Avenue of the Arts

Philadelphia's main cultural district, the Avenue of the Arts runs for about 4 miles on Broad Street, from York (North Broad end) to Washington (South Broad end). It's not overly tourist-y, despite the number of hotels in the area (and the nearby Convention Center). There is a lot of parking in the area (between hotel parking and other parking decks, you can park within a block of most points of interest). You can also get there via:

  • SEPTA (regional rail at Market East and Suburban Stations; subway at 15th Street and Walnut-Locust stations; trolley; bus)
  • PATCO (13/14th Street and 15th/16th Street at Locust)
  • New Jersey Transit bus
  • Downtown Visitor Shuttle (Phlash)
  • What's there to do on the Avenue of the Arts? Plenty. You'd be hard pressed to spend any time in Philly and NOT end up in this area at some point, due to the unbelievable number of theaters, concert/recital halls, restaurants, and hotels around here. For those of you who fancy history and/or civics, City Hall is smack dab in the middle (at the North Broad / South Broad split). Like dolls? You can pay a visit to the Philadelphia Doll Museum. This is, in general, a pretty nice area of Philadelphia; like any city, Philly has its nice areas and its not-so-nice areas. Here's a list of some of what you'll find on the Avenue and on some adjoining streets:

    Arts Venues:

  • The Liacouras Center - Temple University's arena, concert venue
  • Rock Hall - Temple University Esther Boyer College of Music
  • Freedom Theatre
  • The Legendary Blue Horizon
  • Prince Music Theater
  • The Academy of Music - home of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Opera Company of Philadelphia (under renovation)
  • The Merriam Theater
  • The Wilma Theater
  • The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts - home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and American Theater Arts for Youth
  • The Philadelphia Artsbank
  • Organizations:

  • Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations
  • Black Family Reunion Cultural Center
  • Black United Fund of Pennsylvania
  • The Minority Arts Resource Council, Inc.
  • The Union League of Philadelphia
  • The International Association of African-American Music
  • Gershman YW/YMCA
  • The Philadelphia Senior Center
  • The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts
  • Schools / Workshops:

  • Roman Catholic High School
  • The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
  • The University of the Arts
  • The Brandywine Workshop
  • The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts
  • The Ballet Centre (The Rock School)
  • Dining: (this is by no means a complete list)

  • Bellevue Food Court - Food court selections, including Japanese, hoagies, pizza, sandwiches.
  • Bookbinder's 15th Street Seafood House - Seafood, traditional American
  • Buca di Beppo - Italian
  • Bump - New American cuisine, featuring the Sunday "Beef and Drag" brunch
  • The Capital Grille - American, steak, seafood
  • Chris' Jazz Café - Jazz club
  • Copa Too! - Sports bar with burgers, Mexican food
  • Fadó Irish Pub - Irish themed restaurant/pub
  • Italian Bistro - Italian
  • Locust Rendezvous Bar & Grill - Burgers, wings
  • Ludwig's Garten - authentic German restaurant/pub
  • McCormick & Schmick's - Seafood
  • McGillin's Old Ale House - English/Irish pub
  • Morton's of Chicago - steakhouse
  • Olive Garden - Italian
  • Pasión - Latin American
  • Roy's - Hawaiian fusion
  • Ruth's Chris Steak House - steakhouse
  • Sahara Grill - Middle Eastern
  • Toto - Italian
  • Upstares at Varalli - Italian (yes, spelled "Upstares")
  • Vetri - Italian
  • Zanzibar Blue - Cajun/Southern cuisine, live music
  • Most of the hotels also have restaurants, including the Founders Restaurant at the Park Hyatt, the Paris Bar & Grill and the Pantheon at the Ritz-Carlton, and the Academy Cafe and Jack's Center City Tavern at the DoubleTree.

    Hotels:

  • The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
  • Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue
  • The DoubleTree Hotel Philadelphia
  • Holiday Inn Express Midtown
  • Inn at the Union League (Member sponsored only)
  • The Inn on Locust