Anyone here from Philadelphia?

[Ivo]

So the summary so far is:

LIFE:
DON'T GO TO NORTH PHILLY
DON'T GO TO WEST PHILLY
(I thought that needed to be emphasized )

FOOD:
Go and try some sandwiches (Hoagies and Cheesesteaks), at some recommended places (like Jim's, which was seconded).
Should avoid the tourist trap places.
Try to check millerjm2's suggestion (Pizzeria Rustica) if you like Pizza (I do), or Beat's suggestion (Tampopo) for japanese
Try Donuts+ for cheap donuts and snacks

NIGHT (I'll personally pass on the "night time" suggestions, but for others):
check crackoaf's bar hopping tips, particularly if you are into beer;
check PhilExile's detailed insight if you are into "panty peeling" (I didn't know the expression, but it is easy to guess);
if you want a girl delivering you cookies*, try Insomnia cookies (and, I guess, hope that you don't have a guy delivering? )

People definitively focused on food tips here I guess there isn't much retro gaming to be done in Philly, and probably I can check any website for tourist stuff to check out (although honestly I don't care much for that stuff, usually).

*Do not confuse with cooties

[Beat]

If you're going to be moving around a lot you can get a $20 weekly transpass that will let you get on any bus/train an unlimited amount of times. Also you can basically wander around in Center City and hit multiple bars on each block. You won't have trouble finding one. West Philly is fine as long as you stay on the main streets like Chestnut, Walnut, Sansom and Market.

[Ivo]

I don't know if anyone will be interested in it, but I've already been to Philadelphia and decided I should post in the thread with some of my experiences.

I was staying in a place quite in the center, very close to the City Hall (nice building). I walked quite a bit over that area, and went to Chinatown, to the place where they have the bell (didn't go in to see it though). As I was walking all the time, I didn't really check most places that were recommended for food as they aren't particularly near the center city (with some exceptions).

I made a point of passing by Jim's to try a real cheesesteak on a day I walked all the way to the nearest Wal-mart (I went all the way East on South from 16th or so, then south along that wide Boulevard to the area with Wal-mart and Target - then I took a cab back as walking that distance weighed didn't seem like a good idea. As going I went all the way along South, I stopped at Jim's. The place seemed to have a rather nice atmosphere, and I was fortunate enough to eat just before many people arrived - I ate upstairs and I was pondering ordering another cheesesteak, but when I went downstairs and saw the queue I decided not to wait.
The cheesesteak itself (with onions) was good, but not delicious as I was expecting. Maybe I just got too hyped up, or maybe it's my fault for going with provolone instead of the (apparently favored) cheez whiz - I decided to avoid processed cheese as it's probably less healthy...

Speaking cheesesteaks, one of the times we went for food we stopped at a veggie place that had fake, seitan "beef" cheesesteaks! Everyone tried one, and although good, the non-vegetarians that had tasted Jim's cheesesteak favored the real deal.

One of the guys had his birthday so we eventually decided to go to Monk's (I recognized it from the recommendations here, so I pushed for it), but obviously we should have left the hotel earlier as it was packed, noisy, and the wait time was going to be 40 min. We had dinner on one of the italian bistros across the street, which wasn't particularly special, and returned for lunch the next day at Monk's, which was much calmer at lunch time (fortunately for me, as I dislike noise) and although I don't drink myself, the quality beer wasn't lost on our group. The meal was also nice and relatively cheap (Monk's also had seitan cheesesteak as one of its vegetarian options, although nobody tried that this time).

Although nobody mentioned them here, I also tried some water ice (similar to other things of the sort, but indeed with a different texture). Just before I left I also went to get some soft pretzels from the "Factory", some of which I had on the airport.

Some recommendations of myself - I only went more then once to a couple of food places that were near the hotel (I thought I should sample around a bit, but these two were good and cheap that I thought I should sample them twice) - Goodburger, which has very nice burgers, cooked to order (as they say); and Joe's Pizza (there's also Joe's Pizza II, which is the same food in a different place).

[racketboy]

Thanks for following up with us!
I don't blame you for skipping the cheese whiz -- I'd do the same thing