The perfect time to get an impossible reservation in Philly: when the Eagles play in the Super Bowl
During Super Bowl LIX, the world is your grilled oyster: Primetime restaurant reservations are available when the Eagles hit the field at some of Philly's most perpetually thronged restaurants.
Indulge me in a moment of sacrilege in the days leading up to Super Bowl LIX. Don’t care about sports? Can’t tell an inning from a quarter or a touchdown from a home run? But do care deeply about eating Kalaya’s river prawns? Well, next Sunday, Feb. 9, you’re in luck: While the rest of the city will be swathed in kelly green, convulsing with every move made by the Birds on the field, you will have your pick of Philadelphia’s hardest reservations — many of them helmed by this year’s James Beard Foundation Award semifinalists.
Take it from someone who landed on the continental U.S. as an international student two decades ago and has refused to assimilate: The Super Bowl is your chance to shine… I mean dine. On OpenTable — once again a purveyor of hot tables — at time of writing: Vernick Fish has tables for two available at 6:45, 7, and 7:15 p.m. You can even get into Fiorella at 6:45, 7, or 7:15 p.m. without hounding your cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend who once worked there as a host for a favor.
On Resy, you can bring the whole family to Laser Wolf, and score any time between 5 and 9:30 p.m. as tables for four. Or bring everyone to Kalaya, where tables for four are also available all day long, at any hour you desire. Your party of four can even hog half the length of Ogawa’s omakase bar at 5:30 or 8 p.m.
The Eagles going to the Super Bowl is a holiday that isn’t imposed upon us by employers or banks, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, when restaurants are generally closed anyway — or, if they are open, you are competing for reservations against everyone else who has decided to abandon family members and loved ones wielding dry turkeys and half-baked hams to go out to eat. (Speaking of holidays, the real pro move here would be celebrating Valentine’s Day five days early.)
One caveat: Some of Philly’s most totally impossible restaurants are closed on Sundays. So the Birds won’t help you get into Mawn, Royal Sushi, Andiario in West Chester, My Loup, or Her Place Supper Club.
Still, you don’t even need to be apathetic toward sports to reap the awards. Think of the serenity you could attain when chef Carlos Wills hands you a shimmering piece of nigiri over Ogawa’s counter amid 22 other courses, as you sip rare Japanese whiskey, and check the score on your phone. Even at $200 per person before tax and tip, it’s cheaper than tickets to the game, and the results will be the same, but you, dear diner, will have sushi.
This story was updated to reflect that, after publication, Bastia canceled reservations because it will be closed on Super Bowl Sunday.