A beautiful, bustling space that feels classy without being pretentious, and lovely without feeling crowded, Emilia serves perfectly executed, beautiful seasonal food that never loses sight of what makes a meal enjoyable to eat. Garden-fresh tomatoes with basil were ingredient perfection, as were agnolotti stuffed with sweet Jersey corn, a rigatoni with ragu, a knockout bucatini and a cioppino that featured perfectly cooked scallops and a broth that was to die for. Tiramisu dessert was similarly ecstatic in its love for cuisine. Every dish was a bullseye. Service was similarly flawless while remaining unfussy. I'd eat here every week if I could. read more

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I really wanted to like Emilia. Philly has an incredible Italian food scene, from the red sauce institutions of South Philly to the Abruzzo cuisine specialists to the many BYOBs with Albanian roots, so I was excited when I learned that Vernick, who helms my favorite restaurant in Philadelphia, was throwing his hat into the ring with a modern "Italian restaurant made for the neighborhood". Unfortunately, our experience fell short. First, the good: our pastas were all sauced with the appropriate amount of the sauce, and the texture of the pasta really allowed the sauce to cling to every surface. The flavors of all of the sauces were delicious. The sweet corn agnolotti was the best bite of the night. The chocolate sorbet was a surprise hit: intensely chocolatey and creamy, even without any dairy. The drinks were all very good, and the wine list was well-curated. Now, the areas of improvement: throughout the meal, as we moved from pastas to mains, I couldn't help but feel like I was at the end of some assembly line, where the sauces had all been made in large batches long ahead of time, then tossed for a few minutes with pasta, then served. Part of this feeling came from the lack of components in each dish; everything we ordered was pasta + sauce or protein + sauce. The culinary team is clearly talented, but the final product felt simplistic and financially-motivated. Also, in terms of diner experience, the restaurant was FREEZING (we heard multiple tables complain about this), and our server was not well-versed in the menu. We asked her how many pieces were in the agnolotti and explained that we wanted to know because we wanted to share it as our appetizer. She told us 9 pieces, which would give everyone 2 bites. It ended up being 7, which doesn't feel like a big deal if it was one person's order, but it made sharing the dish awkward. We also asked for a few recommendations and came away without a clear idea of what the staff really liked on the menu. I will say that our server did know the drinks well and we were happy with our choices there. In general, the dishes were all so small that it made sharing challenging, which is just radically different from the typical Italian restaurant experience, even at more upscale restaurants in the city. This was surprising to us because our server had told us that each dish was "made for sharing". For the pesto dish, there were probably 4-5 bites of pasta total, and the ragu had maybe 6-7 bites. All of the dishes felt undersized for the price charged. Finally, the olive oil cake was really bad. It was overbaked, or had been left out too long, or was overmixed, or something, because it was SO dry that I got crumbs stuck in my throat and had to excuse myself to the bathroom to deal with it. Considering the very strong pastry program at Vernick Fish/Vernick Coffee Bar, serving such a mediocre final bite was shocking and confusing. I think this place has potential, and with a little more soul and creativity, it could become very special, but based on my experience, I would not return. read more

Emilia - Genovese pesto (front); ragu bianco (back) - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Wow... We had a reservation for 2 on a Sat. Beautiful space for starters. Our waiter right away came across as friendly, fun and knowledgable. He was fantastic from start to finish. He knew all the ins and outs of the entire menu as if he cooked the meals himself. The food... amazing. Absolutely amazing. We started with the zucchini, peach, hazlenut and pecorino app. Beautiful and tasty. Then the Porchetta ribs w/ cherry mostarda .The mostada was sweet and perfect for the smokey ribs. Our pasta choices were; creste rigate w/ blue crab and zucchini. So seafood'y and tasty, highly recommended. Also we had the Sweet corn agnolotti/basil. This was the highlight of the night for us both. It is honestly one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. I will return before the Fall to have this again. Our protein choice for the night was the Pork Chop, which was just as amazing as we anticipated given how amazing all the dishes that came out earlier were. Oh and I don't want to skip mentioning how amazing the cocktails were. If you haven't been, go. Emilia is an amazing restaurant. read more

An incredible and delicious special meal. Came here with a large party to celebrate a graduation, and everything was excellent. The servers were lovely and explained everything well (sometimes more than once per our requests, lol). Every single bite was incredible, though some standouts were the incredibly fresh salad, bright salmon toast, and lamb shoulder that melted like butter. The only slight difficulty was the reservation process, as we had to do it through email and confirm the menu through multiple exchanges, plus it changed a few times. It was nice that they wanted to make sure that we were happy with the choices, knew what we were getting, and finalized all the details, but it does create a slight barrier to entry. Overall, Emilia was an absolutely beautiful meal that anyone would be lucky to experience! read more

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My friends and I came here for a lovely weekday dinner. When we first walked in the service was very nice and asked about allergen concerns. Our waiter also recommended how many dishes we should order per course. They first presented this beautiful breadbasket which most were baked in house. It also came with this delicious and potent garlic aioli. We were also given some delicious mushroom broth before starting our meal. For starters we ordered the crispy artichokes (nice crisp and flavor with a delicious green sauce underneath), sea scallop crudo & burrata (absolutely divine! my favorite appetizer. The burrata was silky and delicious which paired well with the fresh scallops) and the shrimp bruschetta (the grilled bread was good but the shrimp was a bit over cooked since they were sliced pretty thin. Good flavors overall). For pasta, we ordered the creste rigate/blue crab/zucchini and the capellini/pesto genovese. I couldnt try the pesto dish since I have a nut allergy but my friends said it was very one note (all you taste is overwhelming pesto). The crab pasta was creamy with a ton of crab which I appreciated. It was very well balanced in flavors. For our meat course we ordered the grilled sea bream which was presented on a delicious and refreshing salsa verde. The grilled sea bream was grilled and seasoned to perfection. We also got the braised rabbit emiliana. The rabbit was fall off the bone and also very well seasoned. It came with some roasted poached vegetables with this delicious gravy smothering the meat and veggies. Very good and hearty dish. Ofcourse we couldnt leave without trying their dessert menu so we each got one of try. I got the tiramisu which came in this cute coffee cup. VERY good tiramisu. I would say one of the best in the city! My friends got a olive oil cake and panna cotta. Both were also beautiful and tasted great!. Also though this was a pricier meal from the quality and quantity of food we got it wasnt too bad splitting everything. The restaurant is also very modern and beautiful inside. We had a great time! i would return again and take other friends there. read more

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Really amazing, we loved just about every bit, with our favorites being the scallops/burrata, capellini, lumache, and carta di musica, although I'd be thrilled to reorder everything other than probably the zucchini. The desserts were also amazing, especially the pistachio gelato, olive oil cake (with an amazing blueberry compote underneath), and tiramisu. Also good for them for being one of the only new restaurants to open in recent years to have a free bread basket to start. read more

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The Vernick team did not disappoint and I expected nothing less. WOW! Our reservation was at 5pm and that's when dinner service begins. The staff was incredibly attentive, intentional and joyous. Knoll would check in with us and ask us for our opinion on certain dishes. He explained the menu really patiently as well. OMG A BREAD BASKET WILL COME YOUR WAY, what a treat! The mushroom broth was divine, I would like to make something similar at home. Fried Artichokes (3/5) - never had artichokes in this shape, they were not too oily, it did lack some salt Scallop Crudo (5/5) - this just slid down my throat, the sauce base was so creamy Capellini (2/5) - very one noted, needs acid, perhaps some lemon juice? I was only tasting pureed almonds, beautiful color though Crest Rigate (5/5) - you will taste crab in every bite Shrimp Bruschetta (1/5) - shrimp is overcooked and wouldn't have gotten it knowing there's a complimentary bread basket Grilled Sea Bream (4/5) - I liked how the fish was flattened, I wish it came with something to cut the smokey flavor with Panna Cotta, Olive Oil Cake, Tiramisu were all promising and paid homage to the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy! I would dial down the water refills...I felt like I would drink an inch worth and someone would be running over to refill it. It was distracting as I had to pause my conversations. read more

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This was our first visit to Emilia, and I am a long time lover of Vernick and his work. We ate a lot. Between 3 of us, no drinks ordered - expect appx $100-115 pp. We ordered 3 small plates , 2 pastas and 2 entrees to share followed by 1 dessert pp. In retrospect , with the bread service and mushroom broth which was fantastic, I think I would have eliminated two dishes. I was uncomfortably full by the end ... to no fault but my own. I would have eliminated the shrimp bruschetta which was slightly overcooked and dry. Second, the pesto pasta which I thought I would love - I would have eliminated too. It was a bit one note, and after the first bite the taste was a bit redundant and just felt like it needed a little zing, acid or more brightness from more basil or something! The pasta itself was a great texture and perfect. The plating of every dish was beautiful. The sea bream was perfectly cooked and that, along with the scallops were probably my two favorite things I ate that night. The panna cotta was perfectly set, not too sweet and perfect for the hot day that it was. Our server was attentive, friendly and overall I had a great meal. I would come back based on my first experience read more

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Nice addition to the neighbourhood. Cozy decor/atmosphere. Very knowledgeable servers. Very nice wine and cocktail selection. Well balanced menu with enough to offer various tastes. I arrived here very late in the evening. Therefore I really can't provide a good review of the food. No complaints at all by the way. I'm looking forward to coming back. read more

Emilia - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Great service and great food! All the dishes were delicious, with the pastas and the antipasti standout - the ribeye steak was solid but the handmade pastas and Crudo stole the show. The zucchini with anchovy and Parmesan was basically zucchini with Caesar dressing, and wonderful. Scallop Crudo was fresh and memorable. Bucatini amateiciana and crab pasta were strong. We'll be back when we are in Philadelphia! read more

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Two couple friends had highly recommended Emilia to us and we do enjoy Italian restaurants and like Vernick and Vernick Fish. This didn't quite measure up although the prices were similar. I do appreciate the free bread basket with three different kinds of items and the very strong garlic "aioli" that came with it. And the corn broth shooter was very tasty. Love an amuse bouche equivalent. Otherwise, the food was fine but nothing to go back for: - scallop crudo and burrata - 3/5, I found the scallop rather "fishy" and mushy, not quite what I was expecting and the burrata is perhaps 1/5 of the size of a typical burrata (so more like a light layer of burrata under the five slices of scallop) - insalata, pistachio, ricotta salata - 5/5, I enjoyed this the most of everything we had for dinner, a very delicious, generous serving of salad which we split, but not worth returning just for this salad! - creste rigate, blue crab, zucchini - 3/5, maybe just me, but I also found this dish "fishy" so I had a few bites and let my husband finish it - fried veal cutlet with arugula - 4/5, my husband really enjoyed this and I did not see this - grilled sea bream - 4/5, this was a very large serving of fish in a green sauce (salsa verde) - I was only able to finish half the serving and part of this is because it got a little boring to eat. The salsa verde was not particularly special/delicious and just with fish on a bed of green sauce it seemed the dish needed something else to make it more interesting - tiramisu - 5/5, very solid tiramisu offering in a mug Great service, got very loud by halfway through our dinner so we had to shout to be heard. Nice, but not worth a second visit for me. read more

Had a great dinner at Emilia. Unfortunately they were booked out for the evening, but we arrived at 5pm when they opened and they put together two of the smaller lounge tables for us. We were in a rush because we were catching a basketball game and our server did a great job making sure we got our food as soon as possible. The salad was really great, with olives, parm, radicchio, citrus, pistachios. Potatoes on fire were ok, unfortunately a little too smokey for me, but if you're not bothered by smokey flavors this was good. Mushroom bolognese was delicious. Super delicate pasta with a light bolognese which was very flavorful. The pesto capellini was also good. The pesto was bright and lemony. They made simple pastas for our kids, butter and tomato sauce. Pignoli cookie was delicious too! read more

We had dinner here last Friday. I want to start off by saying the place is beautiful. The ambience was top notch. The vibe was great. Every view, turn, or corner was photo worthy. Food and service? It's what I'm really here for. We loved the scallops that we ordered as an appetizer, but that was the only item we ordered worth mentioning. We're always raving about Philly's food scene to our friends from out of town, and we had a chance to give them a little taste of Philly. Instead, our waiter gave us some Philly Philly service. It sucked. I understand bad encounters, but we had three from our waiter. My wife mentioned she wanted a Cabernet, and it was met with, "We have some red wines." Awkward. OK, she tried one and ordered it. Let's move on. It gets better, depending on who you ask. We asked what appetizers the waiter would recommend, and he answered with, "What appetizers were you looking at?" Instead of a simple recommendation, we were met with his version of "figure it out yourself." One or two strikes would not prompt me to write a review, but the third strike had to be when we asked what entrée the waiter liked or recommended. "They're all good." As I think back on the experience as a whole, I just remember us mentioning the rigatoni, and of course our "exceptional" waiter needed to call it by the alternate name, "Ragu Bianco," really fast to purposely confuse us. This guy proceeded to do that with two or so more dishes. Man, I wonder how bad of a day this waiter was having. Don't take it out on others. read more

Emilia - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Emilia was nothing short of a true 5 star experience. From drinks, to food, to service it was all spectacular. We went on a date here and were immediately impressed walking in. The staff was warm and welcoming and the ambiance was a good balance of dress nice for a date and still good for a family with kids. On to the food. This is where the magic happens. The bread came with a roasted garlic and balsamic oil that was phenomenal. I am not joking when I say this was my wife's favorite single thing there. It had a perfect balance of everything. Toasty, roasty garlic, some tang from the vinegar with a bit of spice. We knew this was the start of a great meal. Everything we had from there was delicious. We had the broccolini, 2 pastas (white ragu and lobster linguine), and sea bream. I would recommend all of them but if I had to choose the pastas were my favorite. We topped it all off with this dessert of beautifully poached pear in foam. So sweet and perfect to share. I cannot believe how good this restaurant is, especially for being new to the area. I will be back for sure. read more

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Wow, just WOW. We dined at Emilia on their opening day, but you would never know it. The staff was moving around like a well-oiled machine, offering stellar service, and providing menu recommendations. They nailed it! Attentive and very knowledgeable on all fronts. Our party of four ordered nearly every item on the menu. The Beverage Manager helped us select a beautiful bottle of wine to accompany our choices. All dishes are sharable: - Basil marinated roma tomatoes - such a simple dish, fresh and delicious - Porchetta ribs, pear mostarda - tender and seasoned perfectly - Crispy artichokes - don't sleep on these! Simple yet elegant - Carta di musica - unique and delicious - Porcini & truffle suppli - creamy and amazing - Capellini, pesto genovese - the pesto was bursting with fresh basil flavor - Rigatoni, ragu bianco - cooked perfectly al dente - Crispy veal, broccoli di ciccio - a perfectly balanced dish! - Lamb sugo, wood-roasted eggplant - even non-lamb lovers would enjoy this dish! Desserts were decadent and the perfect way to round out our experience. Olive Oil Cake, Poached Pears Zabaglione, and a Pignoli Cookie. AMAZING! There is nothing better than a brand-new restaurant with furniture, flatware, and wine glasses that haven't yet been touched! This was such an amazing experience, one we'll be talking about for weeks to come. I can't emphasize enough how stellar the Emilia team was. They heightened this already wonderful experience! Thank you for warming our souls on a cold winter evening! read more

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This place was decent. Some things were really good like the deserts and the cocktails. Other things were more like mediocre like the pasta and crispy artichoke. The drinks were excellent. The standouts were the espresso martini (legit one of the best I have ever had) and the mezcal cocktail. The deserts were also amazing. I liked the tiramisu which had real amaretto at the bottom. Very good. My wife had the cherry gelato which was sooooo good. Loved it! The negative were the pastas. We had the mushroom one, saffron fettuccine, and the pesto one. I thought the pesto was pretty good. The others were ok. My wife was very disappointed thinking they were too cooked. She prefers Al dente. The tomato appetizer was good and the artichoke one was forgettable. At the end of the day it was ok but for a restaurant of this caliber we hoped for better. Not sure we will be back. read more

Emilia - Tiramisu. - Italian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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This was our first trip to Greg Vernick's newest establishment. We've been fans of his for many years & were excited to try his new spot in Fishtown. The atmosphere is bright with lots of daylight & warm tones throughout. The staff were extremely friendly & knowledgeable of the menu & offered suggestions when asked. The food was all perfectly prepared with inventive flavor choices & pairings with highlights being the two seafood entrées. The cocktail menu was also inventive & delicious. We can't wait to return for our next visit in the future. read more

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I know that everyone thus far has loved this restaurant and I'm sad to say that I did not feel the same way. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would, but I just don't think it was a 4 for me. I really loved the interior design. I think the vibe definitely felt like a California home or that you were in someone's house with the low ceilings and beautiful flooring/lighting. Surprisingly, I had no trouble hearing my company even with the lower ceilings and close tables near to me. The service was timely and friendly. Unfortunately, the food just didn't live up to the hype for me. We started with the Carta di musica after our waitress recommended it. It was one of the oddest (and not in a positive way) dishes that I have ever tried. It tasted like creamy butter with a sprinkled salty flaky topper and it was just unappetizing. For the pasta dish, we tried the campanelle and it was delicious. The pasta was perfectly cooked in a creamy but light sauce with an additional asparagus sauce that tasted so fresh and seasonal. For a main meal we went with the lamb shoulder which was delicious. It was extremely tender and succulent, but served on a cold eggplant caponata. The eggplant for me completely clashed and was such a disappointment. The lamb was warm and well-cooked but serving it with a cold side just was not the combination for me. If it was on polenta or atop a warm vegetable, it could have been absolute perfection. read more

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We were in town visiting some family and they recommended Emilia. Couldn't have been more pleased with the entire experience start to finish. The ragu, lamb shoulder, and crispy artichokes were some of the highlights --- but everything was incredibly tasty and beautifully plated. Perfect service and ambiance, too! read more

This is my happy place. They know how I like my daiquiri, their homemade pasta melts in my mouth, and they bring out literal crack to spread on the free bread. I come here too much. read more

Service was attentive and staff gave great recommendations. The food came out in a timely manner and was presented beautifully. Wish the lobster pasta had more lobster on it. read more

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Outstanding. Evey dish a 10/10. Great portion size and just incredible execution. He is the pasta a suace master. I'll be back for sure. read more

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We had a wonderful meal here. The vibe is vintage classic MCM looking. Simple decor clean and classic. It had a small waiting space and a bar with some tables and led to a separate dining room space that was lively. Dinner started with two cocktails the rye old fashioned and the summer splash cocktail both so different the summer cocktail was fruity forward and sweet. The rye cocktail was very boozy and delicious . We started with three appetizers since we couldn't choose. We had the suppli which was similar to an arancini with a smoke mozzarella center fried and served with a pickled vegetable medley. We also had the crispy artichoke which were severed over a cold savory sauce so good. The star of the appetizer show was the Salad. It had so many components not listed on the menu we were surprised. There were three greens , radicchio, fennel, orange segments , pistachio, cheese, and a nice vinegarette. For pasta course we opted for the recommend lobster saffron pasta. This was in a light sauce with a good portion of fresh lobster. The bianco was a chicken based ragu in a creamy pasta water sauce ... delightfully good and unexpected for chicken. We opted to share the crispy veal which was larger than I thought. Thick cut fried to a crispy finish with broccoli rabe and plenty of shredded Parmesan cheese. It was served over a nice sauce. We also had to try the tiramisu as it was recommended served in a bowl and creamy and delicious. All in all the dinner was good , service was good and nothing disappointed. Can't wait to see the seasonal menu changes in the future. Parking is always fun in this neighborhood but we were able to find relatively quickly . All in with gratuity was 282.00 all in with three cocktails , three appetizers since, 2 pasta dishes , 1 entree and a dessert. Vernick knocks it out again. read more

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Walked in at around 5:45 without a reservation on a Sunday and were seated right away at the bar. The hostess was very helpful and friendly and found answers to a few of our questions before getting us seated. The decor is beautiful and with great lighting, very relaxing atmosphere. Bartender was very knowledgeable and friendly as well. I had the Emilia Spritz cocktail, delicious - very unique from all the spritz out there. Food wise, the ribs appetizers were incredible, we will come back for those, and the tortellini in brodo also a favorite. It's now my favorite pasta spot in the neighborhood. The only small issue is that the 2 other pasta dishes took forever to come out, easily 45m-1 hour after the first pasta dish. They apologized for it but we felt like they could've comped a drink or desert since it was a very long wait for 2 pastas (pesto and a ragu rigatoni). read more

Great service, great wine, and even better food. Just an overall really enjoyable dining experience and a great new restaurant in Fishtown.

One of the most elegant and delicious meal , the flavors are just amazing. All the pastas are made. The service is excellent. It's definitely 5 read more

Wow, amazing. Favorite bite was steak. Rigatoni, Capellini, Sea Scallop Crudo & Burrata, & Basil Marinated Roma Tomatoes were also great.

Everything here was amazing. We had kat as our server and she was super friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and how the dishes are prepared. The place felt warm and welcoming. Drinks: summer breeze - 10/10, light, refreshing, loved the passion fruit Meadow lark - 9/10, their take on espresso martini, little different flavor but really enjoyable Food: Complimentary mushroom broth and bread 8/10 basil marinated tomatoes 8/10, really bright and the marinade was great to dip bread salmon bruschetta 10/10, so smooth, fish melted in mouth, not fishy porchetta ribs 9/10, really tender, great sauce, didn't use the knife capellini 10/10, pesto was soooo creamy and bright radiatore 10/10, really umami and filling, loved the pasta shape cause it held the mushrooms and cheese well lumache 9/10, really flavorable, seasoned well potatoes on fire 6/10, they were good but it's just a smashed potato with sauce. Potatoes were pretty large so some bites didn't have that nice char flavor Dessert: citrus soaked olive oil cake - 8/10, nice way to end the meal, not too heavy read more

Amazing food and drinks! Service was excellent. Loved the vibes and decor within the restaurant. I especially enjoyed the pastas. read more

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Wonderful dining experience. First, service level from start to finish is nothing less than impressive but not intrusive. Secondly, the food is nothing less than amazing. We ordered fried artichoke and scallops crudo for appetizers. Shared the ramp pesto with capellini and the finished with fried veal. Affogato for desert. Left feeling very satisfied and we will be back soon! read more

Excellent food, excellent service and beautiful interior. The salad mista and sea bream are the highlights. The salsa verde that accompanied the sea bream is bright and herbaceous. The pastas are also excellent. My daughter really loved the pesto pasta and she normally does not like Pesto read more

I didn't have one bad dish - from the crispy artichoke, scallops, rigatoni or tiramisu. Also Scott is great! 10/10 will be back

Friendly, simple, outstanding. Smart and simple excellence with ingredient forward, unpretentious luxury :)

went yesterday with my girlfriend. the food was excellent, ambiance was beautiful, abd the service was impeccable. Knoll and Jenay (I may be misspelling their names) were excellent. They made us feel like we were the most special people in the room. 10/10 from start to finish. We'll be back read more

Everything was amazing. Each dish tried was as good or better than the ones we just had.

No growing pains at Emilia...my wife and I had a wonderful meal at this new Fishtown spot...everything was delicious, presentation was great and service was exceptional...particular shout-outs to Bob, Nicole, Gloria and Drew for the special courtesies and kindness...tried about half the menu...can't wait to go back and try the other half.. read more