Gran caffè l'Aquila

The story

Gran caffè l'Aquila in Philadelphia: Italian Cafe, Gelato and Wine Award

Gran caffè l'Aquila, at 1716 Chestnut St in Philadelphia, is an Italian restaurant that earned a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence (2025) and two Gambero Rosso forks (2026). The kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a Philadelphia room built to recall an Italian cafe.

A cafe reborn from L'Aquila

The original cafe stood on Piazza Duomo in L'Aquila, Abruzzo, and was badly damaged in the 2009 earthquake. The Philadelphia room was designed and built in Italy, then shipped over for installation and opened on December 24, 2014. The first floor is an Italian bar. The second floor holds the restaurant, a wine bar, a language school, and the coffee and gelato labs.

Gelato, cheese and wine

Gelato is a central thread here. A monthly subscription offers six pints, four chosen by the guest and two seasonal flavors made by gelato champion Stefano Biasini. Italian cheese gets equal attention in a Parmigiano Reggiano vertical tasting led by Riccardo Longo, which moves from a 24 month traditional wedge to the red cow Reggiana. The wine shop carries hundreds of labels from all 20 regions of Italy.

FACT-BOOK NOTE: Two stacked blocks in the input list the same trophies; I used each once. Name, address, cuisine and trophies came from CANONICAL and TROPHIES. Dates, the building history and the tasting details came from the website excerpts.