Home / Neighborhoods / West Philly
West Philly, born and raised
Big porches, old trees, a sphinx, a botanical garden older than the country, and injera on every other corner of Baltimore Avenue.
Yes, everybody's going to sing the song at you. Get it out of your system. West Philly is the huge stretch of the city across the Schuylkill, and the part most people mean is University City plus the Victorian porch blocks of Spruce Hill and Cedar Park along Baltimore Avenue.
It's the most laid back part of Philly. Twin houses with wraparound porches, co-ops, community gardens, punk shows in basements, grad students and families who've been here 50 years. It's also the best Ethiopian and Eritrean food district in the city. These are the West Philadelphia things to do that actually matter.
The West Philly feel, and how it got here
University City is the Penn and Drexel zone: big campus buildings, museums, students everywhere. Walk west past 40th Street and it turns residential fast. Spruce Hill and Cedar Park are blocks of big stone and brick twins built as streetcar suburbs in the late 1800s, with shade trees that meet over the street.
Baltimore Avenue is the spine. The Eritrean and Ethiopian community has been building it since the 1980s, when places like Red Sea and Dahlak opened, and now the avenue is the go-to strip for injera, Ethiopian fried chicken and late bar nights. The trolley still rolls down the middle of it.
Things to do in West Philadelphia
University City first, then head west down Baltimore Avenue. Bartram's Garden is its own trip south.
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Spruce Hill
Clark Park
43rd St. and Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19104Nine acres between 43rd and 45th, Baltimore and Woodland. It opened in 1895 on land donated by a banker who wanted it set aside for kids. There's a life-size 1890 statue of Charles Dickens with Little Nell, one of only a few Dickens statues anywhere, and a boulder hauled in from Gettysburg's Devil's Den in 1916 to honor the Civil War hospital that once stood here.
The farmers market at 43rd and Baltimore runs year-round on Saturdays, and Shakespeare in Clark Park puts on free outdoor shows in summer.
TipSaturday morning: farmers market, then a long porch hang somewhere nearby.
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University City
Penn Museum
3260 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19104Founded in 1887, and the main event is a 12.5-ton red granite sphinx of Ramses II, called the largest sphinx in the Western Hemisphere. It moved into the main entrance hall in 2019, so it's the first thing you see. The Africa, Mexico and Central America and Middle East galleries are deep.
Walking around a room of 3,000-year-old stuff with a nice buzz is one of the better ways to spend a rainy afternoon.
TipGive yourself two hours minimum. The building is a maze.
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Kingsessing, Southwest Philly
Bartram's Garden
5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143Fifty acres on the Schuylkill, and the oldest surviving botanical garden in North America. John Bartram bought the land in 1728. The grounds are free and open sunrise to sunset, and there's a river trail plus free boating, fishing and bike programs.
It's quiet and green and way off the tourist map. Big old trees, river views, a meadow.
TipGo on a weekday when it's practically empty.
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University City
The Rotunda
4014 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104A domed Beaux-Arts church from 1911 that Penn bought in 1995 and turned into a community arts space. It books experimental music, jazz and neighborhood events, and plenty of shows are free or cheap.
Sound under that dome is something else.
TipCheck the calendar and pick the weirdest thing on it.
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Baltimore Ave, 40th to 51st Sts.
Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll
A twice-a-year West Philly tradition: shops and vendors along Baltimore Avenue from 40th to 51st sell one-night deals at a few dollars each, with bands and artists on the sidewalk. The June 2026 edition ran on a Thursday evening.
It's basically a block party that's eleven blocks long. Snacks everywhere.
TipStart at 40th and eat your way west.
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Cedar Park
A night at Dahlak
4708 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143Dahlak was founded in 1984 and named for an island chain off Eritrea. It's a restaurant first, but after dark it turns into a neighborhood bar with open mics, jazz, Latin nights and DJ parties.
TipThe kitchen does Eri-Ethiopian riffs on bar food late. That is your post-sesh snack.
Where to eat in West Philly
Baltimore Avenue does the heavy lifting. Injera is the move: it's a plate and a utensil at the same time, which is about as stoner-friendly as dinner gets.
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Cedar Park
Dahlak
4708 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143Classic Eritrean dishes from a kitchen that's been on Baltimore Avenue since 1984. Go with a group and get a big shared platter on injera.
TipOrder more than you think. Leftovers on injera are elite.
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Spruce Hill
Abyssinia
At 45th and Walnut, in a spot whose predecessor, Red Sea, opened in 1983 as the first Eritrean-Ethiopian restaurant in Philly. It's been Abyssinia for about twenty years now, serving Ethiopian dishes with a farm-to-table focus.
TipClose enough to Clark Park to pair with the Saturday market.
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Baltimore Ave
Doro Bet
Ethiopian fried chicken from sisters Hayat Ali and Mebruka Kane, opened in 2022 on Baltimore Avenue. The batter is teff flour and Ethiopian spices, and you pick mild (alicha) or spicy (awaze). Fried mushrooms for the non-meat crowd.
TipThe owner's own pick: awaze chicken with fries.
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Cedar Park
Kilimandjaro
4519 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143Senegalese, and a long-running Baltimore Avenue favorite. The mafe, lamb in a peanut sauce, is rich in exactly the right way. Thiou, fish in tomato sauce with spicy cabbage, is the other order.
TipMafe over rice and then a nap.
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Spruce Hill
Don Barriga
4443 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104A taqueria near Penn with gorditas, tripe tacos and gringo tacos. Corner taco joint energy in a neighborhood of porches.
TipGet the tacos on corn tortillas.
A perfect West Philly day
Morning at the Clark Park farmers market if it's Saturday, with a coffee and a walk past the Dickens statue. Ride the trolley or walk east to the Penn Museum and say hi to the sphinx. Late afternoon, back to home base for a sesh on the porch, the back yard, wherever you're staying. Dinner on Baltimore Avenue: Dahlak or Kilimandjaro for the sit-down, Doro Bet for fried chicken. If there's a show at The Rotunda, go. Then end at Dahlak's bar for the late crowd. Grab a ride home. If you've got a free weekday, Bartram's Garden deserves its own lazy afternoon.
Neighborhoods next door
Cross the Schuylkill east and you're in Center City in about ten minutes on the El or a trolley. Head south and east for South Philly and East Passyunk. Up the river to the northwest is Manayunk. For more stuff to look at around town, there's the see page.
Questions about West Philly
What is there to do in West Philadelphia?
The big ones are Clark Park and its farmers market, the Penn Museum and its sphinx, Bartram's Garden on the Schuylkill, and shows at The Rotunda. Baltimore Avenue is the food and nightlife strip, especially for Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants.
Is Bartram's Garden free?
Yes, the grounds are free and open daily from sunrise to sunset, with free parking. It's 50 acres on the Schuylkill at 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., and it runs free boating and fishing programs too.
Where is the best Ethiopian food in Philadelphia?
Baltimore Avenue in West Philly is the center of it. Dahlak has been there since 1984, Abyssinia sits at 45th and Walnut, and Doro Bet does Ethiopian-style fried chicken.
How big is the sphinx at the Penn Museum?
About 12.5 tons of red granite, a sphinx of Ramses II. The museum calls it the largest sphinx in the Western Hemisphere, and it sits in the main entrance hall.
What is the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll?
A twice-yearly evening event where businesses from 40th to 51st Streets on Baltimore Avenue sell one-night deals for a few dollars, with live music along the sidewalk. Check dates each year.