Upstares & Sotto Varalli Restaurant is located on the Northeast corner of Broad and Locust Streets in Center City Philadelphia.

“Kitty-corner” from the Academy of Music “on the Avenue of the Arts.”

Established in 1989, Upstares & Sotto Varalli is a two-story restaurant. The first floor dining room is called Sotto and the second floor dining room is called Upstares. Both Upstares and Sotto have private rooms in addition to their main dining room. The cuisine is gourmet Italian and Seafood with many Mediterranean twists. Varalli has been a real favorite with locals, theatergoers and visitors to Philadelphia because of its wide and varied menu.

Upstares is spelled u-p-s-t-a-r-e-s, as in “don’t stare junior-it’s not polite.” This play on words emphasizes Upstares' spectacular view of one of the most interesting intersections on the Avenue of the Arts. In Upstares' dining room you are surrounded by floor to ceiling windows and giant oil canvases of three of the world’s most famous houses of music: La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera House, and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. As patrons sit in the dining room and stare out the windows, they see the treasured Philadelphia Academy of Music.

The first floor "street level' dining room is known as Sotto. Sotto, means beneath or below in Italian. The decor is sophisticated, yet playful – from its hand-blown starfish pendants and waterwalls to its giant squid, which floats over the bustling bar. It also features floor to ceiling windows as in Upstares' dining room for people watching on the Avenue. Large, high-backed booths make for intimate dining for groups up to six. Sotto is decorated with many fine pieces of original art; most from local Philadelphia artists. Both Upstares' and Sotto' dining rooms are ringed by one of the world's largest lit glass-fused mosaic.

Varalli restaurants offer an array of rooms and spaces from its first to second floors that are versatile and flexible for your  dining and meeting needs.

Owner: Joseph Varalli

Chef: William Carroll

Special Events Coordinator: Brian A. Datesman

Dining Room Manager: Anthony Santini  

General Manager: George Van Sciver

Operations Manager: Karl Schappell

General Questions and
Information requests: varallidining@aol.com