August

August has been a favorite for years. We usually enjoy one of their fresh, creative salad appetizers followed by a wonderfully composed pasta dish. The atmosphere is comfortable albeit a bit noisy. The staff and owners are lovely and we have always found the service attentive. If dessert is your thing, and it is ours, Aunt Lena’s cheesecake is not to be missed.

We’ve been wanting to try August for YEARS and finally got there on Saturday night. The food varied but I was happy with what I had (we were a group of 4). The pasta dishes are on the high side but portions large. We were able to share the pasta with bolognese sauce for FOUR of us as an app. I had the spoecial crab cake ($ 23 I think) and it has no filler — but just one cake). The breadf pudding for dessert (I’m a big BP fan) ($ 7.00) was a bit too sweet.
Service couldn’t have been more inviting and it’s a BYOB.
It is CASH ONLY but that’s not an issue. Parking can be because full neighborhood is 2 hour max (we were done in 1 ¾ hours.
The main reason for 4 vs. 5 stars is the noise level. We were near the door (which is «quietest» place and at a square table for 4 we could hardly hear each other. And even though it was 55 degrees out the room was HOT with not much circulation.
I’d recommend going but NOT on a weekend night — unless you want to YELL at each other.

Terrific meal on 3÷19÷16. Tried the scallops, beets, meatballs, and artichoke appetizers. All were well prepared and delicious. For entrees, we had the rib eye and the Mahi Mahi over risotto and spinach. Both were full of flavor and prepared just right. We happily cleared our plates. Dessert included the affagoto and chocolate chip banana bread pudding. Both were enjoyed and a nice finish to wonderful meal. Looking forward to next visit and will be telling family and friends about it!

My wife and I went to August for Valentine’s Day dinner and had a great time. The staff was attentive and couteous, and courses arrived in a timely fashion. The 3 course meal was delicious. I had shrimp and grits for my first course (it was excellent), fillet mignon with mashed potatoes and green beans for a main (it was very good), and chocolate chip banana bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert (exceellent).
My wife had the Caesar salad, Australian sea bass (she was blown away by the sea bass) and the coconut custard pie.
We will definitely be back.

This is one of those places that I contemplated giving a review as I just want to enjoy it all to myself but alas, these reviews are for the masses and the restaurant deserves a good job. I went there for a Friday night dinner, its ByoB and nothing special inside as far as the space is concerned (typical PHilly BYOB). We ordered scallops, beet salad and a fish (can’t remember exactly as this was several weeks ago). The menu itself wasn’t overwhelming and pretty basic but the food absolutely DELIVERED. It was just so delicious I couldn’t stand it.

I’ll start by saying, I eat out alot. I review restaurants, never. But when I have an experience as I did last night at August, I don’t have a choice. The quick version: great atmosphere, great service, cozy yet stylish, perfectly executed meal. We arrived 20 minutes before close but they were happy to seat us in a still packed dining room. We didn’t know August was a byob, so were a little dissapointed as we sat down. Within a few minutes a wonderful woman from a nearby table said she had a bottle she’d love to share with us. There was no wait on service. We ordered the beets salad, cavatelli and pasta special. Each dish was prepared perfectly. Flavors and dishes were an homage to traditional italian, but executed with unique flair and accents. We spent the end of our meal talking with wonderful people sitting at the table next to ours, who turned out to be the owners. Wonderful experience I’m South Philly. Go!

Very intimate. I would also recommend making a reservation since it is only open during exclusive days/​hours. The food was amazing. The service was amazing. Don’t miss this place!

Fantastic place! Very intimate and private atmosphere, not to mention the menu is extraordinary and the food is just incredible! Whether it’s a business meeting, a first date, or a group of 6 people, you’ll have a really great experience. BYOB!

5 of us went on a busy Sat night. The table was almost ready, staff was very gracious while we waited for about 5 minutes. Our server was well informed, welcoming, and wonderful. The food was flavorful, well presented, and many choices. In fact it was downright delicious. The shrimp and grit starter was fantastic. The beet salad outstanding. From fish, to pasta, everything was perfect

This has the same feel as a lot of the italian BYOBs in the Philly area — small, intimate, with a view of the kitchen.
The night started out great and the restaurant wasn’t too busy. They had a lot of specials but we opted to just get one app/​meal/​desert off the menu and split each.
The food was delicious, I really liked it. We had the seared scallops which came on a bed of dressed lettuce, 3 large scallops that were cooked perfectly. Next we had the rigatoni bolognese — the pasta didn’t seem like fresh pasta, but the sauce was delicious and somewhat spicy so overall the dish was great and the portion was perfect for splitting. Lastly we had the Kahlua Crème Brulee which had a hint of liquor flavor but was well balanced.
My only gripe about the night was that the server most likely forgot about us for about a 20 – 25 minute period after dinner. It did get busy in the restaurant, but it still was a really long time. Eventually I got up to ask the other server for a dessert menu and we ordered dessert through her.
Overall I would go back as the food was great and service was good most of the night.

This place serves some of the best Italian food I have had in Philly. It’s BYOB, so that is always a plus. The restaurant has a bit of a high end feel to it without the high end prices! The food was fresh and beef was tender. The pasta was homemade and the service was nothing short of awesome. Highly recommend!

August is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The atmosphere is great, the service is friendly and attentive, and the food is always spectacular.
I get the appetizer scallops almost every time I eat here and they are always fresh and cooked perfectly. The sausage bolognese is also incredibly delicious.
It’s cash only, so make sure you stop at the ATM.

Rounding up from 2.5 stars.
Being that I live a block from August, dining here has been a long time coming. My boyfriend told me he ate here once years ago and that it was fine, but unimpressive. His description was that the food he ate there was nothing he felt like he couldn’t prepare at home. This was exactly my feeling after our meal.
First, let me start by saying August is tiny. The clientele is older, and the tables are very cramped. At one point a woman that appeared to be the owner accidentally hipchecked our bread basket into me with a, «Whoops, sorry.» The rest of the meal I had to keep close tabs on where I sat my glass of wine because if I hadn’t been holding it when this happened, I would have been wearing it.
Speaking of the bread basket, when will places learn that serving cold bread with ice cold butter just creates a frustrating experience for diners? Just keep some butter at room temperature, guys. Come on.
The menu worried me immediately. Quite literally every entrée that isn’t pasta is a «meat and potatoes» plate. The seafood is always served with risotto. When a menu just says a $ 23 plate is served with simply «mashed potatoes and spinach,» I get a bit concerned.
We started with beets which reminded me of something I’d make at home. Roasted, cubed, and sprinkled with basil and pistachios and a microscopic amount of ricotta salata. It was totally fine, but disappointing for $ 9. In a tapas place, it would have been closer to $ 6.
My boyfriend ordered the veal, and it may as well have been meatloaf. It was over cooked, dry, and smothered in a sauce that was. fine. Remember the mashed potatoes and spinach I mentioned? Well, I had reason to be worried because they were not seasoned. At. All. I don’t mean under seasoned, I mean NOT seasoned. If you’re going to not salt the food you serve, at least provide it on the table because it was inedible.
And now, the reason August get 3 stars and not 2:
My pasta dish, a ricotta cavatelli with bacon and peas in a cream sauce, was EXCELLENT. Perfectly seasoned, expertly made fresh pasta. Oh, man. It was so good.
In short, August frustrates the hell out of me because there are a handful of easy changes they could make that would make them great. I suspect that the reason they under-​season their food is because of their older clientele, and simply rearranging their tables would make it feel less cramped. Their prices are all just $ 2-​$ 3 too high, and the food is mediocre.
I don’t know if I’ll come back to August. I live a block away, so it’s possible. I just know that next time we’re skipping the apps and going right for the fresh pasta.

My boyfriend and I actually live right around the corner from here and have never been till now, he’s lived here ten years and tonight was the first time! We’ve wanted to go many times but with my unpredictable and demanding work schedule and the need for reservations it just hasn’t worked out till now;
Sometimes we have restaurants on our list to try and when we finally make it after waiting its a disappointment, this was not the case! I made reservations via open table a month ago to be safe and have been looking forward to it since!
The Basic: Its a nice ambiance inside as expected and the waitress was extremely helpful and very sweet, also attentive she checked on us frequently We both ended up ordering the specials which were a filet mignon and a flounder with crab meat we were both extremely satisfied the steak was perfectly seasons and cooked and every piece was perfect– my boyfriend exclaimed that his flounder tasted extremely fresh and was perfectly deboned we both cleaned our plates. also i know some people will scoff that i bother to include this but the caesar salad was perfect and the bread was clearly made today.
It was such a simple and perfect no fuss dining experience and not just because it is less than a block away. We were in and out in an hour with happy tummies. We will definitely be returning soon .
* if you want to drink remember its BYOB, we don’t usually drink on weekdays so we didn’t indulge in this option but its good to remember when you are!
* our service was incredibly fast and reliable which may be due to the fact we went on a Thursday and is worth considering
* Cash only! i did not know this before we got there since i did no research and luckily had some but i would have been mortified if i didn’t!

Really great little BYOB in the passyunk area. Cash only! Very small on the inside, i recommend making a reservation. We shared the scallops appetizer. It was great! I had a fish special. I forget the details but it was a white fish that came with spinach. It was so yummy! I need to go back because I hear the dessert is awesome! Unfortunately who i was eating with gave up dessert for lent so I wasnt able to order any. But it looked delishous!

August is amazing. The best food anywhere in Philadelphia or just tri-​state area consistently excellent service excellent food everything on the menu is cooked to perfection and nothing needed usually something so whatever not here she seems to have everything down to a science and I think it’s almost 12 years they’ve been in business so you know what that says something always a great meal.

August is very nice and cozy on the inside; seeing the chefs cook your meal a few feet away is pretty cool. The staff was also very nice, professional and anticipated our needs very well.
That said, my wife and I were let down by the food. While good, it was on the bland side. We shared the calamari and both had the crab with farfalle which, to their favor, had quite a lot of crab meat in it. Both dishes, unfortunately, were lacking in flavor. I did also have the bread pudding which was excellent; very moist and quite delicious.
Maybe it was just an off night and maybe we’ll give it another shot down the road

Was excited to try out August, especially because it had some rave reviews. The place is super cute and cozy, and the staff was very friendly. However, the food was sub-​par.
From the appetizers to the main courses, everything we tried lacked flavor. The calamari was rather bland, although the sausage and the sauce were rather good. I had the lump crab pasta and had to load it with parmesan cheese to get any sort of flavor from it.
The best part of the meal was dessert, which was excellent.
Overall, I arrived full of excitement and left rather disappointed. I’d be willing to return if the dishes boasted more flavor because the ambiance is perfection.

I am SO glad to have an opportunity to update from my last review (which was based solely on trying to make a reservation, since we never got through the door).
Anyway! We finally got a chance to dine here and the only word I can say is – WOW! Every single aspect of this dinner was TOP NOTCH!
The service was so friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was lovely – the perfect setting for our special double date! But most importantly – THE FOOD!
We are so lucky to live so close to such a fabulous restaurant with fresh, seasonal, delicious food. I cannot wait to return!!!
I also appreciate them not judging us for bringing cheap wine (or at least if they did it wasn’t during the pour!)
Looking forward to our next excuse to dine here. YUM!

I went to August on a Friday night with my boyfriend. It was pretty busy, and we got there a little late, but they were still accommodating, which was nice. The restaurant itself is very small; there is hardly any room for people to wait.
The service was slow throughout the night — it took about 10 – 15 mins for the waitress to come to us to take our order. They only had 2 waitresses for the restaurant, they probably could have used an extra person. It took about 20 – 25 mins for our food to come out.
I ordered the Penne with shrimp, and my boyfriend, the Italian sausage bolognese. Both were very good in my opinion, very traditional Italian in taste. My boyfriend had similar impressions of the bolognese, and we definitely had a great meal.
The waitress informed us that they had a special tiramisu for dessert on the menu, so we had to get that (I’m a tiramisu addict). It was very, very good — light and creamy, just like it should be.
All in all, I definitely recommend this BYO for smaller groups or dates — it’s definitely a nice place to bring a bottle of wine. But be prepared for slow service, especially on a busy night!