Craig LaBan

Across nearly two dozen courses, chef Nicholas Bazik updates French classics with influences from the Korean pantry — but details too frequently mar the bigger picture for a $225 dinner.

Room for big groups to dine in casual style is a plus, while an innovative mushroom burger is the unexpected culinary star

The 76 restaurants that are defining Philly’s dining scene right now.

Center City is full of food carts. But the Octopus Cart is one of a kind, from its charcoal-fired chicken and falafel to the colorful chef whose regulars embrace his bluster: "His food is medicinal."

Vonda's tough love at the register kept the lines moving, but devotion to her longtime customers never wavered as the luncheonette grew from a neighborhood secret to a destination of national renown.

If hype could cook the food, Vita would be sizzling. But based on my dining experiences, this restaurant needs more work to become the hidden Italian gem it wants to be.

As Polish cuisine mounts a Philly comeback, look for the glow of the giant neon pierogi beckoning diners to this revived East Kensington corner bar with smoky kielbasa and Polska-Philly cocktails.

Working the doughnut window at this legendary boardwalk grill is an Ocean City rite of passage. Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan takes a turn: "You've never worked your last shift at Brown's."

Want to buy one of New Jersey's most iconic diners? After a lifetime behind the griddle, owner says: "I’m going to keep doing this until somebody else digs me out of here."

New Jersey’s oyster industry is surging now with dozens of new players, but the briny beauty that started it all — the Cape May Salt — is in a moment of major transition.