Scoats

Legally there are no bars in Pennsylvania, only restaurants with liquor licenses. Every licensee, except maybe club licenses, are required by law to serve food. Food can be hotdogs but must more than just pretzels and chips. Up until a few months ago, to open on Sunday, a licensee's food sales had to be 30% or more of total sales. That this translated as was to be open on Sundays, a bar had to pay 6% state sales tax on 30% or more of their total sales. This requirement was waived after distributors were allowed Sunday sales. You are quite right that Uncles may in fact be a hotel and not restaurant.

You did include "in the Northeast" in your quesiton, so I figured that into my answer. There are a handhold of Liquor License brokers who sell all the inactive licenses. An active license is usually sold with a business, and would be factored into the price by any intelligent seller. $20-$25K was the going rate 12 years ago; that's what the brokers were getting. It's amazing how much they have gone up in value, not that it does me any good at the moment. In PA, there is a dodge around the license quotas. If you have enough space, you can be a hotel. There are no quotas for hotel licenses and therefore they have no value. All you have to do to get one is to be zoned as a hotel and pay the $1170 annual fee. I think you only need about 6 rooms with a bed and chair to qualify as a hotel. These rooms can be rented by the month. In fact the owner can rent one to use as an office.

After you promise your 1st male born child, figure about $70,000. How much was your liscense in the Northeast? Paul ← Philadelphia is unique, being a combined city and county, that licenses are transerable anywhere within the city and therefore only have one price no matter where they are. Licenses were $20K to $25K 12 years ago. Our deal for builidng, license, business, etc valued the license at $25K.

Congrats on putting up your orange liquor license application sign. Could you tell us how much a Philadelphia County liquor license is going for these days? Thanks.

This is a shame. I was a regular when he owned the Cajun place in the Liberty Place food court. The food was wonderful, a good value, and he was a nice guy. I was only at his fusion restaurant twice in these 10 years, despite having made countless visits to Chinatown during that time and having a very positive opinion of him from his food court jaunt. While the food was great both times, something about it didn't click to make it a regular haunt, a bit too upscale for an spontaneous meal and a little too much on the southern on the edge of Chinatown to keep it on my radar. It's a bizarre space, and maybe because it is rented, didn't justify being particularly well exectued. Hopefully he'll resurface soon in a better overall situation. I'd like to be a regular patron of his again.

Reikers Maket at Oxford and Rhawn in the NE has some great meat for grilling. Man, I have to get there again soon.

Here in Philadelphia, Stoudts and Brooklyn both make fantastic hefes. All of the other locals (Victory (they make two), Sly Fox) are at the very least very good but the two above really stand out. Paulaner and Franzikaner both travel well.

I'm sure Kevin from Stone Beverage will order you a sixtel of whatever is available at the moment. You'll probably have to give him a week heads-up. You can also call Freidland (215-226-3471 - an importing distributor not open to the public), ask them what sixtels they have, and then have Kevin order one for you . Freidland will have Yards, Flying Fish, and Sly Fox y mucho mas. Going to Yards directly is also a good idea.

My best buddy and I were there for lunch a couple of weekends ago. Some quick impressions: The Food: the most important thing. Dang good BBQ; I mean really, really good. We each had the 1/2 rack. Sides of claw and collards were great. The Service: it wasn't crowded, so I don't know how that would afffect things, but we were served quickly, friendly and professionally. Couldn't ask for anything more. Got free refills on the individual mini-pitchers of soda. The Price: Definitley not cheap but very fair for what you get. Why pay less for lesser food elsewhere? The Atmosphere: Man, this place is butt ugly. Being in the horrible space in the horrible Academy House buidling definitley makes things difficult to begin with. While clean, the place has a harsh feel with colors that do nothing to help out. The Asshat Door: They have one. They keep one of the four doors locked for an unknown reason. The odds of picking the correct door to enter is 25%. Good luck. I really hate businesses that make it a roulette game to enter. The Verdict: I'd be back in a flash whenever I'm in the neighborhood.

The Cubano sammich at 12th Street Cantina in the Bourse food court is out of this friggin world. I believe they bake the wonderful bread themselves. It really is a world class sandwich.

I suspect most reviews accurately reflect other diners' word of mouth. If it gets a bad rap from a reviewer then it's probably getting bad reviews from other sources too. A reviewer just has a louder voice. I don't think Craig Laban, or any reviewer, can make or break a restuarant. They can help or hurt but they won't make people hate a great restaurant or like a bad one; they can impact whether someone will make a first trip to the place and thus possibly prevent someone from making their own opinion. But if you respect someone's opinion, do you need to find out for yourself that it's not great? If a restaurant is doing a decent job, it should get a decent review from him or any other impartial reviewer. If it gets a bad review, it's probably a bad restaurant and disappointing more customers than just the reviewer. And if the reviewer is in the minority in liking or hating a place, then other voices will balance them out. Restaurants probably don't turn around after bad reviews because most are underfunded and cashflow is precarious when they open and don't have the resources for to stay afloat until they can turn the thing around (or the ability to turn it around). Maybe another question is how many bad restaurants turn around and become great ones?

Sam Won is on the corner of Castor and Magee. There' s another Korean place on Castor up near Knorr that has irratic hours and sometimes says they are closed when they have the door open and the lights on. It's an attractive place with big pond or something in the middle of the restaurant. I am under in the impression that non-Koreans are only occasionally tolerated there. The newish management of Sam Won however is very friendly. I'm a little disappointed Sam Won gave up on their sushi bar, they did it well. The now all-Korean menu is very good too though.

Rikkers Meats at Oxford and Rhawn has crazy great German style meats. This place is seriously world class. The Asian market across from San Won (the place Herb was probably thinking of) has some interesting stuff, well for the NE anyway. DePalmas on Decatur just west of Frankford has great Italian bread. Get a ring.

I like the No. 9 but have been rather disappointed with all of their other brews, and I've tried quite a few of them. I will 2nd that they have the coolest tap handles. And I also 2nd or 3rd that if they spent as much time on their beer as on their PR, they'd really have something.

Chocolate souffle for two, man that sounds like the ticket. I sort of recall seeing movies where you have to order souffles ahead of time. Is this anything to consider? Thanks.

Hello all, I am planning a romanitc few nights in NYC. Grand Sichuan International in on my list as is the Chelsea Hotel, Empire State Building, etc. I'm hoping for some ideas for a great place for dessert and maybe a romantic bar or two. Thanks.

Yuengling's a fine beer, but I'm sure you can find another you like that is readily available in Chicago. It will be a lot cheaper than shipping and you might find some several that you like just as much. Goose Island makes some nice stuff.

8:20am We're back up to 13, we have a full 15.5 gallon cask conditioned barrel of Dogfish 90 Minute IPA which will be served via handpump after the Nodding Head kicks. 11:30am Now up to 14! Otto's Pub and Brewery from State College is bring their Black Mo Stout. Handout and Website updated yet again. :-)

Here is the latest and most likely finalized line-up: # Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (maybe) # Flying Fish Coffee Porter # General Lafayette Sunset Red Ale # Heavyweight Black Ocean # Iron Hill 2003 Oud Bruin # Lancaster Saison # Nodding Head 700 Level # Sly Fox Pete's Peerless Ale # Troegs Hopback Amber # Victory Hop Devil # Weyerbacher Autumnfest # Yards ESA # a superhopped Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale If you go http://www.greylodge.com, and then to the This Week page, you can print out your own up-to-date F13 handout, which will be more up to date than the 250 I printed out on Wednesday.

Assuming only North American macro brews in the Bud price range (or lower) (and not including regionals like Yuengling or Shiner - which I think is what the original thread was implying) I really like: Coors Extra Gold Molson Canadian I don't have 4 more picks. I find MGD to be completely undrinkable.

I finally had the 3 for $5 tacos at TV last Saturday. Hey-Zeus effing Christmas were they good. I went with Pork, Sausage and stuffed chili. Wow, oh wow. The greenery part of the taco was rather light, but the soft tortillas were amazingly fresh and the meat fillings were top notch. This has to be the best value in town.

I find the coming of chains to be disappointing as well. And sometimes one is forced to eat at one, like for example a work lunch, or when you don't want to appear too difficult on a 2nd date. A few years ago, it was considered a coup that the Rendell admin got a Hard Rock Cafe to come to town. And Hard Rock appeals the suburaban day-tripping tourists very much. While such a thing is such a horrible shame when there are so many great local restaurants, the truth is those folks aren't going to go to them. Is it much worse that folks are going to Applebees rather than a tourist trap like Old Original Bookbinders? I cannot think of any independent downtown restaurants that stress they are kid friendly. I recall from my Zaberer days, they advertised that fact heavily. If you are a out of town parent, where are going to take your family? There seems to be a niche for a family friendly independent restaurant downtown. I think well run independent restaurants will continue to do OK with people who care about good food. Lesser operations will definitely feel the pressure. I suspect the replaciement of a medicore local restaurant by a medicore chain restaurant is somethng that won't affect folks like us, who avoid medicore plans local or chain anyway. And those of us who search out great local places may be well served in a strange city if the medicore local places are gone and only the better ones are left.

After Maui was shut down over a shooting or three, it became Philly Rock on the River. After that got shut down, or shot down, they became Sammys. If you stick with the Ribs, Ribs, Ribs platter you won't go wrong, though the quality does vary a bit from night to night. Overall I am quite impressed with the place and have been back repeatedly.

With seemingly no fanfare, Maui is morphed into Sammy's BBQ after brief existence as Philly Rock on the River. The menu is amazingly deep and to me Sammys seemed at first to be part of a national chain with years of experience creating "experiences". This place is not an "experience" but a nice real organic place. Appearantly it is owned by the same Ricky Blattstein who owned Maui and Philly Rock. The 40 taps at the bar are a legacy of its brief Philly Rock incarnation. Beerwise there is something to please everyone. The decor is a mix of old Maui and Philly Rock relics with newly added BBQ look stuff. Oddly enough it all works together wonderfully. Now about the food. I've eaten there about 4 times now and the food ranges from good to great. Service has ranged from good to great as well. Never less than good. The Ribs, Ribs, Ribs Platter, a fine value for about $15, features a 1/2 rack of baby back, a 1/2 rack of beef, a buffalo rib, cornbread, and two side dishes. A salad is $1 extra. Refills on sodas are free. Ribs, Ribs, Ribs was a winner and I have ordered everything I was there. They also have steaks and more. The food is really good and this place is amazingly well put together for something so new and built from scratch. Parking is free and ample (at least on weeknights). There is both indoor and outdoor seating as well as a hybrid area where a huge wall of windows can open up onto Penn Treaty Park. They seem to do a good take out business as well.

I like Beau Monde, especially when it's nice enough to sit outside. That's a must do for me. I have found the food there to range from great to ok. The chocolate dessert crepe I shared the one time was wonderful.