Food History of Philadelphia

Key eras

1681 to 1825, William Penn's market town

William Penn founded Philadelphia in 1681 with a market block at 2nd and Market (then called High Street). The High Street Market ran along the spine of the colonial town, becoming the largest open-air food market in the British colonies. Pepper pot soup, scrapple and shoofly pie all entered the city's vocabulary through Pennsylvania Dutch (Deitsch) farmers and Black Philadelphia street vendors during this period.

1893 to 1971, Reading Terminal and the Italian Market

Reading Terminal Market opened in 1893 under the elevated shed of the Reading Railroad at 12th and Arch, with 80 vendor stalls. The South 9th Street Italian Market, the city's open-air immigrant produce-and-deli strip, was already running by then and remains the oldest working outdoor market in the United States. Both still anchor the city's daily eating in 2026.

1930, the invention of the cheesesteak

Pat Olivieri, a hot-dog vendor at 9th and Wharton in South Philly, threw a handful of thin-sliced beef on his grill in 1930, slid it into an Italian roll and sold the result to a taxi driver. The cheesesteak became Philadelphia's defining sandwich. Cheez Whiz was added in the 1950s. Geno's opened across Passyunk Avenue in 1966 and the rivalry has run uninterrupted ever since.

1980 to 2005, the Stephen Starr and Marc Vetri era

Stephen Starr opened the Continental in 1995, followed by Buddakan 1998, Morimoto 2001 and Parc 2008, scaling Philly fine dining into a national restaurant-group model. Marc Vetri opened the original Vetri Cucina on Spruce in 1998, establishing the pasta-led Italian fine-dining template. Together they pulled the city out of its scrapple-and-cheesesteak silhouette.

2008 to present, the Cook N Solo Israeli laboratory

Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook opened Zahav in 2008 on Saint James Place, winning James Beard Outstanding Restaurant in America in 2019. They followed with Federal Donuts 2011, Abe Fisher 2014, K'Far 2019, Laser Wolf 2020 and Merkaz 2021. The Israeli laboratory they built is the city's most internationally-recognised modern food story.

Immigrant influences

• Italian-American (Italian Market and South Philly): Built the South 9th Street Italian Market, invented the cheesesteak in 1930 at Pat's, and founded Sarcone's Bakery (1918), Termini Brothers (1921) and Di Bruno Bros (1939). The hoagie was officially named the Philadelphia sandwich in 1992.
• Pennsylvania Dutch (Deitsch farmers and bakers): Brought scrapple, shoofly pie, soft pretzels, sticky buns and Lancaster County market staples to Philadelphia from the 18th century onward. Beiler's Bakery at Reading Terminal Market has run since 1984.
• African-American (Great Migration and Pepper Pot vendors): 19th-century Black Philadelphia street vendors known as Pepper-Pot Women sold pepper pot soup from carts across the city. Modern legacy: Honey 1 BBQ, Reading Terminal's Down Home Diner and the rib-and-soul-food tradition along Germantown Avenue.
• Vietnamese (Washington Avenue and Little Saigon): South Philly's Vietnamese strip along Washington Avenue holds Pho 75, Nam Phuong, Banh Mi Cali and the densest concentration of pho counters between New York and DC. Built through the 1980s post-war refugee resettlement.
• Israeli (Cook N Solo restaurant group): Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook opened Zahav 2008, K'Far 2019, Laser Wolf 2020 and Merkaz 2021. Built the most internationally-recognised modern Israeli restaurant cluster outside Tel Aviv.
• Chinese (Chinatown around Race Street): 1872 settlement around 9th and Race grew into the city's Chinatown of dim sum, Hong Kong roast meats, Sichuan and Vietnamese rooms. Dim Sum Garden, Hop Sing Laundromat, EMei and a dozen more anchor the 14-block enclave.
• Mexican (South 9th Street and Italian Market spillover): Significant Mexican migration since 1990 reshaped the South 9th Street Italian Market: Los Taquitos de Puebla, Tortilleria San Roman and a dozen taquerias coexist with the original Italian-American stalls.

Signature innovations

• The cheesesteak, invented at Pat's in 1930 on Passyunk Avenue.
• The Philadelphia roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone.
• The Philadelphia hoagie, declared the official city sandwich in 1992.
• Philadelphia tomato pie, square-cut, room-temperature, no melted cheese.
• Scrapple, the Pennsylvania Dutch pork-mush loaf griddled at breakfast.
• Pepper pot soup, the tripe-and-peppercorn soldiers' soup of Valley Forge 1777.
• Philadelphia water ice, the fine-grained summer ice from Italian Market roots.
• The hand-twisted figure-eight Philadelphia soft pretzel.
• The modern Israeli fine-dining template, codified by Zahav in 2008.