brand new, built in 2016. We were very pleasantly surprised. Rooms were huge. Much nicer than the hotel we stayed at in the city. 
I remember when a coke was a nickel, and you could buy VRs in OD.

Offline Srsy

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #432 on: July 20, 2016, 12:09:03 AM »
On Shabbos am I better off davening in Bnei Avrohom/ Philly Shul or Mikvah Yisroel?  Which dairy places are open Saturday night?

Offline mochjas

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #433 on: August 03, 2016, 11:14:36 AM »
On Shabbos am I better off davening in Bnei Avrohom/ Philly Shul or Mikvah Yisroel?  Which dairy places are open Saturday night?
same question. Any kosher food places open sat night?

Offline ycohen

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #434 on: August 07, 2016, 09:11:25 AM »
Looking for a nice place to take my better-half for our anniversary dinner. Any recent positive experiences at C&R? Any other suggestions?

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #435 on: August 08, 2016, 02:57:33 PM »
Anyone have any good ideas where to stay in Philly/Cherry Hill for Shabbos?(i.e. hotel near shul) Have my wife and baby... Thanx

Offline mochjas

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #436 on: August 08, 2016, 03:09:28 PM »
Anyone have any good ideas where to stay in Philly/Cherry Hill for Shabbos?(i.e. hotel near shul) Have my wife and baby... Thanx
sheraton society hill

Offline skyguy918

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #437 on: August 08, 2016, 03:39:03 PM »
Anyone have any good ideas where to stay in Philly/Cherry Hill for Shabbos?(i.e. hotel near shul) Have my wife and baby... Thanx
I'm assuming that you want to stay inside an eruv. If not you can skip this whole post.

Don't think there are any hotels (probably no home rentals either) in the Cherry Hill or Northeast Philly area eruvs. Bala/Merion area eruv probably also has no hotels, but you might be able to find a rental on VRBO or Airbnb. If you want to stay in an actual hotel, your best bet is probably either something near the Penn Hillel (assuming they have a minyan this time of year) - there should be plenty of hotels within that eruv - or staying in Philly proper. In Philly proper, you could stay at the Sheraton Society Hill and daven here - http://www.phillyshul.com/. I think there's another option that would open up more hotel choices, don't know offhand.

ETA: mochjas beat me to it - short and sweet too.

Offline Luvisrael

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #438 on: August 10, 2016, 04:19:48 PM »
I found the springhill suites on main street in vorhees/ cherry hill. Is this in any eiruv? see photo...

Offline skyguy918

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #439 on: August 10, 2016, 04:25:35 PM »
I found the springhill suites on main street in vorhees/ cherry hill. Is this in any eiruv? see photo...
Google it.

[The answer is no, it's outside the eiruv - http://tlsnj.org/resources/south-jersey/eruv.aspx]