Figs — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Terrible. Two of my friends already left their reviews of the same experience but Figs denies the truth and calls them defamers. So I'm here weeks after with the entire story.

My friends who’s visiting from New York and I went there for brunch on a rainy Sunday and found out it was cash only after we ordered. We didn’t bring debit cards for ATM so we borrowed $62 from another table which was all they have left. The food was mediocre to say the best and the total amount with 15% tip came down to ~$60 which was covered in our budget. However, the tab showed $63 with a handwritten 18% mandatory tip that that didn't show up anywhere before on the menu or in the restaurant. Since mandatory tip is ILLEGAL, we paid $62 and left.

After we walked for a few blocks towards the art museum, the waitress with a headwrap ran up to us yelling loudly that if we dont go back with her she's gonna call the cops. She claimed that the 18% tip was lawfully mandatory and that she would have to pay the extra $1.64 out of her pocket(to tip herself) if we don't. We were in awe of her aggressiveness and ignorance. We didn’t go back with her and she told us to never come back, thankfully we won’t.

My friends and I still talk about this negative dining experience and that’s why i decided to come back and leave this review here.

Edit: the restaurant owners are threatening to contact the authorities. I encourage them to do so. If they are trying to scam customers with an unlisted mandatory tip, it makes me wonder if are they dutifully reporting all of their cash income to the IRS?

i’ve removed the recommended dishes, that was accidentally...

Made a reservation for 2 at 8pm Friday night. Told they close at 9pm although hours are different online. But it was fine, worked out for us. Also note, cash only. We came after visiting eastern state penitentiary, 8 min walk. Food was delicious. Not even spicy but still flavorful and very enjoyable. The menu looks so good it's hard to choose because you want to try out more than you can actually eat. Chicken and lamb are halal. We'd also love to come back if/when the filet mignon is halal too.

Appetizers: Scallops 6/10 Eggplant lasagna with no pasta 7/10 - very good and the cheese excellent but personally would like more mushrooms in it

Dinner: Lamb shank 8/10 - actually tastes even better than the crab entree but both were very good Crab filet 8/10

Tea also very good. For dessert we had apple cobbler with oat and ice cream, that was ok but not going to rate this restaurant for dessert. Would have liked to try the fig ice cream but it wasn't available.

Total with tax 81.87 before tips

One issue was that in my case my fork was a better knife than the knife. However for the person I was with they said their knife was very sharp. So maybe it's just one or a few of them. Idk if maybe I should have requested right then to change my knife. Then they'd know to separate it. But not a big deal.

Anyway highly recommend to try this place out, but if covid cases going high then I'd suggest to get takeout or go when empty or get outdoor seating if one of very few is available. At the moment there's no restrictions by the state but who knows what...

Came here on a Saturday night after a long day of museums. Reservations are highly recommended! We made reservations for 630pm and got seated right away. Good thing we did because I saw at least 4 parties get turned away at the door because they were booked up. There was a huge party of 12 at the corner so they took up a majority of the seats. The place is very small but cozy. I never felt like I was elbow to elbow with the table next to us. My boyfriend and I took advantage of the BYOB policy. In fact it seemed like every table did. There's no corkage fee and our waitress was happy to open bottles with her corkscrew for some of the older clientele who were having a hard time. Water was refilled regularly and the wait service was expedient but never rushed or intrusive. My boyfriend and I did 4 appetizers (Baked Brie with honey and almonds, the Mediterranean tapas plate with Hummus, Baba Ghannoush and Feta cheese and warm pita bread, the Seared Scallops with a spinach cream sauce and Moroccan style mussels) and 2 desserts (Apple cobbler and Peach Bread Pudding, both served with homemade vanilla ice cream) and the bill was a measly $48. What a Deal! I recommend this cute place for anyone looking to have an affordable and delicious dinner when in the Fairmont area of...