Pearl

All I can say is Philly is not New York so stop trying to be! The service was beyond horrible. The bartender Lisa was phony and was wacked on some serious street medications . She was slurring and drooling and stumbling behind the bar . The food was some bad asian fusion not high end it was just like hot pockets.What a bad night period! Pros: great if you love hot pockets Cons: i HATE HOT POCKETS more

My friends and I had the worst experience at Pearl! We went there for a friend's birthday. After we were made to wait outside in the rain for no reason, we were told we could only stay downstairs where it was EMPTY, even though the party was upstairs and we were on the list. We decided to leave since there was no reasoning with the staff. As we were leaving, one of the bouncers told us $20 each would get us upstairs. We didn't want to disappoint out friend so we paid and went up. Once there, we tried making the best of it , but it was difficult to overlook the fact that with drinks going for $14 each that this place was incredibly overpriced for no reason. The decor isn't anything great, the music was standard, and clearly the staff was not experienced enough to know how to handle large crowds on a Saturday night. We were so disgusted with the service that one of our friends took the time to email Pearl describing out experience the following day. We never received a response! My advice to the entire staff of Pearl: lose the attitude, don't make people wait outside when it is EMPTY and stop charging outrageous prices. Stuff like this may fly in other cities--but not in Philadelphia. Good luck with your establishment, we certainly won't step foot in it again! more

Overpriced, nothing special, rude and unfriendly. I think explains bar and the staff in the most politically correct way. Did not have dinner, so I will give them one star for that (or if i could a half a star) since I can't say the dinner was terrible, but everything else about the place is not worth a repeat visit. I would love to see the owners change things around. After all, unless they see reviews like this, they won't make any efforts to change. Pros: LED Color lights outside look cool Cons: Everything else more

Intrigued by the possibility of a fashionable new spot on the oh-so-blah Chestnut Street, my husband and I ventured out to Pearl on a Friday night. Their website boasted a cool, loungey setting, great drinks and inspiring food, so we gave it a try. We entered the foyer to be greeted by two friendly faces, a hostess and a gentleman wearing a suit too haute for Chestnut Street. We walked passed the relaxed bar and were seated at a nice table. Looking around I couldn't help but notice that aside for the blue lighting in the room, there was almost no decor. We ordered 6 appetizers as the entrees didn't seem that appealing. The appetizers were good but very far from great. One was a spring roll that was about as basic as any Chinese restaurant could make. The rest were interesting, but none worth raving about. The friendly waiter brought almost all the food at once so we finished dinner in less than 40 minutes. The drinks were good- they have a list of sweet martinis (I thought they went out of style), and some nice wines by the glass. Overall the place was not bad, but I would probably not pay to come here again. Its Ok if you are looking for a quick dinner or a cheap date spot, but not a good place to linger and savor the food. You won't impress anyone by bringing them here. Pros: Cheap, quick Cons: Overrated, unimaginative food more

I'm very surprised by the complaints of rudeness and inhospitable. To me, the opposite was the first thing that stood out. I am aware that not everyone's experience is going to be the same, but I was in there once for dinner and once for the club and both times I was extremely impressed with how friendly the people in there were. It felt like every single time my wife and I passed someone that works there, we were greeted in some polite way or another. As far as the bouncers go, two separate times when we were walking through the crowd (it does get a little too crowded), one of them saw us and escorted us to where we were going. I have been reading reviews a while on this site but I have never written one. I had to jump in about this place because we were genuinely impressed with all of it, but most especially the hospitality. I do not want to take anything away from the food or general atmosphere but the service is honestly great. I absolutely recommend pearl for dinner or a late night out. more

Went here on a Saturday night around 10:30 or 11ish. Should have known by the number of bouncers outside that it was dead, went in anyway. First floor, dead, completely empty, ordered a drink and decided to head upstairs. There were some people there, not many which was fine b/c it was tight and small upstairs. So, my friend and I decided we would people watch while drinking our $14 drinks which clearly had a splash of vodka in them. We find out the club has been open for only 2 months and with those prices and weak drinks, doubt they will make it another 2 months. I will have to agree w/the other review, the bouncers are rude and told us that we couldn't stand by the table b/c the group who had reserved it were coming over. Maybe you should have enough room to actually call it a VIP area and you wouldn't have to tell people to move over, rude, really rude. Then again, amatuers will only think they are big shots just b/c they ordered bottle service. Skip this place, plenty of other places to go to! Pros: Close to better lounges and restaurants Cons: Pretentious Staff without a Clue more

Excited to see a new restaurant in my neighborhood and had to give it a try. Was not until the end of my meal that I learned this was another Stein family creation. Once again tremendous food, great service and a wonderful design. Might of just found my new favorite place!! more

My wife and I have eaten dinner at Pearl 4 times and have loved every meal we have had. You should not miss this new restaurant as we believe it one of the best in the City. Each time we have eaten there we try a different appetizer as well as a different main course. I have yet to find another restaurant that I like better. Pearl is now our favorite restaurant in the City of Philadelphia. more

I went with a group of friends the other night and we had a really good time. To be honest I really did not know what to expect but I heard good things so I decided to give it a try. We all thought that the food was really good and it definitely had a fun vibe. The place gets really busy around 10:30 so I would recommend coming early to beat the crowds. Pros: great lounge for after dinner drinks and dancing, food more

My husband and I just went to Pearl for his birthday. We always like to try the newest reataurants and this place seemed to be getting a lot buzz so we decided to give it a try. We had to wait a half and hour for our table but we ended up running into some old friends so the time passed pretty quickly. We thought that the menu looked really good and we could not decide at first what to get but we decided on the scallops and the wasabi crusted lamb chops. I do not normally order scallops but the table next to us ordered them and they smelled really good. They were amazing! My husband's lamb chops were equally good. My only complaint was the portion size for the scallops was not that big and I was still hungry when I finished. We had cheesecake for dessert and it was excellent. After dinner we met up with some friends and had a couple of drinks in the upstairs lounge. It was a nice mix of 20 something (kids) and 40 something (adults). We had a really good time. My husband and I haven't had a "fun" night like that in awhile. It was great night. I would definitely recommend. Pros: food, drinks, music Cons: the wait, not a place for little kids more

I went to pearl with high expectations and was not impressed. They are trying to go super up scale but the food was average at best and very over priced. Nothing special at all....pretty basic menu with a little asian fusion nonsense that every place is doing. The place kinda "got going" at about midnight and was ok. The house pearl vodka gave me the worst hangover i had in years. Specify vodka!!! because the pearl vodka will make you sick. Hate to say it but if you are going for this kind of feel.......starr does it better. Still waiting for a real restaurant to come to the ritt area. Oh yeah, and the review comparing this place to nobu and other top nyc restaurants was clearly written by an owner not someone writing an honest review. Pros: good crowd late Cons: food, price, pearl vodka!!!! more

I went to Pearl last Friday night and it was absolutely to die for. You walk up to the building and it has tinted windows so you know you are in for a treat and you?re just excited to go in. Then you get seated and it is lighted by blue lights and candles to keep the atmosphere light and fun. We started with the Shrimp cocktail and the Pork Dumplings and they were amazing, they were the best I ever had. Then as our main course we had the fillet and the tuna they were both very delicious and I have to tell you the presentation of all there dishes is just exquisite. A thing that I really enjoyed was the spacious seating and instead of annoying booths your tables are separated by a curtain of beads. The attire of the staff is also trendy and yet classy at the same time and they were very knowledgeable about the foods and willing to help you make great choices in food and drink. You do see an owner or two walking through the dining room making sure everything is going smoothly which is also a plus they don't think they are all high and mighty and don't have to mingled with there patrons, they said hi and are very pleasant. OK the nightclub is a whole other part of pearl. After 11pm hits this amazing restaurant turns into an up class nightclub. The downstairs dining room is emptied of its tables and the curtains are pulled back so you have seating, the bar was extremely popular. Upstairs is like walking into a New York City Nightclub. They have bottle service on the dance floor, as well as a special Moet room which is VIP. I had the pleasure of having both. The bottle service on the dance floor was very nice, the cocktail waitresses were amazing they were extremely observant and were very prompt with everything they brought to you. Then in the Moet room it has tinted glass and a personal bouncer outside the door so you have a little more privacy if you wanted a more secluded night on the town. All in all, I have to say this is my new favorite place in the city Pros: The Ambience is amazing the light blue lights, tinted glass and delicious food, and uplcass nightclub later in evening Cons: nothing i loved it all more

My friends and I finally tried Akoya, Pearl's new restaurant, and we had a really positive experience. We loved the menu, there were so many choices, and it was really affordable. We got a ton of small plates to share and split a couple of larger entrees. We especially liked the lobster pad thai, the surf and turf (for only $25!!), the rock shrimp, and their version of the Philly roll. We also really loved their drinks - our faves were the asian mohito and sangria!! We will definitely go back!! Pros: ambience, food, service Cons: none more