When I started https://github.com/Qbix/Platform over a decade I go I went with PHP for most request handling and Node.js for optional realtime handling (delivering messages over websockets, delivering notifications to devices etc)

And I have never regretted it. PHP powers 80% of all web sites in the world, still today! And it is the only language and runtime out there that is shared-nothing for web serving. Eliminates all kinds of leaks, including of memory, and secrets etc.

PS: This was the early PHP framework that the platform grew out of: https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/s/hETCmkpWFW and this is how long ago I posted on HN about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2464112 !