Restaurants in Phoenixville

Chef Stephen Guiseppe relishes a good countdown. In the kitchen of Cedar Hollow Inn, he often improvises his daily specials an hour before the menu goes live, crafting modern American meals to complement his pre-existing plates. These entrees add a gourmet twist to traditional comfort food and pub fare—the buttermilk fried chicken still boasts a topping of country gravy, but it also arrives with blue-cheese-braised kale, and the pan-roasted rainbow trout is dressed in the surprising tang of a vanilla-citrus glaze. Though Chef Stephen doesn't shy from robust helpings of meat—the menu offers lobster, filet mignon, duck, and pork belly—he also pioneers small plates. The bar features duck quesadillas and lamb sliders as alternatives to traditional countertop eats, such as chewable drink coasters.

Cedar Hollow Inn balances its contemporary menu with a historical locale. The building, which was constructed in the mid 1800s, resembles a rustic mansion, lined with wide, gridded windows that fill the archways of the sun porch. Guests can dine there, in the dining room, or at the bar, where trivia and Name That Tune competitions encourage competitive chatter on Tuesday and Sunday. Live music plays in the evenings on Thursday–Saturday, enticing guests to remain after their meals and sample one of many rotating craft beers.

At Valley Forge Ristorante & Pizzeria, the scents of traditional Italian cooking drift from a theater-style kitchen into the dining room, where guests can witness the chefs whip up a menu of pasta, pizza, and calzones. Of the many offerings, the pizza takes top honors, especially after being named number one of Philadelphia's best pizzerias by Citysearch. Each red- or white-sauce pizza is crafted with more than 20 topping options and optional whole-wheat crust. Pasta dishes rival the heartiness of the pizza pies, with options ranging from the portabello-stuffed ravioli with rosa cream sauce to spaghetti with veal parmigiana.

During off hours, when the restaurant isn’t bustling with lunch and dinner diners, the space transforms into a coffee bar with gourmet blends. Sip a cup inside, or take to the fresh air on the onsite all-season patio, replete with fireplaces and overhead space heaters.

Simpson House Tea Room sets the tone for its Victorian delicacies from the moment guests first glimpse the stately structure. The shrub-flanked walkway, the white wooden farmhouse with the sprawling wraparound porch, emerald shutters, and red roof appear untouched since being built in the 1890s. Inside, high-backed wooden chairs, bow-adorned teapots, and tiered platters surround steaming pots of 100 varieties of loose-leaf tea, a large variety of sandwiches including cream-cheese-and-olive, and scones with homemade lemon curd. With a variety of delightfully fussy services, the teahouse embraces teatime's lineage as the perfect treat for ladies who lunch—welcoming bridal and baby showers—and as the only way to tame a wild teddy bear.

Following Baja Fresh’s ethos set in 1990 as a healthy take on fast food, never-frozen meats sizzle atop the grill before they're tucked into made-to-order tacos and burritos. Grilled corn and flour tortillas embrace fish, carnitas, chicken, and steak, and smoky queso fundido sidles onto nachos and into burritos. Between bites, chips scoop up salsa made from farm-fresh produce rather than poured out of a can or fabricated in a space-age replicator. A complimentary salsa bar ensures no mouthful goes unspiced, and guests can scoop up their favorites as they await their dine-in, takeout, or catering orders.

Growing up, Marcie Spampinato watched her father, Mike, masterfully manage a local country club. By seventh grade, she was working alongside him, and today—with a restaurant management degree from Penn State under her belt—she joins with Mike to co-manage their steak-and-sushi joint, Spamps.

Chefs trained in Japan artfully stuff the eatery's sushi rolls with fresh ingredients such as black-pepper-crusted tuna and flying fish roe. Fusion flourishes such as kimchi tartar sauce, miso beurre blanc, and sake reductions give entrees such as rib-eye steak an Asian flair.

And much like a chocoholic's dream journal, the eatery's new cocktails revolve around sweet flavors, especially Marcie's favorite, the pumpkin-pie martini. Libations, which also include wine and beer, flow freely behind a copper bar with TVs or fill glasses in a dining room with exposed brick walls and private booths. At an outdoor patio dubbed The Grotto, lofted TVs illuminate trellises and tabletops as well as bar-goers shimmying to a live DJ's beats on Friday and Saturday nights.

Marhaba Blue Bell occupies an unassuming location just past the entrance of a Super Fresh market, but those who enter find Middle-Eastern dishes featuring flavors bigger than the restaurant's physical footprint. Using local ingredients, chefs whip up lemon-infused hummus and baba ghanouj and bake pitas fresh for each order. Lamb, beef, and chicken kebabs make savory meals or edible drumsticks for touring musicians, and the Marhaba meat extravaganza, with chicken, Middle-Eastern meatloaf, lamb, and gyro meat provides a multitude of proteins to pair with a BYOB beer or wine. A hookah's snake-like coils loop beside a cash register and multicolored lamps cast light across the ceiling's wooden rafters.