Grew up in that area. Glad to hear of all great restaurants up Passyunk Avenue and stateside being number one. We ran. Ok small plate place = small plates of okay food for same price as regular size meals at other great restaurants. Oysters were delicious yet ate one that had off smell and taste and I couldnt eat anymore oysters. Just mentioned it to waitress got a blank stare. Drinks were fun to try since they were olden day drinks that you only hear about. But would have enjoyed having full happy tummy for $ we spent from the  NUMBER 1best of phila.
Review Source:When I heard the chef that made Stateside the number one restaurant in Philly for 2012 was leaving and than realize the week of I still hadn't made it there my friends and I on the second to last night took a chance at getting a spot at the bar. Â We lucked out and after waiting in the not really meant for standing bar area with a beer we lucked out and snagged a seat. Â And it was well worth it. Â
Stateside is small but the bar was pretty cool, we tired some of the cocktails in addition to the beer. Â If your in a small group of 2 or 3 its a great place to hang out but definitely not good for large group there just not a ton of space. Â I want to make it back here now that is warmer out for the bar opens up and you can sit outside which expands its size. Â Plus I need to see how the food is under the new chef.
What catches people's eye as they pass by Stateside is the unique outdoor seating that faces the bar. Their happy hour is really great for beer lovers (half off drafts) which we indulged in. The bartenders were really attentive and explained their selection well. Apparently, they have some of the best whiskeys in the country. The decor was awesome with hanging caged single light bulbs and a stone bar. We all agreed to come back to try their small plates sometime soon!
Review Source:I'm a Bourbon fanatic so Stateside is right up my alley...they even have Parker's Heritage (which is unheard of). Â Small plates, so you can sample a bit of everything. Â I reccomend the pork belly (in fact if you are anywhere that sells pork belly you need to order it). Â
The service is phenomenal, not over intrusive and always right there when you need something. Â We came around 5:00pm on a Friday and were surprised how empty it was. Â There was a happy hour crowd but not too big. Â
Give it a try, expect a high check, but if you love small plates and most importantly Bourbon, you will find Stateside is perfect for you as well.
Though it has a great look and vibe with a bar that spills into the sidewalk, very European, the food, particularly portions, fell short. Â Small portions (even the large plates were small) and prices that were way out of line. Â Great presentation if you like a big plate with food covering about an 1/8 of the territory! Â I did like my cauliflower small plate which was a reasonable size (maybe cause it's a veggie)? Â The duck large plate tasted okay, was not particularly tender and a serrated knife would have helped. Â Other note, really loud, hard to converse and the exposed air conditioning duct above our heads dripped. Â A server would regularly come by to swab it! Â If I came back, I'd stick with getting a beer at the bar. Â Nice selection for beers!
Review Source:came here after the HH for dinner...loved the way bar was facing outdoor on the street...but wasn't too impressed with their drinks...we placed our name down, since we didn't had reservation...and we ended up waiting for about hour to get seated...once we got seated, server seemed to be OUT OF IT...as he was explaining something...all of sudden he would just walk away...not rude..but just very unprofessional...he wouldn't even come by and to ask if food was ok...we ordered, poulet, duck breast, hamachi, pork belly, risotto...they were pretty good...but portions were so small considering we ordered entree size...conclusion...not going back...
Review Source:Stateside is a solid choice but didn't live up to my expectations for a number one restaurant, as Philly mag states. (I'd give that honor to Marigold Kitchen with Zahav being a close second.)
The food was very good, but nothing was outstanding or a new experience. The venison carpaccio was notable and the rabbit risotto was tasty. I'd say the stars of the night were remarkably fresh east coast oysters and the mint julep.
Overall the service was okay but our waitress seemed absentminded and occasionally brought us wrong dishes/drinks.
Stateside was a disappointment.
We started with the cheese plate, which is a total rip-off. For $20 you get 4 tiny pieces of cheese, a few walnuts (seriously like 3), a smear of jam, and a few pieces of bread. I spent $25 on cheese at DiBruno earlier in the day and got about 10 times more cheese, and DiBruno is overpriced as it is.
We each had a 'small plate' and an entree. The best small plates were the mushroom tagliatelle, which I got, and the cauliflower. Both were tasty. One of my friends had the 'scallop' (he was concerned that the menu said 'scallop' and not scallops' and he was right) - it was basically one scallop cut up into little pieces and mixed with other stuff. My fiance had the beets & venison, which was okay.
For dinner I had the soft shell crab, which was tasty, but I've had better at both Fare & Dmitri's. My fiance had the duck, which was good but small. Someone else had some kind of meat, I forget which one, and he said he could barely cut through it.
We all left hungry, after spending $130 a couple. My fiance came home and had a taco.
The wine was fine, but nothing to write home about, especially for $10-14 a glass. The service was slow, and it was a Tuesday night, not overly busy.
Certainly not the #1 restaurant in Philly.
My wife and I came here after seeing Stateside featured on an episode of Bourdain's The Layover. After ordering our entrees a waitress brought out a sample of a fish tartare that was absolutely incredible. The best part was that we didn't even order it. The seared duck breast was out of this world, as was the '72 Triumph from the bar. We're pretty stingy with five star ratings, but we were both in agreement that Stateside is the cream of the crop for the Passyunk Square neighborhood and probably one of the stand out local establishments in Philadelphia.
Review Source:I gave Stateside 5 stars the first time, digging their creative menu and attentive, well-trained service. This experience couldn't have been more opposite.
Service was, quite simply, a disaster. From the manager who forgot that we were waiting in their outside bar area, walked past us and took another group to the table for which we were waiting, to the 3 staff members who made eye contact with and then ignored me while I was waiting to speak to Mr. Forgetful, to the clueless and awkward server  who was coursing a small-plates meal like it was the last supper to the interminably slow bartender....just a disaster. Their menu has totally shifted towards the boring and clearly there is less attention to detail in the kitchen.  Plates and drinks were auctioned at the table. In general, staff are unsmiling, unfriendly and unwelcoming. But with a manager who can't properly seat a restaurant (the whole dining room flipped at the same time twice), I can imagine that the servers are miserable and the kitchen gets weeded.
But their problems are their problems and I'm going to avoid them.
A neighborhood favorite!! Great for all types of occasions...romantic date, dinner with friends, drinks with a girlfriend. The parsnip soup with lobster is my favorite food in the city!! Great drinks and a good vibe, which is especially fun in the summer when they open up their huge windows. Love, love, love.
Review Source:Normally, cocktails and dessert wouldn't bring me to five-star territory, or even review territory, but my experience at Stateside tonight was just that good. We nabbed two seats at the bar before the restaurant got crowded. Over the next couple hours, free seats were sparse, and people came and went when there was nothing available, with a few that got lucky at the right time.
Review Source:I had the WORST experience here! It was so loud that we had to move from a table to the bar area (still really loud).  Then I ordered a vodka martini and they gave me a gin martini. After trying to get the bartender's attention for about ten minutes another very  rude bartender tried to convince me I was wrong. Really? Anyways - we left.  The manager was super sweet and paid for my friends drink (I didn't drink mine).  We went over to Sophia's instead and had a delightful meal.
Review Source:After reading that Stateside was voted #1 restaurant according to Philadelphia Magazine (above some of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia- Osteria, Zahav, Vernick, Amada...), I expected no short of perfection.
Stateside is a cozy restaurant. 50% restaurant, 50% bar. Small and simple space in the heart of South Philadelphia. I couldn't help but feel like the manager was constantly peering at our table to make sure everything was okay. I appreciated the attention but I was very distracted at the same time. The front door was also kept open for the entire duration of our dinner which I was not a fan of as someone who easily gets cold. I enjoyed my Tennessee Sweetheart (bulleit, pomegranate juice, lemon, honey) as I studied the menu.
The server recommended that each person order 2-3 plates as portions are small and meant to be shared. For appetizers, I had the duck pate, charred scallop crudo, bibb lettuce and goat cheese salad and cauliflower. Out of the 4 plates we ordered, I'd recommend the scallop crudo and yes, the cauliflower was pretty amazing.
For entree, I had the mushroom tagliatelle. Delicious but I still prefer Osteria's homemade pastas. I also sampled the roasted poulet (bacon champagne emulsion, zucchini, pearl onions) as well as the crispy pork belly (smoked beer mustard, apricot, kale). Again, no real winners.
The most disappointing part of the evening was the dessert. I love dessert but not dessert from Stateside. The carrot chiffon cake was incredibly dry with very little to taste in the blue cheese icing. Foie gras panna cotta again had very little flavor. The best out of the bunch was the bourbon banana bread pudding mainly because of the caramel and spiced chocolates served on the side.
The positives= the service. Waiters were very attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable but at the end of the day, it's all about the food and Stateside is lacking here.
Trying to figure out what to eat on a random weekday night, I drove by Stateside and remembered reading them in Philly Mag. (I forgot what # they were, but after reading reviews, it was #1). I assumed we couldn't get  a table without a reservation and I was right. We did happen to score 2 seats at the bar.
I was a bit surprised by the sparse menu (and price) considering it was a East Passyunk restaurant. Either way, I thought the items on the menu warranted some positives for their ingredient pairings.
The place felt cozy and definitely approachable for being philly mag's #1 restaurant. I had a long day so I looked over the drink menu. I decided to skip the beer and go for a cocktail. I'm not a gin fan, but ordered the Bee Sting (gin, lemon, ginger, absinthe). The drink was strong but a bit pricey for the size, no big deal.
Now onto the food. We dithered between the cauliflower and cobb salad for a starter, ended up with the cauliflower. I think the dish was good, but needed more sauce. I'm all for nice presentation with a "dash" and "squeeze" of sauce, but every bite should have sufficient sauce, shouldn't it? Also, its fairly dark in there, so i'm sure we had more broccoli in the dish than cauliflower. Not a deal breaker.
Entrees. I love trying non-traditional meats at restaurants. I opted for the rabbit risotto. I thought the rabbit was really tasty. Although the risotto tasted undercooked, it was also delicious. Again, a smear of sauce just doesn't cut it for this dish. Considering how rich risotto is, I couldn't taste the sauce at all.
Another entree was the pork belly. I'm not sure how I feel about pork belly prepared American style. Don't call me prejudice, but Chinese crispy pork belly is pretty damn good... you can get huge servings for a fraction of the cost. Stateside's pork belly was good, but nothing to write home about. The sauces were also good.
Overall, it was an enjoyable meal. It was unfortunate that the original chef left and how other reviewers are saying things have "Changed".
I really wanted to love it. Â It was ... okay.
Brussel sprouts and cauliflower were amazing.
Pate du jour was somewhat tasteless - except for that tiny crystal of salt that made it onto the plate. Â No mention that it is "de campagne". Â Major failure. Â Would not have ordered it - and no, I don't feel I should have to ask.
Fois gras was a half-dollar sized portion of a mousseline-like substance. Â $15 is outrageous for this.
Tagliatelle with mushrooms and rabbit risotto were both delicious, but small portion.
Smoked duck medallions were a bit dry, again, small portion.
Service: waitress said the bartender could not make a pomegranate martini. Â Not sure why. Â She suggested a different drink from the menu that would be "fruity". Â It was made with gin. Â C'mon - recommending a gin drink to replace a vodka drink? Â We asked her if 4 appetizers and 2 entrees would be enough. Â She agreed. Â Portions are very small - even the entrees - so when the rabbit risotto came out, we ordered the tagliatelle. Â We were still hungry at the conclusion of the meal.
Stateside a fun place for outside dining but menu clearly inventive and new age. Â If you want a simple easy dinner, this is not your place. Â This is for the foodie in everyone that wants to try a new and exciting expereince. Â The food portions are small plate. Â The service was good. Â The menu eclectic this appeals to only a small portion of people. Â While we were here at least 8 people read the menu and opted against it... perhaps the bone marrow? something turned them away. Â The 2013 best restaurant award was purchased... definitely better out there. Â Come warned and enjoy but leave hungry and poor.
Review Source:Just visited Stateside for the first time since Sabatino left. Only words of advice - DON'T BOTHER!!!
I literally just created a Yelp account for the sole purpose of sharing this review. We live in the same neighborhood as Stateside and truly treasured the culinary gem that it has been since opening. I have been dying to take my parents and just did only to find myself embarrassed beyond belief.
As Melissa R mentioned, portions have shrunk to four-bite proportions and prices have increased. Â Throughout dinner we had a view of new executive chef, Elijah Milligan, standing around. Apparently being an executive chef does not entail cooking.
I am left mystified how a restaurant could deviate so greatly from the reputation it has come to earn. It is as though they are trying to create an entirely new image. Mind you not a great one!
OK so we'd been wanted to checkout Stateside for a while, but we got the motivation after it won Best of Philly. Â Going into it, we knew it wasn't the best move since it would likely be a madhouse, but we were able to get a res so we figured we'd give it a whirl.
So we were directed to our table via a 'point' which may be a modern twist at being taken over and having the chair pulled out for you... but that seems stuffy and formal, so I sat down, took off my coat, and took to the drink menu.
I had seen a drink- Gangsta's PEARadise, on their online menu that sounded delish!!! Â It wasn't on their drink menu though, so we asked. Â Turns out the online menu is out of date. Â No offers to make the drink anyway, since they likely had everything on hand. Â So we went for wine- a Cab Sav. Â At $9/glass, it was a quasi-light pour... but ok....
Then we opened our menus. Â They were out of the beets, which bummed me out, but they had a pickle plate to fill in for it. Â Being a pickle-a-holic, I was stoked! Â We coordinated our choices and then ordered. Â We were going to start off with appetisers so we could think about our entree choices for a bit, but apparently this restaurant has rules, and you have to order everything together. Â Maybe a modern twist on ordering? Â I found the rigidity a bit confining, and frustrating. Â For starters we had the cauliflower, and the pickled stuff, and for our entree my friend had the steak special, and i had the tagliatelli.
Cauliflower was to die for. Â Every bite was different and delicious. Â I had no idea that this basic basic vegetable could have so much potential! Â The peanuts really took it to the next level. Â I was enamoured.
Then came the pickles. Â Couldn't even finish them. Â Most of the pickled items were carrots, or what we deducted to be fennel. Â There were sweeter pickles, peppered pickles, but none were particularly awesome. Â The carrots were particularly icky. Â I preferred the fennel the most... but even that was more hunger than anything.
Then came our entrees. Â My friend said her steak was alright, but nothing she'd come running back for. Â My tagliatelli was pretty awesome. Â Very small portion though, which i know is what you get at this place, but for $11, i really would have loved just a few more bites.
We were planning on ordering desert, but were told we'd have to get our order in before we were done our entrees since the kitchen was closing... at 10p. Â You think after you get Best of Philly, you take advantage of that and push for maybe an extra hour? Â The place was still packed. Â Modern dining?
We got dessert- decided to share the carrot cake with blue cheese frosting. Â It sounded really interesting. Â Intersting it was... the cake was delicious, but the blue cheese in the frosting was just too overpowering. Â We ended up scraping it off, and just splitting the little piece of cake.
All in all, our experience at Stateside was consistent with what I'd expect of a place that just won Best of Philly. Â The food was hit or miss, but if you hit... it was amazing. Â The misses just didn't quite work the same way. Â I'd like to give this Best of Philly some breathing room, then head back. Â The drop-in little neighborhood gem that this restaurant used to be has had some attitudnal shifts... and I'd like to go back to my fond memories of a cute little spot with good booze and good food.
Made it here on a Friday night with a pretty late reservation. This was during the final weeks of George Sabatino's reign. Â First, there was a delay in getting seated and the manager said we could get a drink on the house, but that didn't happen. Â I did have a mint julep was tasty. Â It was a Friday during Lent, so I was limited to the vegetarian/fish options. Â We shared the vegetarian board which was actually really good, and a nice start. Â There was some cheese, some pickled vegetables, and some other vegetable options. Â It was on the smaller size but there was enough for our group of 4. Â As far as the other dishes, we ordered many. Â The scallops were really nice. Â I loved the brussel sprouts. Â Others had great things to say about the pork belly and the short rib. Â I believe the menu has changed, and I'm glad I had the chance to check it out.
Review Source:Lessons in how to go from a 4 star rating to 1 in a single experience.
Stateside, yes the same Stateside visited by Anthony Bourdain on his long awaited Philadelphia episode. Yes the same Stateside that was voted #1 in 2013 by Philadelphia magazine, and yes the same Stateside that I have preached to all of my friends that live just outside the city that the journey and parking problems are well worth the trip. Stateside you have fallen.
Their new approach to dining seems to centered around 3 new dining principles. Cut the menu by a third, cut the portion size in half and increased in price.
The Menu:
Once a full tapas menu with delights and wonder as far as the foodie eye can taste has been chiseled down to a single list of items with little to no thought regarding the gastro journey that it once was. Even the menu presentation seems to have been given a Wal Mart touch. A single white 8 Â 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper fresh off a kinkos copier thoughtlessly fastened to a plastic menu board whose original intent doesn't even match the size.
Portion:
I understand "small plates" but Stateside seems to have gone the way of a 1980's high concept far less is more approach. Allow me to paint a picture. Think high end wedding finger food only you can't hunt down the serving staff to double up on that tasty foie gras bite. Needless to say after 5 plates and 2 desserts we left hungry.
The Food:
Compared to the Stateside I once knew the food was just so so.
Price:
One of the best things about Stateside was after an amazing meal that would run well into the 3 digits if you were in Rittenhouse would come in at around $70.00-$80.00. I guess the rent went up, to our surprise we ended up spending double.
Too much fame too soon? Who knows but I am forced to resend all of my Stateside recommendations.
Oh did I mention they charged us for bread.
This is a solid 3.5 star review- I rounded up.
Went here last night (a Thursday) and required reservations. The Best of Philly thing has really made it tricky to just swing by this neighborhood spot.
The drink menu has changed from what is online. So my friend and I were upset we couldn't order the "Gangsta's Pearadise" a concoction of champagne, pear vodka and pear puree...sounds good right? We were super bummed. Ah well. Red wine always fits the bill.
We go to order the first round of small plates and are told we have to order everything in one shot. No biggie. The menu is on the smaller side, with a few vegetarian options for my friend. We decided to get cauliflower and pickled veggies to start and then I would get the rib eye and she was getting the tagliatelle with mushrooms. My favorite thing was the cauliflower. The rib eye was cooked perfectly, but I wasn't super over the moon about it. My friend loved her pasta, and I think I'll order that next time.
For dessert we ordered the carrot cake with blue cheese frosting. The cake itself was really good, however the blue cheese frosting overwhelmed the cake so we just ate around it. I understood what they were going for, but the cheese was a little too potent.
The prices of this place are fairly reasonable for the amount of food you get, just don't expect to scoot out of here without dropping $80 for 2 people.
Since we are attempting to hit all of the Philly Mag top 50 restaurants, my boyfriend and I panicked a bit when we realized that Chef George Sabatino was leaving Stateside. Luckily, since I stalk <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FFoobooz.com&s=7340dfe656ee25c9c7e3295209026ffaa747af883c6a724b0248853e24012d2f" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Foobooz.com</a>, I had a 30 day notice. Since this place is impossible to get a reservation as it is, we felt very lucky to find a 6 pm opening on Sunday, March 10th (the day before Sabatino's last).
It was a beautiful day so the windows were open, which made the ambiance of the cozy (aka small) restaurant that much better.
The menu at Stateside was very limited in the eyes of a former picky eater like myself, but I have become quite the foodie lately and have really expanded my horizons so I was excited. For cocktails I went with the Tennesee Sweetheart because it sounded fun, but my bf's classic Dark & Stormy was much tastier. We ordered the perfect amount of food: the cheese plate (best one was their house made ricotta), Baby Carrot & Kale Salad, Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts, Day Boat Scallops w/ cauliflower, Crispy Pork Belly, and a special pork dish that i can't remember the name of. Everything was great. There wasn't one thing I didn't like and none of these are foods that I would "normally" eat. We also had an amazing chocolate dessert.
Also, the service was excellent.
Overall, I think George Sabatino lived up to all the hype and Stateside is definitely a cool place that I can't wait to visit again. Looking forward to checking out the new chef (and seeing what Sabatino brings to Morgan's Pier).
Really, really good. The plates - while small - are bursting with flavor. They can also do an Old Fashioned really, really well.
A couple tips:
-Unless you have a reso, go early. We went at 6 p.m. on a Saturday and managed to get 2 seats at the bar. By 7 p.m., it was standing room only.
-You'll prob need 2-3 plates/person in order to feel satisfied.
-Must-try: rabbit risotto, brown butter tagliatelle
I am very sad to report a three star experience at Stateside. Â I have wanted to go to Stateside for at least 6 months, and finally, a group of 5 of us went a few Fridays ago for a birthday. Â
We couldn't get in until 9:30, which was fine, we were excited to get in at all on relatively short notice. Â We arrived and saw why. Â The place is teeny tiny. Â And adorable. Â LOVE the space. Â Brick wall, very dark, definitely my kind of atmosphere. Â We were sat immediately and settled in. Â
One of the people in our party had been pumped about the Bourbon menu. Â He chose an unusual one, and was disappointed to hear that both his first and second choice were unavailable. Â He chose something a little more standard, but felt a bit tricked by the long list of Bourbons that may not really exist. Â
Because there were 5 of us, we chose many things to share and were able to taste about 80% of the menu... to be honest, I only remember a few things that we ordered (brussel sprouts, chef's board, scallops, steak tartar) because everything was just fine. Â Nothing was GREAT, nothing was bad. Â Everything was just OK. Â But Stateside does not give OK portions, nor do they have OK prices, so their food needs to be much better than that for me to feel anything other than "OK" about the experience. Â
One thing I will say, the chef's board was a terrible deal. Â For $20+ it was 2-3 SMALL croquettes, a 1inch by 1inch block of cheese, and 2-3 other small items. Â I would say it was barely enough for 2 people to each get a bite, much less a chef's board for the table. Â Would definitely not get that again.
I was quite disappointed by my dinner at Stateside last month. Obviously I had high hopes, since they'd just won top restaurant in Philly from Philadelphia Magazine (no matter how much flack they got for that list, the #1 had to be at least decent, right?!) - while the food itself was alright, it was nothing to write home about.
We started with some dollar oysters and a bunch of happy hour drinks. The happy hour specials were by far the highlight of the night - we ordered all the remaining oysters (only a dozen left when we arrived at 6) and they were delicious. The drinks were good, but one of my friends noted that their regular prices and selection of some liquors left a little to be desired.
We ordered the large charcuterie plate (had heard great things about it), and nearly every small plate. The waitress pretty much forced us to order something else, which is a pet peeve of mine, so we added the mussel entree. Not one single item was memorable. The food, like I said, was by no means bad. But a group of 4 of us, who eat out quite often in and around Philadelphia, all agreed that we wouldn't return anytime soon.
The service was okay, but extrememly rushed. I understand it's a small place (20 seats or so with a bar), but when we make a 6 pm reservation we expect to stay for an hour and a half or so. It wasn't a cheap meal - about $45 a person all in - and it's not cool to rush us out like they did. Not to mention the diners who were waiting were packed into the place like sardines, even though it was warm enough outside to wait there. We left as quickly as we could because of it, and headed somewhere else for dessert.
Honestly I considered giving Stateside 2 stars, but decided it wasn't fair to downgrade simply based on high expectations. That being said, I wouldn't rush there...there are tons of much better restaurants on the same block that I would recommend well ahead of Stateside.
I really wanted to LOVE this place but this place just didn't live up to my expectations. Â
My friend and I ordered the Chef's Board, Steak Tartare, Scallops, Brussel Sprouts, and Short Ribs. Â
The New Hampshire cheese on a pear puree was my favorite on the Chef's board. Â The rest was not too memorable. Â I also really liked the brussel sprouts and scallops. Â These were delicious. Â Steak tartare was good. Â But, I felt that the short rib was under-seasoned. Â
Not a bad experience but I was hoping for more.
We had appetizers which were very good.  The Steak Tartar  was a 3.8 out of 5.  Tough to get Tartar (much like Bloody Mary's) to be excellent in my book.
The staff was terrific. Â The dining area and bar were rather cold on the wintery day we visited.
But the real BEEF I have is a $7.00 up-charge for a $11.00 cocktail, so a Manhattan cost $18.00!!. Â Who charges that? Â Not even the bar at the Ritz. Â And know that this upcharge was not for some precious liqueur! Â But Rittenhouse Rye. Â A Rye that retails for $21.99 at most retailers. Â Just a few dollars more then Jim Beam sells for!!
So, in addition to being unbelievably offensive to be gouged to such an extreme. Â It makes one wonder where else this establishment is gouging their customers.
I finally made it to Philly Mag's #1 restaurant of the year! (Though I should say I always disagree with the order of their list.) Because of this, I had very high expectations for the restaurant.... and I wouldn't say they were all met. Don't get me wrong, everything was good but not #1 in my book.
We started with the meat board, which featured pork rillettes, foir gras, and bone marrow. I heard good things about the pork rillettes, but I guess they're not for everyone and I'm included in that. The foie gras is phenomenal and was like liquid gold in your mouth. Highly recommend that!
My friend had the cauliflower soup with creme fraiche, caviar, blood orange segments, an oil drizzle, and an ash. All those things sound good in theory, but it was a little much in one bowl I think.
For entree, we shared pork belly, scallops, and clams and mussels. The pork belly is so flavorful and the crispy onions are perfect. The scallops left a little more to be desired and I wasn't crazy about the grapes and cauliflower paired with it. The clams and mussels came in a starchy potato broth with chunks of pork belly, which was good; I just prefer my mussels in broth. That said, they were extremely tender and delicious while the clams were much too small.
I'm not against giving Stateside another chance, and maybe come back when it's not Restaurant Week crowd.
I would change this to 4 1/2 stars and Yay! I'm a BIG fan.
I had read them reviews- both critic and wanna-be critics- and entered Stateside with high expectations for this elevated corner bar. Â And yes, the chef earned all the merit badges bestowed upon him. Â Everything we tried was absolutely delicious. Â Â Even simple soup was something special. Â Definitely worth a visit if you haven't been there yet.
I went here with my friend on Valentines Day and I was not disappointed. Â We both did the Valentines day tasting menu and it was amazing! The dishes were well thought out and well executed. Â I believe for the the price it was great quality and well worth it.
The atmosphere was low key and intimated. Â It would be a great "grown up" date place without it being pretentious. Â I definitely would come back again to check out their regular menu.
I was here for Valentines and opted to have their Valentine Tasting Menu which was delicious! We started off with oysters with pomegranate & horseradish foam - simply divine, followed by Beef shortrib & seared scallop - the shortribs were so tender, and then 2 very rich dessert dishes: Rose variations & Black Forest Cake. Last but not least they had homemade salted caramel. I couldn't have asked for a better meal.
The one issue I did have was, we were originally seated right in front of the door. As it is February and Valentines, my friend and I had dressed up and did not want to sit bundled up - especially when we took the pain to get dressy. When we requested to have our seat moved, the hostess moved us one table back - still directly in line with the door. Once we voiced our concern, they finally moved us to the back corner. the place was not packed at that point yet so it wouldn't have been an issue to move us at our first request. Nevertheless, after the mishap everything else went smoothly.
After all of the great things I have heard about Stateside, I really was let down when I visited for happy hour. The look and feel of the place was great and made me want to stay, and the beer specials were also welcoming.
However, our food choices just didn't live up to the hype. Our buck-a-shuck oysters were kind of strange and extremely salty. They definitely did not want to waste their good oysters on us happy hour folks. When we splurged for the $25 charcuterie plate, I was expecting something amazing. It was obviously made with a lot of effort and love, but the flavors of the pates, steak and accompaniments were very bland overall. I felt robbed afterwards.
Good thing we still had a long evening of eating ahead of us elsewhere!
Monday night is usually a dinner date night for me and Mr. Â I wanted something good, but as usual, had no idea what I wanted. Â At first we were going to stick with one of our oldies but goods - Alla Spina, Dmitris, Raddichios, N3. Â Love them all, but with this non-cooking wife, we've been there and done that soooo many times! Â Wanting to try something new, I thumbed through Philly Magazine's most recent Top 50 restaurants and there it was at #1 ... STATESIDE! Â A Monday night, senior citizen (5:15 PM) dinner, secured us our choice of table, even with their newfound #1 status. Â And just in time for happy hour, double SCORE!
Upon entering , I instantly fell in love w/ the exposed brick and pipe work and the old South Philadelphia (prohibition era) photos ... charming! Â Luckily the food and drinks didn't disappoint either. Â The bartender made an AMAZING whiskey sour (egg whites and all) ... so nice, that I had to do it twice! Â
For our meal we shared the smoked pork rillettes (not at all what I expected, but delicious), pan seared brussel sprouts (not your grandma's brussel sprouts), crispy pork belly and  sausage stuffed chicken breast ... leaving our bellies totally stuffed & satisfied!
The food and drinks were totally 5 star worthy... However, there were so many waitresses hovering in the back and discussing their weekend in far too much detail! The restaurant is just so small that having those sorta discussions in the back is equivalent to telling us about how "effing wasted you were this weekend" while giving us the daily specials! Â
I also just read that the head chef is leaving Stateside, which could possibly be a total game changer... See article:  <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fphiladelphia.grubstreet.com%2F2013%2F02%2Fgeorge-sabatino-leaving-stateside.html&s=d8c4b6d733fcdf927e5c51a7a0dffde6cc5fbc2f8c67e39ec2ea3c6028792cdc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://philadelphia.grub…</a>
I'm perplexed writing this review. Â
It was one of the better meals I will have for under $40 and we ordered a ton of plates if not over ordered, but nothing sang to me to the point where I want to always come back. Â
We had most the menu, the Broccolini was special served cold w/ a curry mayo flavor, assorted pickle plate one of my favorite dishes to snack on, steak tar tar was the absolute winner of the night. Â
On to main plates; the pork slider was pork belly and some dried potato crisps had alot of flavor but maybe under salted? Short rib (they didn't have cheek) was tender and soft, but nothing to die for. Â The sausage for me was very special and tasted like an elevated version of a ballpark worst with sour kraut, but again borderline felt like something I could possibly make at home. Â Pork rillettes were smoky flavor and a ham -like taste as it went down very very hard to put down, not something I could ever possibly make at home.
The mussels and clams were more like clams, butter soup, bread and a mussel. Â there were actually 5 mussels in the dish. Â I'd rather not have any mussels than 1.25 of a mussel for everyone at the table btw $21 dish... Â I've been to flex mussels and for roughly the space premium they don't fu@k around you'll get a Costco serving worth of mussels for the same price.
Would I take a friend from home visiting, absolutely. Â Would I come back and try more food sadly no. Â I'm good, it was a one time only thing. Â They get a 4 because the service was impeccable, the whisky sour will be dreamed about and to taste so many different foods in one sitting is absolutely rare. Â
Go, but I think you'll agree it may be one and done.
I've heard and read a lot about Stateside. Needless to say, I was pretty excited that we snagged reservations on a Friday night with a group of friends. The inside was casual and cozy which was perfect on a cold winter night.
What we ordered...
The Chef's plate. YUM. This came with one of their pickled items (carrots and celery), pork rillettes with kale, and some sort of amazing soft cheese that I've been dreaming about for days.I obviously enjoyed this. And the most amazing part was that they actually gave us enough bread. In addition we had the steak tartare with an egg and truffled sauce which was out of this world, brussel sprouts with tiny mushrooms and a lardo sauce(wow) and the crispy pork belly. Honestly, the only thing I didn't think of great was the pork belly. It was a tiny bit dry and hard to cut. I love pork belly and this was tasty but it wasn't great.
Food aside, the service was good. Their liquors are all local so that was a bit difficult to choose from but thankfully the waitress helped me out and I was happy with my vodka choice.
All in all I thought it was very good and I am looking forward to my next visit.
The food is delicious, and it's all tapas and small plates. I knew that going in but I was surprised at exactly how small a small plate is here. Â We ordered their Chef's Board and I was very let down with what we received for $25.
Very very impressive bourbon list.
We had a 5 o'clock reservation and when we walk in at 4:55 they tell us that they weren't open yet and to come back in a few minutes. Mind you it's 35 degrees outside and my fiance has a cold. Â Then when we do get back in there drink service is a crawl. Â Slow service and not a good start. Â
Glad I tried it but I won't be back.
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