I went to Tinto in October and just hit up Amada last night. I'll at least TR Amada, but it might take me a couple days to get to it. I might have a Tinto write-up somewhere, but I'll have to look.

fwiw, Amada was excellent, and Tinto was solid.

Glad to see this thread. Just this evening I received a job offer that will take me to Philly and I'm curious about where I should live and the cost of living in the city. The relevenant issues pertaining to me are...

-I'm 23
-I like to go out, drink and socialize
-This will be my first post graduation job to start my career
-I will be working near King of Prussia or out that way in general
-I will have a car and won't mind a commute to work, although I would like it to be less than 40 min via train or car
-Salary will be pretty good for a college graduate, but I won't be making i-banking money or anything like that. Money is a factor for living based on college loans and other things that need to be paid.
-I am moving from Chicago and would start work in September (not sure if this is relevant but can't hurt to put it in)

Any suggestions on neighborhoods to live in? What are typical apartment prices like, both one br and two br (assuming I find a roommate)? If someone has insight into this, what is the cost of living compared to that of Chicago or Boston?

Thanks for the responses.

Look out for Center City Sips as the as spring flows into summer. Every Wednesday a bunch of bars and restaurants downtown have great specials and promotions. A lot of fun and a lot of young people.

Not from Philly, but have been to McGillin's and highly recommend it.

Chitown, off the top of my head I would look into Northwest Philly--Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, East Falls. Ask kylephilly. It's basically the safest area of the city (crime is definitely a concern in choosing where to live in Philadelphia), closest to KoP, and has a good scene. You could live in Center City of course, but for me a lot of the benefit of C.C. is being able to walk to work, and the C.C-KoP commute, while not long, is kinda soul-crushing.

chitown - this is coming from someone who has lived in Manayunk for 7 years and wants to get out (but that's because I'm getting too old and just tired of the scene) but the place for you is manayunk; the commute from the city would be hell-ish (prob an hour+ each way) .. manayunk also gives you the ability to walk to bars which is so key in this area (driving drunk is not cool)

if you look in manayunk the best place to find apartments is craigs list, it's more reasonable to the city and it also offers back routes to the KoP area like PA-23 and ridge ave/henry ave for days when I-76 is just a mess (which is rare if you time it right)

manayunk is also cheaper than the city and you can street park your car for free and without time restraints in most areas

if you search manayunk, try to live between green lane and shurs lane (west to east respectively) and main street to tower street (north to south respectively) this will give you best proximity to the bars and train etc.

trains run to the city - they're like a 25 minute ride, cab will cost you about 30 bucks to get home which isn't bad if you're splitting 3 ways or something, SEPTA trains also run late night to manayunk til like 1:45 am but i've never taken it that late because i'm usually too browned out to leave the bar before close

east falls is a nice little town but will not offer the nightlife you want (2 or 3 dingy bars) and i'm not sure about the other areas suggested above.. just check out manayunk... and don't let people talk you into conshohocken.. it's lame and further from the city

oh and to add price to manayunk, you could find sublets as cheap as 500 a month

the nicest places in manayunk would run like 1600-2200 for a 2-3 BR/2 BA place

studios are overpriced here so i recommend hunting down a cool roomate somehow; you can find some pretty decent places that would run you like 700-800 a month if you search hard enough; i'd recommend hunting craigs list daily starting in june and when you find a place that looks legit/nice with pictures and **** then jump all over it and let the guy know you're serious

september is the time when leases start in manayunk so a lot of places come available then

Another decent experience/activity:

Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival

http://www.rittenhouserow.org/rrsf.pdf

It's in a couple weeks; it's kind of a clusterfack but basically a bunch of restaurants open up stands on the street and sell samples of their food and drink right there on walnut street; Rittenhouse square is popping and it's an overall great day to just walk around and be out in the beginning of spring.

They sell the food/drink for like 5-6 bucks for tasting dishes and some places make some creative drinks and stuff; check it out it's on May 7

Second all who says manayunk is teh best place to live w/ your situation. Cost of living in Philadelphia is much much cheaper than boston or chicago. Manayunk is one of the more pricier neighborhoods in the city and you can still live decently by yourself for 1000-1500 in rent. Don't think you can say that for chicago or boston.

Favorite restaurant right now is El Vez, at 13th and sansom i think. I guess it is called 'mexican fusion', whatever that means. Anyway, their specialty is the different kinds of guacamole they make. I prefer the one with goat cheese and pistachio's in it, i think its called 'bazooka' or something. so good. Also, the carne asada steak there is good to.

Also, there are a ton of bars within a few blocks of this place (although, be careful of gay bars b/c this is in the middle of the gayborhood (not that there is anything wrong with that))... McGillans, the good dog, bar, are some of my favorites.

-I'm 23
-I like to go out, drink and socialize
-This will be my first post graduation job to start my career
-I will be working near King of Prussia or out that way in general
-I will have a car and won't mind a commute to work, although I would like it to be less than 40 min via train or car
-Salary will be pretty good for a college graduate, but I won't be making i-banking money or anything like that. Money is a factor for living based on college loans and other things that need to be paid.
-I am moving from Chicago and would start work in September (not sure if this is relevant but can't hurt to put it in)

Any suggestions on neighborhoods to live in? What are typical apartment prices like, both one br and two br (assuming I find a roommate)? If someone has insight into this, what is the cost of living compared to that of Chicago or Boston?

hey man i live like 15 away from KOP in Wayne right by villanova...id reccomend not living in the city live somewhere in King of Prussia, Wayne, Malvern or Paoli, all are short drives to the city, fun nice areas, and have awesome housing. Ive lived in wayne and malvern and work in paoli....love all 3 of them i dont think you can really go wrong
prices will be anywhere from 800 per month 1br to 1400 per month 2br

[QUOTE= and don't let people talk you into conshohocken.. it's lame[/QUOTE]

+1,00000000000

cool the first night but the great american pub and boat house are really all conshy has to offer and that gets really old

don't move out by KoP... you'll want to kill yourself

i admit the housing situation is probably better (more townhome type stuff, newer, probably decent pricing) but if you're stuck going to the Fox n the Hound in KoP and the Kildaires out there, you might as well just end it all now

Thanks for all the info, I will no doubt look into that area. It was also great to hear about the pricing situation. I just kind of figured east coast = excessively pricey based on my limited experience in NYC and Boston, but those prices don't sound bad at all, especially compared to Chicago.

I would definitely like to find a roommate so that I could get a baller 2BR to go along with the benefits of a new social circle, but that is still up in the air. I feel like craigslist is such a crapshoot for finding roommates, but I'll at least give it a look.

With that said, if there are any young professionals in the Philly area looking for a roommate this fall send me a pm or post in here, as I'm all ears. It would also be a plus if you are a semi-degen as I plan on going to AC quite frequently for long 2/5 unlimited hold dem sessions.

fyi AC is great and I prefer it to Philly casinos but you could also get to Harrah's (Chester, PA) and Parx (Bensalem, Pa) in less than 30 minutes for similar action possibly even juicier games

i have a buddy that's looking to move to Manayunk probably sooner than that but if you want I can hook you guys up on facebook and you can see if you think you'd get along. he's not degen but plays a little poker here and there recreationally

FWIW I doubt it will be decision-swinging but you should know ahead of time that Philly has a city wage tax.

http://www.phila.gov/revenue/Wage_Tax.html

Agreed that Manayunk is the best place for you considering you're commuting out to KOP. I live in Manayunk and commute out past there. As kyle mentioned (all of his posts ITT are spot-on), it's not bad if you time 76 correctly. I'd vastly prefer to live in Center City, but the commute from there would just be ridiculous.

Don't live in the suburbs.

Chitown - Manayunk AINEC (I'm very familiar with all of the surrounding areas, both city and suburbs)

Grew up in KOP/Wayne area. That Kildare's is now closed, Kyle, fwiw. But yeah, there isn't much for a bar scene (Iron Hill Brewery ain't bad though).

But I would second everyone's recommendation of Manayunk for you...at least for a couple years (2-3) until you grow sick of it, which will happen.

And whoever said it, yeah, El Vez is awesome. Great margaritas. Get a couple pitchers of those on a nice day and sit outside and you're set.

McGillans is also awesome.

And for those of you who are into Tequila, this relatively new place called Kokopelli on 19th and Chestnut (across street from Drinkers) is pretty solid. It used to be Pearl (a crap nightclub), but now its more of a restaurant with a club feel to it, I suppose. But they have some pretty good Tequila.

Also had dinner at Village Whiskey last night again. Arguably best burger I've ever had.

Re: Iron Hill.

I was at their Newark, DE location on Saturday when they tapped their bourbon porter. Wow, was that a delicious beer. The bourbon/porter mix tasted very similar to an Irish car bomb.

Was not impressed with the majority of their regular taps, though.

I'm moving out to Manayunk in like a month and a half.

Will be living with a friend who's lived there for a couple years. Any advice beyond what's been given for things to do in that area specifically, or just general Philly area life tips? I've lived in Michigan my whole life, never really lived in a larger urban area before.

try not to get into too many fights with the countless penn state grads you'll be surrounded by

Penn State grads? I think you mean St. Joes students.

Sesame chicken and cheesesteak eggroll from Temple Star on Broad & Diamond!!!!!

Some Manayunk life tips:
-Use the ShopRite on Ridge Ave vs. the Acme on Ridge Ave, it's a bit further but will save you money on a weekly basis

-There are 2 beer distributors - on Ridge Ave there is a drive through distributor which is a bit overpriced but convenient. There is another one near Green Lane and Ridge Ave which is a little cheaper. Both run specials so look out for those.

-There is a WaWa and Sunoco gas station across the green lane bridge, both are pretty convenient.

-SweatFitness is part of globalfit.com, don't sign up directly at the gym unless they're running a sick deal - I can walk to the gym (it runs me about 39/mo but this has increased in the past few years) however if you dont want to spend 40-50/mo there is a planet fitness in Manayunk as well which is a bare minimum like 20/mo gym, there are also LA Fitness's on City AVe (10-15mins) and Henry Ave (12mins) but you would have to drive to both and parking when you get home could be a pain

-Closest Target is on City Ave

-Closest Best Buy is in Plymouth Meeting (15 minute drive which can be accessed via I-76 or Ridge Ave), there are also BB&B, Target, Giant, and a few other stores

-Best Pizza - Couch Tomato (huge thin slice), Zesto's standard slice, Santucci's square pizza sauch on top is delicious
-Best Sandwich - Primo's Hoagies near Zesto's on Ridge
-Best Chinese - China Wok on Silverwood and Green Lane
-Best Thai - Chabaa (I don't eat much Thai but this is what I've heard)
-Best sit-down restaurant - Cooper's Pizza Oven
-Best sports bar - Bayou
-Best outdoor bar - Brew Pub
-Biggest **** shows - Mad River / Kildaires / Pitchers
-Best beer bar - Flatrock

Mugshots coffee has some pretty good food/shakes but is expensive.
Sorrentino's has OK hoagies for a very reasonable price.

Late night food options suck in Manayunk, Main Street Munchies is terrible unless blacked out. All star pizza servers til 4 am but it's gross. Both are serviceable for drunk eats though. Hawaiian at All star is usually my go to late night pizza.

I'll add more stuff as I think of it.