R2L Starts Rocking Lunch

We love a room with a view, and when it comes to Philadelphia restaurants, Daniel Stern‘s R2L has a pretty darn amazing one. Perched 37 floors up in one of the Liberty Place towers, its floor-to-ceiling windows provide diners with a killer view of the city. Settle in to the zebra-print banquettes by the bar and gaze out over the Schuylkill River and University City, or book one of the private dining rooms for an eye-to-eye stare down with Billy Penn atop City Hall.

The only negative has been that R2L opened at 5 p.m., meaning that during the dark, dismal winter months we never got to see the view by light, the sun cutting through the frigid air and bouncing off the mirrored skyscrapers. As of today, though, that’s all changed as R2L celebrated Center City Restaurant Week by kicking off their new lunch hours.

For the next two weeks, lunch-hour guests will have access to a special Restaurant Week prixe fixe menu, delivering three dishes to your table for $20. You can mix and match your selections, choosing from items like crisp risotto with truffles, grilled salmon with winter pesto and a little number called Variations on Chocolate that might make returning to the office difficult.

On the regular lunch menu, look for fresh salads topped with filet Mignon or poached shrimp, a meaty crab cake sandwich served on rustic garlic bread, an open-faced short rib and ribeye cheesesteak topped with cherry peppers and shallots or daily fresh veggies mixed up in frittatas. Be sure to indulge in the R2L Sweet Cart, which will doll out brownies, cookies and cupcakes to enjoy with coffee or wrapped to-go as a reward after that 3 p.m. meeting.

R2L is located at Two Liberty Place, 37th Floor, 215.564.5337, www.r2lrestaurant.com.