Kris

Have been to Kris three times now, and its consistently incredible. The venison osso bucco is everything you want in a entrée. the meat is so juicy and tender, falls right off the bone. And they supply you with a small fork so you can enjoy the bone marrow as well.
Have also tried the rainbow trout, its fresh, light but filling. The polenta fingers melt in your mouth, and the lamb skewers have an extraordinary mix of spices that delight the palate. The chef really knows how to pack the flavor.
Drinks are delicious, I’ve had Mike as my waiter every time, hes charming and attentive. and the best part, the place is reasonably priced. Go. to. Kris.

after circling around rittenhouse sq for 15 frustrating minutes looking for parking, I remembered Kris. In the next 10 minutes, the car was parked in front of Kris & we were on our first bottle of Tempranillo (for $ 16!!!). twilight zone?
no, my friend, the world has much to offer, including friendly attentive service & excellently prepared food in a warm welcoming dining room.
3 Hands Clapping for: grilled octopi on a subtly hot pickled vegetable slaw; Perfectly grilled veal with charred artichoke spearettes skimming atop braised green lentils
The fettuccine with escarole kept good company but disappeared quickly.
A return engagement is a must.

I wanted to like this so much, but the food was just ok.
Started with Calamari which after two bites had to be returned. It was like eating a salt block. I asked the server to please taste one or have the chef taste and they both agreed that it was over salted. They replaced my calamari with the special gnocchi for the evening which were stellar! Good job there!
Next I had the scallops over brussel sprout risotto. The scallops were tasty but the risotto was lacking some flavor. :(I was bummed b/​c I expected halved roasted brussels but instead they were shaved and barely noticeable in the risotto.
And finally dessert was gelato; a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate chip. BUMMER decision. the gelato was freezer burned or just really icy gelato :(
I may give Kris another try for cocktails and wine but hesitant for the food.

Kris was good – it’s biggest problem is that it is overpriced. We had two pastas – the ravioli (which was bland) and the gnocchi (which was much better). But they were both really small portions. Even if you doubled them, they wouldn’t be enough for a meal – and $ 20 for 6 vegetarian raviolis is pretty disappointing. For my entrée I had the veal chop. The flavor was good but the meat was fatty – again, it was overpriced.
Given its location and the quality of food, Kris needs to re-​evaluate it’s pricing structure. Otherwise, I won’t be back.

There’s always those nights where you say to your significant other «Eh, I don’t feel like cooking, or dealing with Center City parking/​noise/​prices, want to sit down but not anything too fancy…». Or something like that. Just a solid meal at a good price. This describes Kris perfectly.
Came here on a Sunday night for this very reason. I’ve been travelling a lot for work and just wanted to relax with over some comforting food and a glass of wine. On Sundays they have a $ 22 salad and pasta pairing option that was perfect. Argula salad with wild mushroom (and oyster!) risotto for me. Forget what my girlfriend had with her caesar salad but everything was excellent, even on a slow night where only one other table was occupied.
Wine list wasn’t anything special but varied enough where I could find something in the variety I wanted. Reasonably priced too.
Straightforward food done right in a relaxing atmosphere. Because sometimes you don’t want to be surprised/​challenged/​confused by your food, you just want to eat.

We came here on a saturday night around 930pm and was able to get a table right away. I’m not sure why this place wasn’t that busy, it’s great. I decided to check this place thanks to Unilocal.Great reviews from others. Waitstaff was pleasant and helpful (russell). We ordered the polenta fingers, grilled octopus, and fish/​chips as starters. For the price of $ 13 i had hoped for a little bit more than about 6 small pieces of octopus. However, it was delicious and very tender, tasted very fresh. Caution with the polenta fingers, it was very filling and big portion for 2 people. I had high hopes for the fish/​chips. The beer battered skate was a bit overwhelming on the lemon flavor and you get 2 pieces of zucchini chips (they were yummy, i wish there was more). I think skate is better off pan seared than breaded and fried. The bf had the lemon herb chicken. No complaints on his end. He mentioned it was juicy and flavorful. I had the «penne» like pasta with smoked mozzarella, squash, and zucchini. I wish i wasn’t so full so i could’ve enjoyed more of my entrée. The smoked mozzarella was great. I sure have never had it on a pasta dish. I surely enjoyed my leftover as lunch today.
This is a nice small place for a date or a nice quiet dinner with the family. They had nice selection of special anitpasti. We will definitely come again to check out the rotating dishes/​antipasti.

Came here with some friends. Started with polenta fingers with a cheese sauce. Reminds me of savory french toast — crisp outside and creamy on the inside. I had the pappardelle. Good flavor and balance with some great scallops. Dessert was the donuts (made with ricotta I believe). Not great, but still pretty good.
The waitstaff were excellent and not pushy like you might find at some restaurants. They were friendly and personable. The atmosphere is pretty nice and it has a good drink menu as well. Solid pick for a night out on the town.

Service on a Saturday morning was terrific. Boyfriend, friend, and I were here around 10 am for brunch, and we were greeted and treated very well. Brunch is served from 10 am — 3 pm. When we were there, there was one other couple. The place has a bar and two tvs from where we were sitting and could see. There are many tables, and I think on nice, warm days, there is patio seating.
I asked for chai tea, but since they didn’t have, I was presented with a plate of different tea bags to choose from. I opted for a chamomile tea for $ 3. Boyfriend and I shared a caesar salad. The salad was too overdressed!
I also had the chicken milanese sandwich. It came with a side salad of baby arugula. I like arugula but I thought there was a bit much on the plate, and the peppery taste of the leaves overpowered the sandwich. The sandwich was on a ciabatta bread and done very well. Chicken is crusted, basil pesto aioli spread on the bread. Yum.
I tried some of my boyfriend’s fettucine. The fettucine was too oily, and the veggies were overcooked IMO.
I still give this four stars for the quality of service we received. The staff wasn’t overbearing. They were friendly and attentive. Some of the food was good, some was better.

Romantic ambiance, small quaint dining area, friendly/​knowledgeable service (I’m forever grateful for the tutorial on truffled picorino), AMAZING food. They get a 4 Star from me because their portions are a bit on the skimpy side for their prices. Serving to price ratio is comparable to dinner in NYC. As pretty as it is on the inside, the location is no Chelsea, Manhattan.
Recommendations: Roasted Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, Fontina And Truffled Pecorino Flatbread, Grilled Octopus, Angus Flat Iron Steak.
Bön Apetite!

I think the food here is pretty inventive (my entrée was the salmon with brussels sprouts and grapefruit), but they still have some classic dishes, like osso bucco, steak, and pastas. I thought the service left a little bit to be desired, though: it seemed like it took forever to place our order, even though the restaurant wasn’t that busy. Also, the waiter said that he couldn’t honor a Unilocal check-​in offer that we tried to use because he had already printed the check, but then he took our Groupon offer without a problem. I would definitely come back here just because the food was decent, but I really hope we get a better server next time!

Went here with a few people on Monday. Im new to the area and was looking for a place to eat that evening. Knowing nothing about Kris I decided to give it a try.
Needless to say I was pleasantly sup prized. It’s a cute little place that has all the charm of a south philly eatery. The atmosphere was great. The music was different in a good way. They played a bunch different electronic music which I enjoyed.
The food was awesome as well. It was exactly what I was looking for. I had 3 people totalmin my party and we ordered 4 appetizers and 3 entres. We started with the octopus, duck sausage flat bread and the truffle cheese and a salad which was great.
For my entre I got the bolognese special which had just the right amount of spice to the meat and sauce.
All around great dinning experience! I wll be back foe sure.

I went here on a weekday — with high hopes. I love stogie joes, and I believe the owners are the same. We had a ton of appetizers — white bean salad, polenta, mozzarella /​tomato salad, and hummus. ALL of these were GREAT. I loved them all — truly. Especially the polenta — I usually don’t love polenta, but here it was truly wonderful.
The main dishes left me with something to desire. I had a gnocchi with mushrooms, peas, and tomato. It was good, not great. The pasta had too much sauce — which was super creamy and weird. Not quite as good as I would have hoped. Gnocchi should be light, fluffy, and good. I couldn’t even taste the potato! Unfortunate indeed. Someone else in our group ordered the pappardalle, and loved it. That might have been a better choice!

Kris has specials almost every day of the week (Monday ½ price bottles, Thursday lobster night, etc.), but I went on a Wednesday where there were none. But that’s okay, because if you check-​in to Unilocal,you get a free glass of wine!
Overall, the food we tried was great. For appetizers, we got the hummus and the Morrocan lamb skewers. The hummus was actually dry and unremarkable, and the amount they actually give you is ridiculously huge. The lamb skewers were seasoned well, but a tad bit dry. The skewers came on a bed of pine nuts and other-things-I-didn’t-care-to-notice, and that addition was sweet and tasty.
The pasta was the best part of our meal. We got the the Papardelle and Garganelle. The Papardelle came in a smooth, not too oily, basil pesto cream with perfect al dente pasta. I could hear myself chew on them! The pasta dish had a faint taste of sweetness that was the cherry on top. The Garganelle dish was great as well, with a bolognese sauce with great, great Italian sausage. The parmesan cheese on top was so tasty. It was hard to pick which was the best of the two because they were equally well executed.
Oh, the desserts! We got the «Something Chocolate» and chocolate espresso gelato from Anthony’s at the Italian Market. The «Something Chocolate» was a chocolate tiramisu with Godiva liqueur on bottom and chocolate espresso pieces on top. Yum!
The appetizers were a little bit of a miss, but the rest of the meal was awesome. Huge pours on the wine as well! I can’t wait to be back.

I went here on a Monday and had a chance to indulge in their wine special (50% off bottles). Now, when I read the promotional sign for this deal, I thought basically what you are thinking now — «Big deal, wines are jacked up like 300% anyhow. You’ll probably still get fleeced on the price.» Well you Negative Nancy, I’ve got some news for you — I paid 12 dollars for a pretty darn good bottle of pinot grigio with dinner.
On top of this, Kris accepts Levelup, which is a smartphone payment app for future people like myself who are disgusted by paper receipts.
I suppose I should talk about the food, huh?
Well, it is awesome. The pre-​meal bread is served with a white bean/​olive oil spread that is a welcome addition to the meal and not just something to nibble on while you are bored, waiting for the first course. It has a light, optimistic flavor that is perfect for a late summer afternoon.
The flatbread ranks with the best flatbreads in Philly (I’m looking at you, Garces). The caramelized onion/​truffle oil one is excellent. Protip: I know it says «small plates» but this one is not a small plate.
The scallop dish is fantastic and comes with a bunch of scallops. All too often, nice restaurants only give you 3 scallops and then cut them in half or something. Kris doesn’t fool around and gives you more of your money’s worth here.
The lobster risotto is very good.
On the action-​movie-​parallel-​satisfaction-​scale, this place is Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (shut up it was a good action movie and they had the balls to have child characters get killed by monsters) on LSD.

Do you ever wish that you could go to a restaurant and order a bottle of wine for the price of 2 glasses? Or that your bottle of wine wouldn’t have a 600% markup (at least on Mondays, when wine bottles are half price…)?
Do you ever hope that your flat bread pizza will be just as crisp on the edges as it is in the center especially if it’s loaded with toppings such as perfectly roasted mushrooms, slightly sweet and golden caramelized onions, tangy toasty fontina cheese and truffle oil?
Do you ever wonder why restaurants serve mediocre bread before meals with olive oil that tastes like Whole Foods 365, and pray that one day you’ll find an establishment that serves homemade not-​too-​dense, not-​too-​fluffy, just sweet enough bread to dunk in garlic and herb infused olive oil with white beans?
Do you ever have cravings for a sea scallops dish topped with pancetta that isn’t slimy, but crispy and salty, adorned with beautiful mushrooms that are unequivocally umami, all situated a top a be-​speckled lentil sauce that’s neither creamy nor oily nor crunchy, but just perfect?
Do you ever wish your lobster risotto had actual chunks of lobster in it and was topped with a gargantuan portion of claw meat? And that this risotto was creamy, smooth and not grainy at all?
If you’ve answered «yes» to any of these questions, Kris is your place to indulge.

It’s not often that I find myself in a position of disagreeing with my fellow Unilocalers.
But truth be told, Kris simply didn’t live up to my expectations.
We’re not talking «bad» per se, but when i see folks whose reviews i am usually very much in agreement with give Kris 4 or 5 stars? Nope, not this time. Kris missed the mark on a number of levels.
Fundamentally, they don’t execute well enough to warrant the prices they charge. I expect better.
Its a somewhat interesting menu, but falls a bit short in variety /​imagination. The wine list is OK, but not nearly filled out enough in terms of selection at multiple price levels.
The ambiance feels a little awkward — painted concrete walls? The service was ok, but felt forced. For example, i hate to ask a bus person for my check while I watch the server shoot the shi! t at the bar.
We ordered 4 small plates and three large plates for a group of four — all of which we shared:
The description of the duck-​arugula pizza was intriguing, but the product was sub par. Forgettable is the best i can say.
Lamb skewers? served three to a group of four. Ya think the server might mention that? Again — not bad, but for $ 12? not even close to great.
bright spot: Octopus was pretty good — but could have been more generous (an inexpensive ingredient if there ever was one).
The veal rolatinni, steak, and pasta dishes were passably executed, but nothing special.
The only thing that made this $ 180 dinner somewhat easier to swallow where my CBS Local certificates (2@$ 50).
Honestly, not my cup of tea. For the money, I’ll take Ostaria, Barbuzzu, or many others that have done a better job of equating $ and execution.

I’ve always heard about Italian families having big Sunday dinners. Growing up, we never had them. My mom did spend most of the day on Sunday making a pot of gravy which was always delicious, but we normally ate it with pasta Monday night. I never understood the magic of it until I had my meal at Kris.
I arrived early to meet up with some out of town friends. They requested «no weird food» so I sent them a few links and they picked Kris. I’m happy they did because I had been wanting to try it for a while. It’s also rather walkable from my home.
They had an antipasto board which caught our attention first. We basically told our waiter, we want all of it. Within a few minutes we were confronted with grilled artichokes, house roasted peppers, speck, fennel salami, proscuitto pomplano, parmaggiano reggiano (with balsamic reduction) and gorgonzola with fig compote. Yeah, we housed those plates. Every part of this course was excellent.
I was lucky enough to catch the last order of their rabbit ragu. I’ve been seeing this dish pop up more and more at italian restaurants and I’m happy it is. This one ranked up there with the best I’ve had. The flavor was really well developed and it seemed like it was cooked for a while (or the laws of physics don’t exist on their stove) Either way, the fettuccine was al dente and the dish rocked. I didn’t ask for cheese, it didn’t need it. I got a bite of the risotto too and that had a nice mushroomy flavor while still having some firmness to the rice.
I think I understand now why Sunday family meals are so special. It only took a nice restaurant in South Philly to show me what I had been missing all these years.

The most satisfying and eye-​opening restaurant experience I’ve had in some time.
The Crispy Polenta Fingers exceeded our expectations and I honestly couldn’t stop eating them! The cheese antipasto we ordered was satisfying. I ordered a pasta special that I couldn’t stop eating.
The overall restaurant ambiance could still use some polish, but I suspect some of that was due to how criminally empty they were when we went. They absolutely know what they’re doing in the kitchen. If you try only one of South Philadelphia’s new restaurants in the coming months, you should make it Kris (and I say this having eaten at Stateside twice).

This place is undergoing a bit of change, but I’m glad I got to experience it. I think it was formerly a white table cloth type of place which is now a bit less formal. The food was absolutely perfect. Unbelievable truffled cauliflower and octopus. The lamb burger was good, especially if you don’t like the intense flavor of lamb. I like what they are doing here and am anxious to return when their changes come full force.

I am currently eating my leftovers from last night’s dinner for breakfast. I couldn’t wait for lunch. That is a VERY good sign.
I was in here last night with a friend — we were actually heading to Devil’s Den, but this place with its glowy lights caught our eye. We were seated promptly; it was late on a Wednesday, and the restaurant was fairly empty.
We ordered the hummus. It was my friend’s idea, since hummus for me is one of those take it or leave it things, but I thought, «Okay, yeah, I would eat hummus.» This hummus wasn’t like any hummus I’ve had before. It oozed with olive oil (in a good way) and came with a few pieces of roasted artichoke. The flavor was really exceptional, and it’s forever changed how I’ll look at or think about hummus. Yum.
We had to wait what seemed like a long time for our entrees — which is saying something, since we’re the type of friends who get engaged in conversation and don’t notice how much time passes.
That said, the food was totally worth the wait. I had the salmon PLT and loved the acidy brineyness (making up words is totally acceptable in a Unilocal review) of it. It was just as good cold the next morning. My friend had the mushroom risotto, and I think she liked it, although I asked her so many questions in catching up that she didn’t have much time to eat.
I thought the prices were pretty reasonable — with a glass of wine each and the shared hummus, our total bill was around $ 55.
Despite the awesomeness of the food, the service was… awkward… We were asked by no fewer than five different people if we were okay. We were. We were fine. We were deeply engaged in conversation and wanted to continue talking, if it weren’t for the very frequent interruptions. All of the servers were very… nice… just a little too nice sometimes. Hopefully they all relax into their positions, and my review might turn to five stars.