Picnic
American restaurant · East Kensington
2421 Martha St, Philadelphia, PA 19125
Highlights
Oysters, rotisserie chicken, and American fare in a casual setting.
Oysters, rotisserie chicken, and American fare in a casual setting.
"Picnic in Kensington has a gigantic industrial space, so it's easy to walk into with a group any day of the week—but especially when you want rotisserie chicken you'll obsess over. Because of the size, the crowd is a mix of couples sharing inside jokes over banana negronis and coworkers passing around plates of perfectly smoky bluefish toast and tomato-y charred beans. The selling point here is it's massive, so you'll never rub elbows with strangers at the table to your right, and everything is made to share. Float in on a Monday night with eight of your friends (they actually have a table for that size), and slam some $3 oysters, beautifully blended Amaro Old Pals, and a fall-off-the-bone chicken." - candis mclean
"You can’t miss the raw bar in the entryway of Picnic in Kensington. It’s as if the giant icy display is screaming, “You need oysters, now!” And it’s right. You can sit at the bar and double the briny effect with a platter of oysters and a pickled martini, or grab a couple dozen with a few friends at their large cafe-style tables. The oyster options change regularly, but the quality is always excellent. Don’t forget to drench them with the onion-y mignonette, smoky hot sauce, or the tangy verde sauce sidekicks. That’s a lunch or dinner we can get behind. Yes, there’s a Sunday happy hour with $1.75 oysters" - candis mclean
"The sprawling dining room of this Kensington spot means plenty of room for high chairs and strollers, and the boppy ’80s pop is louder than those who speak in whine. But the shareable American menu, filled with salads, a great mushroom burger, and one of the city’s best rotisserie chickens, means everyone at the table will find something they like. And if all else fails, dessert never does: the fluffy chocolate cake topped with whipped cream, caramel sauce, and candied pecans is a must-order." - alison kessler
"This gigantic industrial restaurant has lush greenery and low lighting, an on-site wine shop, and TV screens with still lifes of fruit displayed on them. You might feel like you’re in a really snazzy art gallery rather than a restaurant in Kensington—if rotisserie chicken, platters of oysters, and banana negronis weren’t whizzing by every minute. The food is good, but the major advantage here is the size of the place: it’s perfect for a last-minute group hang, or catching up with the entire class of 2004, plus their kids. Go for the perfectly smoky bluefish toast, tomato-y charred beans, and at least one whole chicken." - alison kessler, candis mclean
"Picnic in Kensington suggests you ditch the turkey (and we agree). They’re offering a 3 1⁄2 lb rotisserie roasted chicken seasoned with sage and garlic butter. When it comes to sides, they have fall squash and green salad, potato and leek gratin with cauliflower cream, green beans almondine with brown butter and frizzled onion, roasted mushrooms in a thyme jus, stuffing, and pumpkin cheesecake." - candis mclean
