Stir

The food choices for brunch were wonderful and the bar menu is thoughtful and reasonable. My goat cheese and mushroom frittata was tasty but could have used more cheese. The toast and jellies were spot on. But for an art museum restaurant, the place is a bit cold. Attractive yes. But no art on the walls and in places the plywood already is lifting.

Wonderful fine dining option to top off a lovely museum visit! We are so happy not to have to leave the museum in order to have a good dining experience. Service was friendly and professional. We ordered two appetizers and two entrees, and all four were fabulous! Acoustics were too loud for our taste, but that’s our only critique. Will definitely go back!

I have to say I was under whelmed by my lunch experience. I knew it was going to be noisy, and that was OK. However the food was nothing special. The bread on the table was not great, and in Philly you should be able to do good bread. It was more like a biscuit and to me biscuits needs to be served right out of the oven, these were not. The teapots leak onto the table when you pour the tea, not pleasant, and a little sloppy. And it wasn't just one teapot, because I needed to order my tea THREE times to get the correct flavor! The portions were very small, and the carrots that my waiter talked up and sounded delicious looked and tasted like road kill. There was NO flavor whatsoever and they were so over done (and maybe fried?)
My soup was very nice and tasty and a good portion. Dessert was OK but small. We split one and were brought extra plates, however the plates were wet, so I needed to dry my plate before putting the pastry on my plate. If just one of these things had happened I would consider giving Stir another try. It's a shame since it would be so nice to see another restaurant succeed in that space. Good Luck in the future!

Delicious food, and presentation. Waiter very attentive, but other tables were given cookies for dessert ...we were given nothing.

Unfortunately enjoyment of the GREAT and IMAGINATIVE food was hampered by the noise level. The ambience is noisy cafeteria, which does not measure up in any way to the food served. Terrazzo topped tables, wooden walls and ceilings are noise enhancers. The PMA needs a better interior designer.

The Art Museum somehow thought that taking out the fine dining restaurant that was there previously and replacing it with a loud, loud, loud smaller venue was a great idea...I disagree! As a longtime member of the museum, I greatly anticipated the opening of Stir and was hugely disappointed. The cafeteria there had better ambiance!

We spent the morning prowling the galleries and then headed to the restaurant. We asked - no kidding - 5 guards how to find the restaurant because there are NO signs, not even temporary ones. The room is small but airy and warm looking, but also quite noisy - lots of hard surfaces and nothing to absorb sound. I like the open kitchen - fun to watch the action. Our server was gracious and quite funny, as she needed a sense of humor to manage the interminable wait for our meal. On a positive note, both the maitre d’ and the chef arrived at our table to apologize and they actually comped our entire meal - smart business and incredibly nice. I had a nice but underseasoned frittata and my husband had a very tasty fancy grilled cheese. The dressing on the accompanying salad was very good. A fruit bowl had pear and apple with a frisson of pomegranate and blackberries- fresh and a surprising choice and combination. All in all a nice meal in a pretty space; we’d go back and have already recommended it. They just need to work on timing

Delicious fresh food and excellent service....already plan on returning

Enjoyable food and very good service but much too noisy and busy feeling.

So pleased that a fine restaurant choice is again available at PMofA. The decor is a bit too modern for my taste, but didn't detract from the excellent food and service.

Great venue! Decor was really nice and the wait staff was attentive and on point.

We went there specifically because its an architect-designed space. You should include restaurant design on your list of recommendations.

I ordered the scallops. They looked really good on the plate. The cost was 29.00 and there were 4 scallops. They tasted OK. I expected that for that price that either there would be more food or that the taste would be great! The service was good. It was noisy for me and I had trouble with conversation. I was nice to have a restaurant at the museum so that you could have another option other than the cafeteria.

I enjoyed the duck, though the skin could have been a tad more crispy, it was perfectly medium-rare. The wheat berries were fluffy, the cherries tart, and the baby carrots perfectly cooked. My friend said the scallops were the most tender he had ever had, and they had quite a nice sear on them. The romesco sauce was out of this world!

From the time we walked in until our last bite, everything was perfect. The food was delicious. The hostess and servers were on point. Nothing was too much trouble. We were there for lunch. I can't wait to try dinner.

The food was quite good but not outstanding. The menu offerings are interesting. The very nice wait staff poured full glasses of wine prior to the usual custom of having someone first taste it. It is so noisy at lunch time that conversation is difficult. It seems more noisy and crowded that the old restaurant, and I didn't think the food was quite as good as on a previous visit in Nov. Surely the noise level could be fixed. We were a party of 5 and do not have hearing disabilities and enjoy conversation over lunch.

It is unusual to have such good food in a museum restaurant. The menu is small bu touches many levels, from foie gras to hamburgers. Well prepared dishes and friendly cutesy service.

It was so very nice to be able to see a special exhibit and stay in the art museum for lunch. The new restaurant is lovely. My only negative comment is that my gnocchi was too salty and I had to send it back. There are not of choices for vegetarians . Our waiter was delightful.

The food was very good and the service outstanding. Nevertheless I preferred the ambience and the menu of the old restaurant (white table cloth, the place was more quiet).

Love this new restaurant! The setting is relaxed and the service is impeccable. I ordered the avocado tartine. When the poached egg yolk was not as “non-runny” as I prefer, the plate was immediately whisked back into the kitchen and re-prepared with another set of eggs, and not only were they perfect but were hand-delivered by the chef! The drinks are innovative and tasty. Prices are excellent. I heartily recommend this restaurant!

Going to Philadelphia Art Museum and want to plan for a bite to eat. A good alternative to the cafe, if you don’t wish to go outside. Really tasty burger and striped bass dishes. Excellent service.

I took my visiting daughter here for lunch between Christmas and New Years. We weren't looking for a huge hot meal but ordered the amazing Parsnip and Roasted Pear Soup and Kale salads. Both were delicious. We liked the decor of Frank Gehry. The waiter made us feel welcome explaining, this new restaurant and the bread was yummy. I live across the street and I'm a member of the museum so I will definitely take friends back again.

design was disappointing. food was fine. service was excellent. MUCH TOO NOISY

Girlfriends camp reunion and we had the best time! Our waitress was a dream.

Waiter barely said 2 words to us. Was very rude. The food was delicious.

Because of how difficult it is to get to and because it's only really appropriate for a fancy lunch date, but not a casual lunch with friends or colleagues, I want to give it four stars, but it's such a pleasure to have a homegrown Philadelphian back home; Mark Tropea, you've been missed! The food was amazing, and we'll be back BUT as I alluded to, it's a pain to get to the restaurant (you have to go around the back of the art museum if you're there just for the restaurant), and it's a bit too fancy to become a regular spot (three courses+wine/cocktails=a pretty pricey and heavy lunch), but for the food, I'll be back. For Mark Tropea, I'll be back. The noise was not a problem, at all.

We had great service. The decor is attractive and the restaurant a nice day to the museum. Lunch menu a bit limited and slightly pricey. We would return. Suggest a warmer welcome by the front desk.

Excellent lunch! Everything was delicious, the chef has created a very well rounded menu. There are even many options for vegetarians. If you go you must try the crab cakes! Rob our server was very attentive! Can’t wait to go back!

Food is excellent. Crab cakes, salads, parsnip and pear soup really good. Very nice ambiance in the museum. Several glitches, couldn't tell whether it was kitchen or service--cold tea, cold coffee, forgot the chicken for my salad. Quickly remedied but a bit sloppy. Waitstaff was very friendly and corrected as fast as they could. We would go back if we were visiting the museum.

The food was good, the ambiance was underwhelming and in fact a bit disappointing considering the place is designed by a famous architect. The service was excellent.

First visit to the new restaurant: nice decor with excellent food and service. A very nice start to a nice day at the museum

New sit-down dining at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Smaller and less variety than the Granite Hill venue it replaces. Food is tasty but a little pricey. I miss Chef's table buffet featured at it Granite Hill predecessor. Visually interesting space, but excessively noisy due to excess of hard surfaces. A worthwhile meal when visiting the museum, but it would benefit from some fine-tuning.

This place has potential. We went for lunch for a girls day at the museum. The pear and parsnip soup was lovely. The kale salad was good but not outstanding. The same can be said of the crab cake which could have used a bit more of the remoulade. The broccoli side was serviceable but nothing to go crazy over. The roast potatoes were just boring. Maybe it was an off day but everything just needed to go to the next level. For the prices a little tweaking of the seasoning could do a world of good.

Excellent experience overall. Only suggestion is to offer more non-alcoholic options. Many don’t want to drink alcohol mid-day.

Atmosphere is a little sterile, but service and food were very good. Great place for a bite when you are visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The food was good and the service was excellent - pleasant - actually delightful - and efficient.
The food was tasty (I would have preferred more seasoning but it was quite good without it).
The take away goodie at the end of the meal was exceptional. If I return to Stir and they don't have those cookies/macaroons, I'll actually be disappointed!

Nice looking new restaurant at the Museum. Food was very mediocre and at a premium price. For $16 something better than toasted white bread and some cheese is required. Nice service but does not make up for ordinary food.

Stir had just opened within a month of our visit. The service was professional and friendly and the food was delicious. The Gerry-designed setting is lovely, with warm wood petal-like structures around the edge of the smallish space and a giant grid of wooden beams arching across the center. Our brunch food was just delicious, from the buttermilk biscuits to the blueberry pancakes to the frittata to the avocado toast. Yum.

I hope the approach to the restaurant will improve and that the long corridors you have to walk down to get to it are temporary. There were no signs to point people to Stir, and signs for a restaurant seemed to lead to a more informal cafe. Strange that the museum would do this with such a high-profile new restaurant they should want to succeed.

Our party of 4 expanded to 5 with out a problem. We were seated immediately. All the personnel were very friendly, accommodating and attentive. Special requests handled with out problems. Complimentary cookies a special surprise when the bill arrived.

I was eager to try the new Frank Geary-designed restaurant at the Museum. I came away with a mixed reaction. The design is medium-good, but the noise level is unacceptably high from all the hard surfaces. This is something they really need to address. However, I was pleased to find that the food was good and represented an improvement over previous Museum restaurants. Our waiter was pleasant and hard working, but he could not keep up with the number of tables he had. This meant service was unacceptably slow (2 hours for lunch) and a request for a condiment (e.g., ketchup for a burger, sugar for coffee) was not filled until our food or beverage was cold. Hopefully this is a problem management will also fix.