looking great food in a low decibel atmosphere

[primomeatball]

i love food (good food, not trendy spots) and always look forward to our visits to philly. the tricky part is my father in law, who has trouble hearing. i'm looking for some good suggestions for dinner spots that have amazing food (price doesn't really matter), a good energy (nothing too sleepy) but that are somewhat on the quieter side or have quieter areas. thanks!

[sylviag]

The Fountain Room should be perfect - it's excellent. Tables are spaced apart and very comfortable.
A less upscale favorite of ours is Meritage, especially if you ask for the back room.
Another possibility is R2L, which has gorgeous views and good table spacing. I wouldn't call the food amazing, but everything was quite good. (Only been there for lunch.)

[cwdonald]

Silly but provocative question - would you consider Fountain, R2L or even La Croix to be on the sleepy side... (some might.)

I love the suggestion of Meritage. I am wondering what other smaller places might fit the bill. What about Matyson? Some of the rooms at Dandelion are quieter than others... Other BYos?

[sylviag]

Matyson - which is delicious - can be quite noisy.
We were at the Fountain recently (we were being treated) and although we could talk,
it was quite busy and there was a vibe.
I understand what you mean. LaCroix might be too quiet.

[Buckethead]

I'll second the R2L suggestion, it's not sleepy, the noise is limited by the relatively few tables in the dining room (as sylviag says, they're spaced a comfortable distance from each other) and the fact that there are a lot of sound-deadening fabrics and carpet around. And the views are great! When you make the reservation, call them and specify that you'd like a window table, that way you'll only have other diners on one side of you. I wasn't thrilled with the food there when they first opened but I recently gave it another shot (for dinner) and the food is pretty good now. Not amazing (or especially adventurous), but very good. The Pork Ribeye was excellent.

[barryg]

Just took a look at the menu and the changes since opening are interesting. A whole section of "Simply Prepared" dishes that proudly states you can sub broccoli and potatoes for the sides... this section is bigger than the "Signature Composed Plates" section which doesn't seem much more adventurous. Quite a far cry from Gayle, Rae, and MidAtlantic but I guess they found their audience. I'm guessing Stern has high rent and a lot of debt to pay off so hopefully this is working for him.

[Buckethead]

I've seen that "Simply Prepared" category on at least one other menu recently, that one was even more simple, advertising that those dishes were prepared with just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Seems a little silly but you've gotta give the people what they want. That pork ribeye dish at R2L is really good though, the fat was perfectly rendered.

[lawgirl3278]

I found Fork to be much quieter than most of the noisy restaurants in the area.

[Bacchus101]

The Fountain Room at the Four Seasons is a lovely quiet side venue with tables providing great views of the Parkway, good service and a renowned kitchen. Fits your criteria including "price really doesn't matter".