Zahav is a major point of Philly pride — a nationally renowned essential that's led the charge for exceptional Middle Eastern food in America — and this staple is its de facto signature dish. Despite limited availability, travel writers and food editors have deemed the pomegranate-braised, chickpea-strewn masterpiece reason enough to plan a trip to Philly.

While the rest of the tasting menu changes constantly around them, there are a few Vetri classics that people return for again and again, like this restrained dish of smoked goat. Like many of the best dishes (namely, the ever-changing pastas) at Vetri's flagship spot, it's unfussy and unadorned, but meticulously executed. It's just a little bit adventurous, but only because goat is not a menu staple around here — at its heart, it's just a rustic comfort food plate, whose crunchy skin holds the same sort of joys as Peking duck or porchetta. This capretto displays all the best parts of the Vetri vision, which has been such a force in shaping Philly food and making a name for the city beyond its borders.

Pudding is one of life's most pure and simple joys, though this cult-status pudding is not exactly simple. Layered with salted caramel sauce, cookie crumbs, and whipped cream, the reputation of this signature dessert at Barbuzzo quickly outgrew its bounds. In the summer, devotees line up at Verde, another spot from Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, for frozen budino pops or budino tacos. The scope of the phenomenon goes beyond the dish: It's representative of Turney and Safran's massive influence on the neighborhood and Philly food as a whole.

While the quality and variety of pizza styles to be found in Philly has exploded, classics like the square pie from Santucci's have been around (starting in the '50s in the Northeast), quietly flying in the face of the old "no good pizza in Philly" laments. The pie is well-charred in cast-iron pans and piled with "upside-down" toppings (i.e., the sauce is on top), and tasting the stuff is absolutely crucial to understanding Philly pizza.

This welcoming Italian Market stalwart is beloved for many reasons, not the least of which is its famous meatballs and gravy (otherwise known as red sauce). Get them over spaghetti, over ravioli, on a sandwich at lunch, even to grab and go and pass off as homemade — just get them.

South Philly is rightly known for its picture-perfect family-run Italian bakeries, spilling over with sweets like torrone, lobster tails, and (when the season is right) zeppoli. So while, sure, good cannoli can be found in a number of other cities, the one at nearly-century-old Termini Bros. is both definitive and integral to the Philly experience.

An early-morning stroll through the Italian Market can net butchered-to-order meat, fresh pasta, all types of cheese — and some of the city's very best tamales.

A savory and aromatic bowl of pho has become a staple for many Philadelphians, whether you track it down around Washington Avenue or farther north at this Kensington gem. Thang Long does a superb job with both beef and chicken varieties.

The hearty soup which once defined this city is made of the unusual combination of turtle meat, veggies, herbs, spices, hard-boiled egg, and sherry. And there was a while (over 140 years) where there was one name synonymous with the soup: Bookbinder's. So when Jose Garces reopened Bookbinder's as The Olde Bar, he made sure to bring back its namesake item, and he did so with a modernized version.

Philly's got square pizzas and fried pizzas and tomato pies and stombolis, but there are few who can make a regular pizza like Tacconelli's. Extra-saucy, bubbly all around, charred in all the right places, and chewy like it ought to be, the Tacconelli's pie is one-of-a-kind — and a hot commodity at that. Ordering a pie might mean reserving the dough in advance, but it's that sort of forethought that makes one a true pro when eating out in Philly.

This densely stacked sandwich of thick-sliced roast beef drowning in its own intense beef gravy is messy. Its kaiser roll soaks up as much of the juice as it can, but it can only do so much before giving way to the crushing heavy load. But there's no doubt in the world that diners will be licking their fingers when the last bite is, sadly, gone.

For the last three generations, the Mink family has been in the oyster business. Though Oyster House been in a few locations since the 1940s, the current iteration is polished, modern, and known for its happy hour dollar oysters. All of the seafood — including oysters from all over the country — are served within 24 hours of being taken out of the water.

Yeah, yeah, Philly is known for cheesesteaks. But locals know a little secret: Get the roast pork instead. And there’s nowhere better to start than at DiNic’s in the Reading Terminal Market. The family-run business — with roots in South Philly — rubs its pork with Italian herbs and spices before roasting it for five hours. It gets sliced thin, topped with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe, and piled onto a Sarcone’s roll. No wonder it was named the Best Sandwich in America by the Travel Channel.