There are only a few places where you can get a drink at 6:30am: your kitchen, Philadelphia International Airport, or on a stool at New Olympia House. That’s the prime time to complain about your love life to a margarita-making server before the 7am rush. Bring a group of friends and pass around thick crab cake sandwiches and crispy golden fries. Or come back in the morning and update your waitress on last night’s date over two shots of whiskey. Here, that makes complete sense.

This daytime spot near the ACME in Passyunk Square is where friends catch up over stacks of fluffy cornmeal pancakes next to a mini antique stove and books falling off of wooden shelves. The room is tiny, the decor is kitschy, and people line up on nice days for a seat. The burger is the best you’ll have all week, and the plate-sized kielbasa omelet is climbing our list of all-time breakfast necessities.

People flock to Reading Terminal Market for everything from donuts to a lotion restock, so it’s no surprise that the blueberry flapjacks from Down Home Diner draw a crowd. It’s one of the largest vendors in the massive Center City market, with multiple wooden booths and metallic tables. You’ll see everyone from families to coworkers grabbing breakfast or a scrapple-topped burger (it’s dry, so skip it). Breakfast here is the winner—especially the scram bowl.

Oregon Diner in Whitman is open from 10am-7pm, has a full bar, and is a five-minute ride from the stadiums. This makes it a cheap no-brainer before or after a game. The food here is classic diner stuff—jumbo burgers, triple-decker sandwiches, and butter-topped pancakes. With 60 or so menu items and tons of options for kids, you’ll see as many families inside the South Philly spot as you will Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers fans, seven days a week.

Penrose Diner is the kind of spot with worn-in booths and a crew in the corner stating, “I’ve been coming here for 30 years” like a badge of honor. Five dollar beers get chugged alongside juicy burgers while old guys rant about Broad Street being a parking lot because of traffic on the way in. On the weekends, this is the primary breakfast spot for anybody within a 10-block radius. And that’s because everything comes in portions that will leave you full for the rest of the day.

Located in a renovated old-school diner, the menu cuisine hops. So you’ll see amped-up crowds sharing everything from solid burgers and glazed salmon to seitan wings pre- and post-dance floor. As a bonus, the kitchen closes at 1am on the weekends. It's that rare place where you can have a decent sandwich and dance to Backstreet Boys under hanging lights after midnight.

On the weekends, Fishtown Diner open for 24 hours. You’ll run into everyone from partygoers hoping an order of banana stuffed french toast can stave off their hangover, friends coming from Les and Doreen’s (post-LITs), and construction crews going back to I-95 to do whatever they’ve been doing there for the last five years. Although the breakfast menu is consistently good, sandwiches like the tuna melt and gigantic roast beef shouldn’t be missed.

Tiffany on the Boulevard is enormous. While the Northeast has a lot of stiff competition regarding diners, the ability to walk in with a large group and always find a table makes it one of our go-tos. Plus, the generously layered tuna melt on rye is one of the best we’ve had in a while—just save room for a chocolate cannoli or two.

Champ’s Diner is smack in the middle of Temple University’s campus. This small corner spot is only open from 6:30am-2pm daily, so it’s more of a meetup for students cracking open an art book they can’t afford while downing a fruit-topped waffle. The daytime menu isn’t just surprisingly impressive breakfast sandwiches and western omelets; they have quality seafood—think peppery salmon cakes and shrimp—and egg platters for under $15.

Quaker Diner in Fox Chase is a BYOB and one of the classic metallic diners that looks like an oversized toaster. Open since the 1930s, it has arched ceilings, locals ordering their usual, and servers dropping the word “hon” every two minutes. It’s a sugar-lover’s paradise—with towering chocolate milkshakes, french toast buried in powdered sugar, and a bakery making one of the best strawberry cheesecakes in town. But their stacked turkey club is so good that regulars have it three times a week.

There are mornings when you only want a plate of cheesy eggs and a stack of pancakes. On mornings like this, Sam’s is here for you. This Bella Vista brunch institution usually has a long line on the weekends, so Mondays are an ideal time to go and avoid the wait. Just don’t schedule any plans for after plates of monkey french toast and veggie frittata, unless those plans include a nap.

This cash-only diner in Fishtown is full of comfort dishes like blueberry pancakes that are worth splitting—regardless of whatever else you get. On weekends, it’s the first stop for hungover friends who are told to “sit wherever you want” as soon as they walk in. And while it’s the buttery biscuits and gravy, berry french toast, and scrapple that bring them back to life, the staff instinctively knowing that hazy mornings call for a round of Gatorade also helps.

Finding great Korean fried chicken wings at a diner is like discovering an autographed Elton John album in a box marked “for free” on the street. But that’s exactly what they’re serving up at Mama’s Diner. They have plenty of booths for groups and counter space along the wall—ideal when the only conversation you want to have is with a plate of chicken and waffles. Your meal can be brought over by the owner, a sweet old lady, or a smiling robot with a red apron painted on.

The Dining Car has been around since the first man went to space in 1961. And if you come at night when its chrome exterior becomes neon-lit, you’ll feel out of time. This Holmesburg diner serves heavy, “Am I seeing double?” portions. You can order a three-egg Spanish omelet or signature apple walnut stuffed french toast and have enough leftovers for lunch or dinner.

This Northeast diner has a menu so cheap that you could pick up the tab for everyone’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner and barely crack $100. But it's the 4am arguments at this 24-hour diner over the Phillies rotation and theories on how to survive a zombie apocalypse that keep us coming back. Plus, the four-egg omelets that topple over the plate like a blanket and one of the neighborhood's largest salad and pastry displays.