Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday Saturday Sunday is a small, two-story restaurant in Rittenhouse, and at a glance, it’s just like all of the other contemporary American spots in the city. The menu changes as often as AIM away messages did in 2004, but there are a few dishes that you’ll likely see, like at least one crudo and some pastas. It has the same beige color scheme and plates that look like they’re handmade, but are actually from Crate & Barrel. Unlike most other places with similar menus, though, each dish at Friday Saturday Sunday is so perfectly executed that you’ll want to erase every other beef tartare and charred octopus you’ve ever eaten from your memory. Kind of like Matt Damon’s situation in The Bourne Identity, but ideally without the whole forgetting about your family and friends thing.

If the $165 tasting menu was the 76ers roster, any seafood dish would be Joel Embiid. Things like the halibut swimming in a citrusy lobster butter or cured arctic char with crispy nori and cucumber agua de chile are the real MVPs. And even though you’ve seen it done a million ways at a million different places, Friday Saturday Sunday has the New York strip steak down to a science. It’s charred on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, the caraflex cabbage topping is crispy, and the sweet onion glaze coating is so good that you might start making friends with strangers at nearby tables just to see if they’ll part ways with any pieces of meat.

photo credit: Rachel Lerro

You definitely come here for the food, but you also go to Friday Saturday Sunday for the nightly party happening at the downstairs bar. It’s almost like they hire people to hang out here and laugh and talk to each other like they’re extras on a sitcom—because even if you walk in at 5pm, it’s always full, and it’s where you want to be when you come here. There’s a second-floor dining room that you have to make reservations for as well, but unless you’re trying to impress an out-of-town client or your high school fling who just got divorced, the bar is an easier and more casual place to eat the same great food and sip on a few refreshing cocktails.

photo credit: Rachel Lerro

Friday Saturday Sunday sticks out among the handful of other New American spots in the city for a few reasons: they’ve got excellent food, a bar area where you’ll always want to hang out, and they accomplish the almost impossible task of remixing dishes that you’ve seen a thousand times and somehow make them exciting again.

Food Rundown

The menu is constantly changing, but here are a few examples of things you might see.

Cured Arctic Char

A perfect plate of cured fish served with agua de chile and some crispy nori. Always a good choice.

Sweet Potato Agnolotti

This is a seasonal dish that isn’t always on the menu, but when it is, you should order it. It has a light brown butter sauce with braised oxtail, and is one of the best pastas on the menu.

Sweetbreads

These crispy puffs of sweetbreads come with chunks of plantains and a velvety poached egg all in one bowl. You’ll want endless spoonfuls of this creamy mix that’s light and nugget-sized.

Octopus

There are a lot of flavors going on here, from the smokiness of the beans and octopus to the sweet pickled red onions and spicy jalapeños, but it all works together very well.

Baba Au Rhum

This spongy pineapple cake comes drowning in a syrupy and citrusy tepache with a vanilla diplomat topping. It’s thicker than whipped cream, and we like its fluffiness so much that we wish we could use an aerosol can to fill our mouth with it.