A season for laid-back eats, lower prices

Retrenching, rebalancing, whatever you want to call it, the local dining scene went through more than nips and tucks after disposable incomes tanked last year. But it hasn't been an all-bad thing: Menus have been recalibrated, average checks are down (along with some restaurant rents). Even serious-eats places - Bibou and Fond come to mind - are keeping prices in line.

And instead of bazillion-dollar steak palaces, we're seeing Asian street food, classy burger joints, pizzerias, and an explosion of barbecue pits, many with Big Names behind them. The beer budget never had it so good.

   - Rick Nichols
Inquirer food columnist
Brauhaus Schmitz

That a German beer drought (more precisely, a German beer hall drought) had descended on Philadelphia, of all cities, always struck us as particularly unjust: This is the town where they smuggled in the first lager yeast, for goodness' sake. This summer that drought officially ended when they turned on the taps at big, brassy, noisy Brauhaus Schmitz. Want a Wiener schnitzel (or sauerbraten or caraway-flecked, house-made sausage) with that Köstritzer Schwarzbier? You got it.

Brauhaus Schmitz, 718 South St., 267-909-8814, www.brauhausschmitz.com

Kong

Where sophisticated Sovalo once stood, now comes Kong, trading the former's destination diners for late-night, dumpling-eating No Libs locals. Gone are the amber lighting fixtures that once graced an Episcopal chapel, replaced by hanging bamboo birdcages. And a list of 20-some craft beers, and casual small plates - silky stir-fried egg with crab; crisp Mongolian lamb dumplings; and a noodle bowl of fall-apart-tender "forever braised" lamb in five-spice broth - inspired by the street food of old Hong Kong.

Kong, 702 N. Second St., 215-922-5664 www.eatatkong.com.

Bibou

Patrons of charmingly cozy Pif, the 34-seat bistro a block off the Italian Market, rued its passing. But with BYO Bibou taking its place - the partnership of the artful former Le Bec-Fin dinner chef Pierre Calmels and his wife, Charlotte - they can't believe their good fortune: "The most soulful and polished French bistro fare around," The Inquirer's Craig LaBan opined in a three-bell review. It is that, indeed, and on Sundays it's available at $45 per person for a four-course tasting menu. Now if they could just dial down the decibels.

Bibou, 1009 S. 8th St., 215-965-8290, www.biboubyob.com.

Oyster House