The Love. — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I absolutely recommend The Love and cannot wait to go back for another perfect dining experience. Went as a party of five and seated promptly thanks to the dinner reservations previously made. Great ambiance and seating distance from other tables were well distanced and comfortable. Our server, Jacob, welcomed us and helped answer questions we had about the menu. He was very knowledgeable, personable, attentive and provided great recommendations. He reassured us that The Love does not skimp on portion sizes and that was no lie. Portion sizes were generous but you couldn't tell with the first two Beginnings dishes because they were too good to have been shared. I started with my refreshing drink which was the Dumb Love (a frozé with local vodka, organic strawberry, peach and cane sugar). I'm not a vodka person but was drawn to the frozen drink and it did not disappoint... so much so that I wish that I could take some out the door with me. Little would I knowthat this is how I would feel about the food, too.. We ordered Exotic Mushroom Risotto and Crispy Duck Salad as our starter and was able to share a few bites of each between four persons. These were surprisingly and unquestionably delicious. The risotto was creamy and savory and paired so well with the salad. What a way to start off! We knew we were in for a treat. I ordered the Lovebird and the grits were like no grits I ever had before. My friend even commented on how good they were even though she did not like grits. Other dishes ordered were the Honey Brined Pork Chop, Thai Salmon, Brisket Fazzoletti and the Ricotta Ravioli. Every.Single.Dish was hands-down, hats-off-to-the-chef delicious. You know how it's so good all you can do is just sit there and look at each other making the "do you see this?" face... the "OMG, this is so good... like really good" face... the "just take all of my money" face because there are just no words to be found? Yeah, that. The meals were collectively heavenly. For desserts (which by this time, I was already feeling full), we ordered the Dirty Chai Crème Brulee, Whipped Raspberry Cheesecake Parfait and the Brownie Skillet (came recommended by Jacob and I wish I had the room in my stomach to order that one for myself). Sweet and delightful... none were too heavy. The birthday girl ordered the 18th Street Manhattan which ended up going good together with the surprise grapefruit sorbet over blueberries. Thank you, Jacob, for the pleasure of your service and thank you, The Love, for providing that: Love......

Had a truly lovely night! My boyfriend and I came here for my birthday dinner as we were visiting Philly, and we were seated at the L-shaped part of the booth which was super cozy. It was also not overly crowded near us, so that was great. The atmosphere is very modern, romantic, and elevated.

Our server MJ was really sweet, and I believe the manager (?) also came over to our table multiple times to check on us. We were seated next to an AC vent and I was a bit cold (as I did not bring a jacket with me) so the manager offered to get me a shawl and turn down the AC a bit. He ended up bringing back a Pashmina (nice!) that I could wrap around my shoulders for the remaining time of our dinner. (At the end of the day, actions like this make restaurants stand out to me (sometimes even more than just great tasting food) as I will happily recommend this place to others and will want to return here in the future.)

Regarding drinks: I had the bubbly sangria, which was ok… not my favorite :\ I wish I got the prickly pear tequila drink, which my boyfriend got.

Regarding food: We started off with mushroom bruschetta which was really good! I’d recommend sharing this because the cream makes it on the heavy-side, so I would not recommend getting this appetizer and another rich entree. We also got the cheese plate with bread, jam, berries and different types of cheeses. This was super cute and tasty - I loved the little goat cheese mouse! (it’s allllll about the details like this that make for a better experience). We also ordered the vegetable pasta which was very unique. Definitely hitting on some asian fusion cuisine for flavors. For entrees, we got the scallops and squash/vegetable dish. Both were good - I do wish the squash/vegetable dish could have had a bit stronger more unique flavors, it was a bit on the blander side, compared to other dishes we ordered.

For dessert, they gave us a complimentary raspberry crumble bars, and wrote happy birthday on the plate, which was sweet. We also ordered the True Love (a strawberry shortcake sundae) and the Vanilla Caramel cone sundae. Both were delicious. I loved the true love - MJ mentioned they just got fresh strawberries in from their vendor/farm since it’s currently strawberry season, and they were sooo juicy and fresh.

Overall, great restaurant choice for my birthday. You guys truly made it special and I look forward to coming back here when I am back in...

If I could give 1 star I would. I and my party were accused of stealing a painting . I came to this restaurant on 6/3/25 with four other executives (black women) for dinner after our confrence. We had a 6pm reservation arrived our table was not ready but it wasn't a big deal. I want to name our server Noah was amazing and this by no means is a reflection of the food or the service. This is about the Owner Aimee. We paid our $500 bill left peacefully. By the next day Aimee reached out from her personal phone via txt to the executive who reserved our table on 6/3 accusing us of stealing a Cat painting off their wall . Yes you read that right a cat painting. We naturally assumed perhaps it was spam so we all went with her to the restaurant to ask if this infact was a message from the owner. Sure enough the manager there Jenny confirmed it was from the owners number. Though Jenny was apologetic it became clear we were racially profiled because though they have signs naming they have security cameras and there was one pointed in the section we sat no one even looked to confirm who took the painting some one simply accused us and we get a message from the owner saying some one informed her we took it and she'd like it returned and was willing to pay for any postage to mail it to them if needed. Aimee did reach out to us and continued to say she did not accuse us even though she very clearly asked us to return the painting in txt . We explained how hurtful this was, it's our first time gathering in PA and the restaurant came reccomended to us by a local. I can not tell you how it feels to spend hundreds at a place and then wake up being accused of stealing a cat painting and with no explanation other than some one said these women did it. I would not want another black woman or group of black people to ever eat at this place and experience this. I'm not writing this review to cancel anyone but to share the experience and hope that this restaurant can't course correct and utilize the tools they have to confirm theft before accusing innocent people. I'm disheartened by this experience and it soiled my other wise great experience with my dinning the day prior. Again this is a post about the owner and the accusation and not at all a reflection of the staff who recieved us on the day. I caution others from visiting this establishment especially...