Tulip Pasta & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Come for the pasta, stay for a bottle or three of that Wayvine wine

Tulip is a place that you just "get" as soon as you walk in the big, welcoming front door.

The space (obviously, when you see it) is designed for maximum pasta and wine enjoyment, with the kitchen right up front, fully open to & visible from the front room's tables. It's cozy and (I think) very cool.

I really like their take on classic Italian dishes. I think they nail the balance between playing the hits with traditional recipes but adding thoughtful nods to local & contemporary flavors in ways that enhance but don't fundamentally change the dish. I feel like this is hard to get right, but the chefs at Tulip pull it off seamlessly (or at least it's something I really tend to notice/sometimes dread from really trendy spots & Italian specifically seems hard to improve in that way).

Examples of that balance: the pappardelle has mushrooms incorporated into the ragu, and it just totally works for that savory goodness, using quality local ingredients in a thoughtful way.

The Charcoal Roasted Beet Ravioli pushes that balance to the limit but MAN. It's the kind of must-try dish that I'm just happy to know is out there, and makes me excited to try whatever else Tulip's team puts together. The sides, desserts, & other mains my friends got were excellent too.

The other half of Tulip's equation: the WINE. If you like wine, and haven't gotten to try Wayvine yet, it's yet another reason to head to Tulip.

Serving Wayvine wines is another part of Tulip that just makes sense. They're local (if you're ever heading out to Longwood, definitely stop by the vineyard in Nottingham), family o&o, and just as everything about Tulip seems optimal for making great pasta, the same goes for the wine, which honestly is just flat-out good. Little to no frills, but haven't tried one yet that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed or wanted more of.

Anyway, love this team-up, love this spot....

I was very excited about the opening of this restaurant in Fishtown. However there were so many problems from the start that I have to assume the owners are new, unseasoned and inexperienced. The first problem arose when I tried to book a reservation online two weeks out after the restaurant opening but all availability had been restricted. Strange and frustrating as I had to keep checking back for them to open up reservations and when they finally did I had to settle for the last seating on my preferred night. I called the night of our reservation to see if we could be seated a little bit earlier and was told absolutely not. We arrived about 20 minutes early anyway and were led to our waiting table. Again poor communication resulted in a frustrating experience. The menu is limited and descriptions lackluster. There were three of us dining and we ended up ordering almost one of every food item. This is mainly because the servings are tiny-not small, tiny. So go prepared to spend a bundle because prices hover around $20 per dish. This seemed like the ultimate money grab since they are serving pasta. The beet ravioli while tasty was a bit disconcerting with the blood red bursting forth onto the white plate. None of the dishes stood out in any meaningful way so I won’t go through each one. Overall they seemed uninspired and a few were over salty. I was left with the impression that the chef ran out of exciting flavors so just tossed in extra salt. The Wayvine was delicious but again a bit overpriced. About 3/4 of the way through our meal a man assumed service from our waitress. I’m not sure if he was an owner/manager, as no explanation was given, but he seemed unfriendly and impatient. As the restaurant was thinning out by then it felt very much like we were being rushed. Again it wasn’t my first choice to have a late seating. We had a universally bad experience. All three of us agreed we wouldn’t...

My boyfriend and I love pasta so were excited to try this place. We liked the size of the menu and the variation in pasta options. We had the broccoli rabe appetizer (very good) but didn't get another app because we wanted to try the pasta more. We tried 2 pastas on the menu (the pappardelle and the crab ravioli) plus the special (a pesto with tuna tartare). The pasta itself was a great consistency. The pappardelle was our favorite. I loved the special too but it was a little over salted. The crab flavor got lost in the ravioli which is why it also wasn't a favorite. The best thing about the meal was the dessert -- if you eat here you MUST get the fritters, the BEST fritters I've had in my life. Warm, soft and chewy inside, crunchy and sweet outside. Additionally we each got 2 wines and we liked both.

I would have probably given this place 5 stars if not for the lighting. We sat at a table in the front half of the restaurant. I understand the lights need to be up for the chefs to see, and I love watching them cook, but it really took away from the romantic food experience having the lights so high. I think a solution would be for them to build an attractive wood slat partial partition from the ceiling that runs along the bar. That way the high lights are shielded but you can still see them working.

Overall I recommend this place and I'd definitely go back (once they install that...