Philly's Best Beer Bar

By  SARAH BAICKER

Updated 12:58 PM EDT, Mon, Feb 9, 2009

Related Topics: Philadelphia

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Each week, Around Town peruses the best of the 'Best of' lists, and brings you the winners in a single category. This week: Philly's best beer bar.

 

Put your Miller and Coors bottles aside—craft and internatonal beers are in.  And there's a slew of bars and pubs in this town with beer menus that'll have you asking: "Bud who?"
 

 
Philadelphia magazine: Teresa's Next Door
126 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne
It’s not just the city of Philadelphia that’s taken a liking to craft and international brews. Beer bars and gastropubs have been popping up in ‘burbs like Doylestown, West Chester and Wayne, which is where you’ll find Teresa’s Next Door. Co-owner/chef Andrew Dickerson told Craig LaBan he was inspired by “Monk’s Belgian spirit, Standard Tap’s dedication to fresh local beers, and Tria’s focus on artisan cheese and wines.” As good as that sounds on its own, Teresa’s also offers 200 bottled beers and 26 brews on tap daily—what more could the Main Line ask for?


MyFoxPhilly: The Grey Lodge Pub 
6235 Frankford Ave.
First, Beeradvocate.com ranked The Grey Lodge Pub as the 25th best beer bar in the U.S. Soon after, Esquire magazine placed the Northeast Philly institution on its list of America’s best bars. Then we started hearing the stories—Center City residents taking the El all the way to the end of the line, then hopping a bus (that’s an hour-long commute) just to check out the ever-evolving list of specialty beers on tap. But it wasn’t ‘til we visited the G.L.P. ourselves that we finally got why MyFoxPhilly picked the pub as their top beer bar. You’re going to have to trust Fox—and us—on this one, and head up to the Great Northeast. It’s worth it.


Citysearch & AOL City’s Best: Monk’s Belgian Cafe
264 S. 16th St.
Monk’s doesn’t have a beer list; it has a beer bible. And that beer bible boasts more than 200 Belgian beers, in addition to a frequently rotating list of on-tap specialties at its front and back bars. Even the food menu is a testament to Belgian brews—the veal cheeks are braised in Abbaye de Val Dieu Brown Ale, the chicken roulade is topped with Urthel Bock. This is about as close to a legitimate Belgian experience as you’ll find in Center City, and the extensive beer offerings at Monk's mean you can keep coming back, and still find plenty of new brews to try.


Around Town pick: The Foodery
837 N. 2nd St.
Okay, so the Foodery isn’t technically a bar, but bear with us on this one. The Northern Liberties beer emporium offers more than 800 varieties of the hoppy stuff. Yes, really—800 brews from around the world. And while it’s first-and-foremost a take-home shop, you can order a sandwich from the in-store deli, and enjoy it with a beer at one of the tables that line the Foodery’s east side. Add to that an extremely knowledgeable, friendly staff and free weekly beer tastings on Thursdays, and we think you’ll begin to understand why we’re willing to make an exception for this one.

 

More Best of's:
Philly's Best Burger
Philly's Best Pizza
Philly's Best Fries
Philly's Best Coffee Shop
Philly's Best Cocktail
Philly's Best Brunch
Philly's Best Sushi
Philly's Best Mexican
Philly's Best Dessert
Philly's Best BYOB
Philly's Best Lunch
Philly's Best Seafood
Philly's Best Cheesesteak
Philly's Best Vegetarian
Philly's Best Dive Bar
Philly's Best Thai
Philly's Best Happy Hour
Philly's Best Romantic Restaurant

Comments (8)

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  • jeanette Thursday, Jan 15 at 4:15 PM FLAG COMMENT The Devil's Den @ 11& ellsworth has some of the best beers in the city. Nice atmosphere and the staff is beyond friendly.
  • Cerveza Tuesday, Jan 13 at 7:47 PM FLAG COMMENT The best is MILLER ALE HOUSE in Roosevelt Blvd. They have TVs, $5.00 a Pitcher, and a nice Menu!!!!
  • roan22 Thursday, Jan 8 at 6:20 AM FLAG COMMENT You forgot Capone's in Norristown in the burbs section. Ranked #6 in the recent Beeradvocate.com "best beer bar on the planet" list!
  • Sara Thursday, Jan 8 at 1:28 AM FLAG COMMENT Wayne isn't Philadelphia. And how about stepping outside of Center City when thinking Phlly? The Dawson Street Pub is the original beer bar in Philly. It's been around for 20 years and is still going at it serving 3 cask conditioned beers at all times on its imported English beer engines. That's only the beginning. Get there and see it for yourself!
  • Geoff Tuesday, Jan 6 at 12:25 PM FLAG COMMENT The Grey Lodge also got Best of Philly for their fries and 5th best area cheesesteak in Glen Macnow's (WIP) steak hunt. Craig Laban has also spoken highly of their cheesesteak.

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