The Dandelion in Philadelphia

Two Victorian houses turned into a five-room English pub

A block from Rittenhouse Square, The Dandelion is the most reliably British room in Philadelphia — and the practical answer when the plan is fish and chips by a working fireplace, a Sunday roast with the family, or afternoon tea that is not a novelty. Stephen Starr built it as a pub first and a restaurant second, and the difference shows in how long people stay.

The Concept · The Story

The pub opened on New Year’s Eve 2010 in two 1880s houses that had sunk to holding a shoe store and a failed eatery. Starr went from idea to opening in about nine months; architect Richard Stokes and designer Shawn Hausman filled the shell with two shipping containers of English salvage gathered on repeated buying trips — estate-sale mantels, reclaimed banisters, hand-pumped beer engines, a Victorian lantern over the door, walls of vintage dog photographs. The opening kitchen was run by Robert Aikens, a Norfolk-born chef who came up through Michelin-starred London cooking. Even the name is imported: Starr took it from the 1967 Rolling Stones B-side «Dandelion».

What to Order

The British canon, cooked properly rather than winked at. Ale-battered line-caught cod with chips, shepherd’s pie under a lid of potato mash, bangers and mash, Welsh rarebit, Billingsgate crab croquettes. Sunday brings the roast — ribeye with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, watercress and horseradish — served family-style and worth planning around, because it runs until it runs out. Weekday afternoon tea comes in three named sittings, «Down the Rabbit Hole», «A Royal Occasion» and «Who Stole the Tarts», poured from a teapigs selection. Puddings are made in house; the sticky toffee is the one people come back for.

The Space

Two levels, five rooms, two bars and roughly 135 seats, and no two corners read alike: the ground-floor bar with a life-size cow above it, the snug Inglenook with its hearth, the Dog Bar built entirely on its canine theme, the Big Room upstairs for larger tables. Wood-burning fireplaces, low light and generations’ worth of collected clutter make the place feel inherited rather than designed.

Good to Know

Do I need a reservation? For dinner, weekend brunch and Sunday roast — yes; the rooms are small and fill early.

Is the afternoon tea a real one? Yes, weekday afternoons, in three set formats — from a light tarts-and-tea sitting to a full spread with sandwiches and pastries.

What should a first-timer order? Fish and chips or shepherd’s pie, then the sticky toffee pudding — that is the house in three courses.

Can it host a private event? Yes; individual rooms seat from roughly 22 to 45, and combined spaces take about 70 guests.

Is it a good spot for a date? One of the better ones in the neighbourhood — ask for a table near a fireplace upstairs, away from the bar.

Opening hours