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Novita Bistro BYOB

1608 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19146-1542 (City Center West)
215-545-4665
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Ranked #1,034 of 2,002 restaurants in Philadelphia
Price range: €12 - €23
Cuisines: Italian
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Restaurant details
Dining style: Casual Dining
Neighbourhood: City Center West
Cross street: Between 16th & 17th
Description: Novita Bistro is a casual, BYOB with Mediterranean influenced dishes located at 1608 South Street in the Graduate Hospital section of Center City Philadelphia. Novita was established in 2008 by Moroccan born Hassan Zanzoul & Hatim Saaboul. This space was recently transformed into a quaint BYOB seating up to 40 guests & featuring an open kitchen. Chef Hassan Zanzoul developed a love of Mediterranean food while he worked as a chef in Taormina, Italy from 1987 until 1996. Upon his return, Hassan received formal training in Italian & French cuisine from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. While working toward his certification, he was selected to go to Paris to complete an internship. Before moving to Philadelphia, Hassan worked as Executive Chef at Silver Spoon Cafe in Branchburg, New Jersey. Novita’s menu includes simple, traditional dishes combining fresh ingredients from local vendors with rich herbs & spices. We hope to see you soon!
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9 reviews from our community

44% Recommend
    2
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    2
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    3
Rating summary
    Food
    Service
    Value
    Atmosphere
Date Rating
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Contributor
16 reviews 16 reviews
11 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 9 April 2013

Ventured here for a restaurant week dinner. Byob, small space. Staff were friendly and attentive. Had a salad, lamb, and creme brûlée. Salad was unremarkable. Dinner And dessert were both very nice. A very decent meal. Food was not so impressive that I would run back there. Certainly not necessary to go during restaurant week.

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See 3 more reviews by Samantha R for Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Senior Contributor
43 reviews 43 reviews
37 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 15 cities Reviews in 15 cities
15 helpful votes 15 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 3 January 2013

had dinner on a rainy night with friends, great mussels, good chicken with couscous, wife had a nice piece of fish and backlava for desert...quiet place, 6 tables, bring your own wine, lamb was delicious...

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See 16 more reviews by animaleyedoc for Philadelphia
Clemson, SC
Senior Contributor
48 reviews 48 reviews
35 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 18 cities Reviews in 18 cities
11 helpful votes 11 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 23 May 2012

I came here with my girlfriend and 2 friends. We ordered the gnocchi and calamari for appetizers. I've never experienced anything quite as good as either of these dishes. We also ordered the Short Braised Ribs, which were quite tasty as well. The guys ordered Chicken and Lamb tagine. It was my first time trying Moroccan food, but we had... More

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See 6 more reviews by grsteven89 for Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Senior Contributor
31 reviews 31 reviews
14 restaurant reviews
Reviews in 22 cities Reviews in 22 cities
11 helpful votes 11 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 17 September 2011

We were six people on a Saturday night (with reservation). The place filled up soon after we arrived, including a party of 10-12 people. The service was timely and smooth. The chicken breast in the tagine was slightly dry to my taste, but the drumstick was right on, and the dish had a subtle but full flavor. The lamb tagine/cous-cous... More

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Paris, France
1 review
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 31 May 2011

Absolutely, unequivocally the worst dining experience of my life. Seriously, everything was wrong from the start. They screwed up our reservation and, even when our party graciously agreed to come at a different time, the wait staff was rude and inattentive from the moment we walked into the restaurant. It took us 45 minutes just to get a dinner order... More

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1 review
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 May 2011 via mobile

My wife & I live in the neighborhood and wanted a last-minute BYOB one recent Saturday evening. There was no issue getting a reservation, even though the restaurant was completely full. Service was attentive, but not intrusive. We shared the balsamic calamari appetizer. My wife ate every last piece of food & couscous from her lamb tajine (sic?). I thoroughly... More

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Philadelphia
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 5 April 2011

Have to disagree with previous 2 reviews. We live in the neighborhood and have been several times. Service is always very friendly and professional. Many really consistently very good dishes, no disasters, some hit out of park. Prices/value vary greatly by dish. The tagines (chicken w green olives; lamb shank) meltingly tender. We have had consistently pleasant dinners here and... More

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Worcester, Massachusetts
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 26 January 2011

Took 3 hours from sitting down to leaving, no exaggeration. Does not take credit cards, cash only. Food was OK, nothing to write home about. Waste of time.

Was this review helpful? Yes 1
Philadelphia, PA
1 review
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 30 March 2010

I recently frequented this abomination of a restaurant. The food was so-so, the portion was inadequate - and the worst part of it was the service. This place was overpriced to begin with, especially for the food served and the ONLY reason we went there was because we had a coupon from http://restaurant.com. Note to the owners: if you are... More

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