Magazines » May/June 2010 Issue » 8 Hours in Philadelphia
11 a.m. I’d hit the Grey Lodge Pub first. It’s a great beer bar in an unexpected location in Northeast Philadelphia; it’s an island in the middle of a blue-collar area, and the proprietor recently completed a renovation. It has a lively atmosphere and a great draft list, and there are always events going on. I like their Friday the Firkenteenth nights.
12 P.m. Standard Tap in Northern Liberties was Philly’s first gastropub, and it completely revitalized the beer scene. The chalkboard menu is excellent and changes all the time, and it pours only locally produced beer.
1 P.m. Down in Center City, Tria has two locations. They have the most educated staff in the city; they even offer classes within their Fermentation School. Tria has such well-thought-out beer, cheese menu and wine selections -- I usually order cheese and beer, but I do drink wine occasionally.
1:45 P.m. Tom Peters, the proprietor of Monk’s Café, is responsible for kick-starting the Philly beer scene. He has a deep Belgian selection full of beers nobody else in the country can get, and of course, the mussels are terrific. Between the bottles, drafts, and the Beer Bible on every table, the place is an icon.
2:30 P.m. I went to the University of Pennsylvania, and Local 44 is in the exact location of an old college hangout where I used to drink Rolling Rocks all day. It has a nice beer selection and a good menu, and it’s just a cool place to hang out.
3:30 P.m. The Good Dog is a classic hole-in-the-wall -- one of those old, narrow bars with a tin ceiling --but it has a well-executed food menu you wouldn’t expect. You have to get the Good Dog Burger, a burger stuffed with Roquefort cheese, and there’s a cheddar and swiss grilled cheese with apples and applewood-smoked bacon that’s incredible. There’s a great beer selection, and half-price Sly Fox cans on Wednesdays.
4:45 P.m. Nodding Head is a homey, award-winning brewpub; they’re committed to producing great beer. Grog, a brown ale, and 700 Level, a blonde, are standards, but they also make great hoppy beers, and aren’t afraid to try stuff like Berliner weisses.
6 P.m. Philadelphia’s beer scene is all about the local tavern, and the P.O.P.E. is a gem in South Philly. It’s hard to get in because it’s always crowded -- you’re usually shoulder-to-shoulder -- but it just has this great reputation, and you’ll always find great beer on tap there.
7 P.m. On your way out of town, stop at The Foodery; there are two locations. It’s a little deli with an amazing selection of beer to-go in six-packs or by the bottle. You can find everything you’d ever hope for; it has 800 locals and imports. Everyone I know goes there to fill up their fridges.
STOPS:
Grey Lodge Pub -- 6235 Frankford Ave.
Standard Tap -- 901 N. 2nd St.
Tria -- 123 S. 18th St. and 1137 Spruce St.
Monk’s Café -- 264 S. 16th St.
Local 44 -- 4333 Spruce St.
Good Dog Bar -- 224 S. 15th St.
Nodding Head Brewery & Restaurant -- 1516 Sansom St.
P.O.P.E. (Pub on Passyunk East) -- 1501 E. Passyunk Ave.
The Foodery -- 837 N. 2nd St. and 324 S. 10th St.
Our Philly Picks
This green-minded brewery on the city’s Mount Airy neighborhood serves its own beer plus guest taps from the likes of Sly Fox and Philadelphia Brewing Co. alongside house-made, hearth-baked flatbreads. Order a pint of the brewery’s Liquid Bread, a biére de garde made with bread yeast, caraway and black pepper. 7136 Germantown Ave.
Dock Street became the city’s first microbrewery when it launched in 1985, and the beer pouring out of its Cedar Park pub has been turning heads ever since. Try the spicy, hop-forward Rye IPA, the beloved Royal Bohemian Pilsner or the Sexy Beast Chocolate Stout, brewed with 22 pounds of pure Belgian cocoa. 701 S. 50th St.
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This article originally appeared in the May/June 2010 Issue of DRAFT Magazine
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