After stumbling across a few mentions of the Grey Lodge Pub recently, Patti and I trekked to Philly’s Great Northeast to check it out. Maybe “trekked” isn’t the right choice of words. After seeing strong recommendations like Esquire’s One of the Best Bars in America, The Beer Advocate’s Top 50 Beer Bars in America (2005) and Philly Weekly’s Top 50 Bars in Philadelphia , maybe “Pilgrimage” is more appropriate?
Old City’s Beneluxx Tasting Room is a fun and interesting place to visit if you’re interested in trying different types of Belgian beer, wine, cheese and chocolate. Situated just around the corner from its big brother Eulogy, Benelux offers a unique format featuring 2 ounce tastes of its draft beers and wine, as well as tastes of its artisan cheeses and chocolates. Beneluxx also offers a limited menu of appetizers and pub grub, but I think that the tasting format is what makes this place different.
After months of pre-opening updates and post opening assessments, we finally got the opportunity to visit West Philly’s Dock Street Brewery. And we weren’t disappointed.
Our first of two visits occurred on a recent Saturday night, when Dock Street was packed. Mob scene not withstanding, the hostess greeted us promptly and put us in the queue for the estimated 1 hour wait. Afterward, we stalked the bar and attacked two freshly vacated barstools. Luckily enough, they were in a prime location: next to the taps and within view of the food staged for delivery to the dining area. We found a home for the evening.
Thanks go to our fellow Philadelphia Bloggers for introducing us to the South Philadelphia Tap Room. During a recent afternoon, Patti and I burrowed into South Philly to attend the Philadelphia Webloggers Meetup at this laid back neighborhood local. Although this was just our first visit, we found food, atmosphere and beer all delicious.
Center City’s Lucky Strike Lanes has something for everyone with equal parts bowling, bar and restaurant. Maybe the best way to describe Lucky Strike is bowling lounge and restaurant? I dunno, but however you describe it, Lucky Strike Lanes is a cool place to dust off your game, have a few cocktails and maybe even dinner.
Granted, Lucky Strike is a chain and we didn’t get the opportunity to sample the food. To be honest, I couldn’t tell whether Philadelphia Weekly’s Fall 2006 review was positive or negative, but based on what we saw, but I’d give it a chance. Regardless, we enjoyed the bar, bowled a few games and had a great time.
After our visit to the soul food church fell through on Sunday, some of us sinners decided to visit a couple local bars. Still reeling from southern cuisine deprivation, we set our sights on a couple of local taverns: Grace Tavern and The Dive Bar.
Grace Tavern finds its home just off of South Street in the city’s Fitler Square neighborhood. Reputed to have a good 
Oyster Po’ Boy (Wikipedia’s thoughts on the Po’ Boy here), I’ve driven past this tavern many times wanting to stop in for a look. Inside, the bar is completely renovated with tin ceilings, a long mahogany bar and a small dining room in the rear. The atmosphere is a dark, yet inviting.
Port Richmond’s New Wave Cae destroyed my image of Polish food. Boiled, bland and unexciting is what I expected; flavorful, fresh and interesting is 
what I found. I don’t know how I got such a poor impression of Polish food, but I suppose it was ignorance sprinkled with a dose of anticipated Soviet-era austerity. After all, with centuries of tradition including European, Middle Eastern and Asian culinary influences, you’d expect Polish food to be delicious and unique. I’m just glad that I learned how wrong I was!
I don’t like to declare any menu item as the “best,†but Good Dog in Center City has a candidate for Philadelphia’s Best Cheeseburger. No, I’m not a hardcore cheeseburger freak, but I know an awesome burger when I have one. And I had one last Friday night.
Yugoslavian food has never been at the top of my list when going out to a restaurant in Philadelphia, but last weekend the opportunity presented itself. During a visit to the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival, Patti and I took a tip from a friend and visited Jovan’s Place in East Kensington to have a Yugoslavian meal.
My friend Dean works at the Yards Brewery and mentioned that Jovan’s Place is their “local.†Could there be a higher
recommendation?
