Capital Grille has a great lunch menu M-F until 3. My fave is the steak sandwich ($17).

Alma de Cuba - or anything by Stephen Starr, for that matter.

Fogo de Chao (or however you spell it). Brazilian steakhouse that has a flat fee lunch special ($25 if memory serves).

Barclay Prime - $100 kobe cheesesteak

Brasserie Perrier

Susanna Foo

Matyson

"So we're moving on to PHILADELPHIA, where we imagine attorneys get the mad respect they deserve."

Because there is nothing else going on in Philly..... Not like LA (showbiz), NY (finance), SF (tech), etc.

At least there is some city where lawyers can be the top dogs.

I live in NYC, but have always been curious about Morimoto's....anyone been there?

1:19 - I've never heard the term "LA Lawyer"

I was at Morimoto's last year -- it was great. Dinner, tasting menu. Fantastic (and the same meal would have cost maybe 50 percent more in NYC).

street meat cart on the corner of 18th and JFK

John Kerry is an enormous D-Bag.

Rouge

these SA lunch suggestion threads are dull. who cares? (unless the SA does something really inappropriate at lunch)

We would never allow "street meat carts" in LA.

Isnt Philadelphia a village in a third world country?

le bec fin

The Continental (either location).
Buddakon (Kobe sliders are awesome).

Devil's Alley is quite good.

1:31: Isn't there an apostophre in a contraction?

Nodding Head on Sansom. Also the Oyster House in the same building

Vietnam (not Vietnam Palace)

1:37 – Kill yourself. For if your only comment is in regards to someone's use or failure to use an apostrophe, the world would be much better off without you. Not that anyone in the world has noticed you to begin with...

Morimoto's? What about Mikimotos in Wilmington????

Delilah's Den. Two beers and a chicken parm for $10.00. The "tattas" are free!

Pat's, obviously.

Previous commentators either (a) don't live in Philly, or (b) aren't Biglaw. Table 31 all the way. Expect nothing less from an associate with an expense account.

Second on the Buddakan rec.
Also, Washington Square was good for dinner (another Starr place I think), but I think it's closed for "renovations." Not sure if it's reopening, or new management, or what. . .

2:10 is a Table 31 employee. If I wanted to eat with Comcast employees I would not have gone to law school.

Washington Square is reportedly reopening, with a new theme (Indian?). In the meantime, its kitchen, and that of Stephen Starr's other shuttered restaurant, Angelina, are apparently doing the cooking for the Starr organization's catering business.

Philly residents are fat and have low self esteem.

1:52 has even lower self-esteem than Philly residents.

Devon on Rittenhiuse Square
El Vez on 13 and Samson
Amada on Chestnut between 2nd and 3rd
There is another mexican place near 16th and locust i cant remember the name - it's very good

Amada - amazing tapas.

I hate Philly. People who live in Philly hate Philly. Even AU grads hate Philly.

Rouge
Matyson
Table 31
John's Roast Pork

If you order a cheesesteak with lettuce, tomato and swiss, and proceed to eat it like you have never eaten something with your hands before, you might want to stay in Boston.

Definitely Buddakhan.

I love Philly!

160K starting salaries
Great restaurants
Decent nightlife
Low cost of living
Quick access to NYC and DC
Great museums
Great performing arts centers
Four sports franchises...

Ignore the haters!

Wait, Justin and Kash are officially dating?

2:37, there are VERY few shops (none of them based here) paying 160 here...

Philly sucks.

2:45 - OK, $145K. That's still a king's ransom in the PHL.

2:45 -

My comments were directed to those that would qualify at one of the firms here that pays 160 to start. All things being equal, 160 goes a lot further in Philly than in NYC or D.C.

Seriously, why is so much hate directed to Philly (and NJ)? No one's saying Philly is better than NYC or LA. Chicago, DC and Boston, yeah.

1:52 - who says "kill yourself"? dork.

2:55, b/c people are ignorant. i say that's fine. let us enjoy it. people who like to rip on philly generally fall into one of two categories: those who have never been here; or those who were last here in the early 80s.

my favorites:
Devon
Matyson
Continental
Susanna Foo
Devil's Alley
Marathon
Coventry Deli
Brasserie Perrier

2:27, you're thinking of Tequila's. and yes, it is good.

I love Tequiza!! It's my favorite drink. Oh, you said Tequila.

Philly is not a nice city. I think I would rather live in Baltimore or possibly Cleveland.

Tangerine -- ate there for a Weil recruiting event
Buddakan -- got our judge to take us there for our clerkship farewell
And if you want to eat well not on the firm's dime, go to a BYOB -- Pumpkin or Dmitri's

Baltimore or Cleveland? Really?

NY is not that cool, by the way.

um...2:45...both of the firms that start at $160 are Philly based firms...

Philly is not a nice city. I think I would rather live in Baltimore or possibly Cleveland.

3:28 -- name the philly based firm that starts at 160K? news to me...

Assbill Philly pays 170.

Dechert & Morgan Lewis...

Seventh Heaven in Conshohocken. Stay for the lunch show!

For god's sake, 3:20 PM, we'd all like to flee to the Cleve and have lunch with Little Richard but we resist those urges!

Bistro St. Tropez is incredibly good but somewhat far from where most of the law firms are (save for Dechert).

I would rather live in Allentown or Scranton than Philly.

I took Kash to Seventh Heaven when we were dating. - Halverson

For summer associates:
Tequila's
El Vez
Amada
Continental Midtown
Alma de Cuba

For regular lunches:
Su Xing House
Devil's Alley
Marathon Grill
Nodding Head

Does Dechert have a Philly office?

Chickie' and Pete's!

Love Mikimoto's wilmington! Washington Street Ale House right next door isn't bad either.

In Philly, I reccomend the White Dog Cafe adjacent to Penn's campus. It's kinda hippy-trippy, but the food is excellent, and as a bonus the socialist owner is being sued for interfering with her employee's unionization effots. Gotta love the limousine liberals.

dechert and morgan starting salary is $145.

and what is table 31? i've never heard of it.

Blank Rome starts at 160

Flamington's Bistro; Oxygen 7 and Maguppies are all Philly stalwarts.

Do San Diego next!!! We have great food.

Public House

Where the hell is "Maguppies?"

Monk's Cafe.

Cafe Bistronom on Lombard Ave.

Tubesteak Rita's, and Carrie's House of Griddle Meat.

Rose Tattoo Cafe
Happy Rooster
Tinto
Matyson

I love the burgers at Good Dog!

Morgan Lewis is Philly's BigLaw standard bearer !? Yuck, say no more...

wait? blank rome pays 160 and dechert doesn't? i dont believe it

some (possibly all) of the firms mentioned above pay 160 in NYC to 1st years, but none is paying 160 in Philly to 1st years

5:36 is right. none of those firms pay 160 in philly. that said, $145 still goes a lot further in philly than $160 does in NYC.

there are a few non-philly firms that pay $160 here, such as Hogan.

uh-oh...6:20! time to jet.

Osteria

hogan is in philly?

sort of...10(?) attorneys doing FDA regulatory work.

I think blank rome is 145k for 1st years in the philly office.... still goes very far in Philly!

Don't leave Philly without having a meal and a couple of beers at Standard Tap - especially the octopus.

Philly has the most aggressive homeless people I've ever met. Some say they were shipped here by Giuliani in the early 90s, but I think they must've gone to Widener and now can't find work.

The Fountain at Four Seasons. On my own dime, Goodburger!!

Casablanca - just 20 minutes down I-95 in Wilmington, DE. Traditional Moroccan cuisine. They even have a belly-dancing show on the weekends.

Goodburger is outsourced NY crap. Go to Good Dog. Burgers stuffed with Roquefort. Mmmm.

2:52: Nice try with the attempted elitism. Don't worry, no one will forget how hard you worked at Drexel undergrad / Widener Law to "qualify." Ass.

4:15/5:36/6:25 are correct, for those trying to figure out who pays what.

9:16 -

I didn't take 2:52's comments as elitist.
Sensitive much?

A buddy of mine lives in Old Town, just next to High Society Hill, or something like that. Tons of restaurants and bars in that area. My favorite so far is Eulogy.

Five Guys!

Old Town? HIgh Society Hill? Does Philly really name its neighborhoods like that?

10:52: close, but not quite. The neighborhoods are Old City and Society Hill respectively.

I've also got to give big ups to the Good Dog burgers. I'm guessing most SA's won't be eating there on partner lunches, but it's a great place to go if you're with a couple young associates.

Philadelphia is vile. Worked in CC for 10 years at "large" mid-sized firm. Vile. Vile.

Philadelphia is vile. Worked in CC for 10 years at "large" mid-sized firm. Vile. Vile.

Question: if you accepted the job with Firm #1 in Oct '07, why were you continuing to interview? How did the offer with Firm #2 come about? I'm sure your fellow students would be really happy to know that you took interviews they could have had, after you already had a job...

Which is worse: Philly or Detroit?

Little late on this one, but I'm conducting a rather unscientific survey, and I'd like to get your thoughts.

Philly firms only take you to lunch at crappy restaurants. Places like Morimoto, Stripped Bass, Barklay Prime, Lacroix are all reserved for end of summer dinners and associates can only pick ONE. Philly firms suck and are cheap. Blank just fired a bunch of attorneys too...

Philadelphia is wonderful. I love living and working here. Wonderful. Wonderful.

1:46 - having lived in or near both, Philly is a hell of a lot better.

have you ever been to either?

The pervasive misinformation about Philly is awesome because it keeps real estate prices low for me.

I'll happily go home to my Society Hill condo with 14 foot ceilings and hit NYC on the weekends.

3:43.

Unfortunately, yes. I live near Detroit (first ring of burbs), and my brother goes to school in Philly. I agree with you that Philly is much better, I'm just curious about the general perception of the two.

-1:46

1:46 - the general perception of both is probably worse than the reality.

4:24 has a good point...philly sucks! stay away!

i forgot to post this before, but there used to be a byob italian place on 22nd and Locust called Porcini's (I think). Run by two southern italian dudes and REALLY small. Best italian food of my life.

I am a Geno's person for steaks, btw. I can't believe this post didn't incite the rivalry. I guess nobody cares because they are too beat-down by their Philly firm life. Sucks, because I think it's an awesome place to live if you can get used to the locals' attitudes.

Geno's and Pat's (and Rick's, eviction notwithstanding) are not, well, good. Tony Luke's, John's, D'Allesandro's, now we're talking. Proof that marketing triumphs over taste, I suppose. It's not a rivalry among the best - if you go to 9th and Passy for a sandwich, you've already admitted defeat. I'm taking summers to John's on Tuesday, just because I think it's delicious.

Aren't Dechert and Morgan both based in Philly?

Anyway, it has the best bar food in the country. Monk's mussels and fries. Philadelphia Brewing Company. Yards Philly Pale Ale. There are good things here.

So who's actually hiring transactional attorneys in Philly? Anybody know?

Nice picture of Kerry. I wonder if that has the "swiss cheese" he asked for. They even made a West Wing episode alluding to his cluelessness.