by Paul Heney
Last updated: 11:00 AM ET, Fri September 4, 2026
Plenty of big cities court LGBTQ visitors, but on a recent long weekend in the City of Brotherly Love, my husband and I got a real sense of how deeply this city’s welcoming spirit is. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Philadelphia Downtown Center City, which is centrally located in the heart of the city’s “gayborhood.”
I’ve stayed at my share of Fairfield Inns, but this one really stood out—and felt more like a boutique property. The 11-story hotel has a funky attached restaurant called FIA that boasts dishes with Latin and African infused flavors (and also where the free daily breakfast is located).
Our room was smallish (think a NYC-style hotel room) but it laid out efficiently and it was quite comfortable. The hotel has an eclectic style that we liked, from the lovely subway tiled bathrooms to the colorful almost And Warhol-style drawings of rabbits that adorn the hallways.
The gayborhood area is pretty extensive, about 25 square blocks in total, and located just southeast of the city center’s myriad glass skyscrapers. It’s bounded by Chesnut and Pine on the north and south and by Broad and 11th St. on the west and east. Upon arrival in town, we stopped at the new Philly Pride Visitor Center, which opened in February of this year. The center is a partnership between the Philadelphia Visitor Center, Visit Philadelphia, Visit PA, and the Philadelphia Gay News and gives some of the city’s extensive queer history, such as:
• Giovanni’s Room, which opened in 1973, is the longest-running bookstore in the country. It now also hosts the Philly AIDS Thrift store amidst all the books.
Giovanni's Room, a queer bookstore in Philadelphia, is also home to Philly's AIDS Thrift. (Photo Credit: Photo by Paul J. Heney.)
• In 1979, 300 queer activists from across the United States planned the first national march on Washington, D.C. for LGBTQ rights in Philadelphia’s Arch Street Meeting House. In the end, 100,000 marchers descended on the capitol.
• The Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs introduced the “More Color More Pride” flag (also known as the Philly Pride Flag), the first one to introduce brown and black stripes into it to better represent queer people of color.
Inclusive shopping and eating
Philadelphia has an extensive amount of queer-owned businesses, restaurants, and bars. LGBTQ nightlife here is extensive, from the chill, library-like feel of Writer’s Block Rehab to the dance places like Woody’s and neighborhood hangouts like Franky Bradley’s. Visitors will also enjoy Tavern on Camac, Little Gay Pub, and lesbian-owned Stir Lounge, with great craft cocktails.
We enjoyed spending an evening at the newer Marsha’s South Street bar, a lesbian-owned women’s sports bar, where owner Chivonn Anderson recommended the Marsharita and the smash burger. The food and drinks were highlights of our trip, with bartender Lulu even letting us try some of her newest creations that she’s developing for a future menu. Also on tap is an upcoming “birds menu” for Philadelphia Eagles game days.
Other food highlights included brunch at Winkel (try the deep-fried bread pudding French toast), Michelin-recommended Mish Mish for excellent American fare, and queer-owned Darling Jack’s Tavern, where their take on banana pudding still has us salivating. Barbuzzo, a Mediterranean kitchen/bar serves up some fantastic pasta, pizza, and gnocchi, and the salted caramel budino (an Italian pudding-like dish) cannot be missed. Speaking of sweet things, try out Bassetts Ice Cream, located in the Reading Terminal Market, the city’s famed indoor farmer’s market. The business is said to be the oldest ice cream stand in the country.
Other queer-owned businesses we visited were Cake Life Bake Shop in the dynamic Fishtown neighborhood, Open House, Verde, Duross & Langel. And the Drag Brunch at Fabrika was a weekend highlight. The restaurant and bar is located in an amazing industrial space, cozily reborn as an entertainment venue (they also host cabaret and burlesque shows). The food is top notch (the shrimp and grits dish was off-the-charts delicious) and the performers were so much fun.
Fabrika in Philadelphia readies for its Sunday drag brunch. (Photo Credit: Photo by Paul J. Heney.)
We also took in a little bit of culture. After checking out the famed “Rocky Steps” at the front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, we walked over to the nearby Barnes Foundation. This local institution includes countless paintings from masters such as Renoir, Matisse, and Picasso. But we really enjoyed the current exhibition (through October 12th) called Just Us, with a variety of works created by inmates at the State Correctional Institution Phoenix, the state prison closest to the city.
These moving works explored the incarcerated artists’ feelings about the legal system and its treatment of People of Color. The works also celebrate heritage and community and explore the resilience of hope, something all queer travelers can identify with.
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