The greatest moment in local eating last year was technically not a restaurant opening, but the debut of DiBruno Bros.' enormous gourmet food emporium on Chestnut Street. The shiny new store signaled all that was changing in our city: It was getting more global, more posh and possibly more pungent by the day. Double-digit bottles of olive oil did nothing to deter the masses. The appeal of a panini was universal. And even if we could only afford to browse, we embraced the DiBruno Bros.' expansion because it represented our own expansion. The sheer variety is awesome to behold.

This was the year that the quality of local eating became an assumption rather than a surprise. Chefs no longer had to turn cartwheels or form towering structures out of innards to make us feel sophisticated, and it was a relief. Mostly this was because our dining scene has consistently improved every year, growing bigger and better in tandem with a reportedly growing downtown population. Unlike our sports teams, it has become something we know we can depend on. A little national media recognition didn't hurt, either, as we sensed the outward perceptions of Philly were changing.

The character of 2005's restaurants was changing, too. While the city got a fair share of new BYOs, most notably in the liquor-licensed hub of Old City (Mandoline, Bistro 7), the little boutique eatery that has distinguished Philadelphia dining for the last decade was no longer the big story. If anything, the year seemed to mark a transition for the old-guard BYOs. Early innovator Django changed hands. Gayle replaced Azafran. Even the more recently opened BYO Marigold installed a new chef and Out of the Blue took over where Salt left off. Fresh Italian newcomer Mercato, meanwhile, took the formula and made it even better.

Restaurateurs were apparently thinking bigger in 2005, dreaming up roomier restaurants with simpler menus and built-in booze. Misconduct Tavern, Barristers Bar & Grille, Sidecar Bar & Grille and Devil's Alley offered variation to the local bar-food vernacular. Instead of lounges with complicated cocktails we got more gastropubs like Deuce and Manayunk's Old Eagle Tavern, where serious eating would be indulged as much as drinking. Comfort food, too, was big. With its arty, flea-market decor and crispy hot latkes, Honey's Sit N Eat filled our bellies and flattered our civic self-regard.

It was the plates that got smaller in 2005. Diners were encouraged to share and the tapas descriptor was applied liberally. At Isla Verde, it meant ceviche and mini tacos and at Byblos it was fish roe salad and stuffed grape leaves. Meze did it Greek-style and Lula offered a page full of small dishes from around the world. Amada, on the other hand, stuck to the traditional Spanish concept, bursting on the scene with chorizo-scented bravado. If that didn't do the trick, plans for another tapas joint in Northern Liberties were announced.

Less familiar cuisines emerged—at least cuisines that were less frequently seen in Philly: Balkan Express introduced Serbian smoked meat, Germantown's Limpopo served up a repertoire of pan-African dishes, while Pura Vida threw Guatemalan and Panamanian goodies into the mix. Venezuelan (Sazon), Korean (Miran; Porky and Porkies) and Laotian (Café de Laos) food, too, became more readily available. Barbecue, once a relative rarity in this town, became nearly ubiquitous, with the Smoked Joint in Center City, Sweet Lucy's Smokehouse in the Northeast and Lil & Roy's in Mt. Airy all doing their best to end the rib and brisket shortage. As a new entry in the Refined Cal-Italian column, Sovalo was also one of the year's best additions across all categories. And newcomers Paradiso and Nido proved that there was no such thing as too many Italian restaurants in Philly.

Even with more people to patronize them, though, not every restaurant can last. We said goodbye to old-timers like Judy's, Ristorante San Carlo and Amara Café, middle-aged (in restaurant years) joints like Angelina, Cibucan, Lombardi's and Mallorca. Some, like East Falls' Verge and Center City's Hamburger Mary's, were still fledgling newbies, which made their sudden disappearance more startling. But all the while, restaurants optimistically arrived to fill in empty locations, like Southwark on Fourth and Bainbridge streets, Buckets on Midvale Avenue, Sabor on 19th Street and the Black Door where Las Cazuelas Tan-Bien last stood. And we, just as optimistically, will visit them. It's a comforting thought, embarking on a new year, that yesterday's failure can be tomorrow's lunch.