good bar food

[Buckethead]

I'm going to look into the suggestions above, but I don't know anything about them.  Any more details or other suggestions are welcome.

←

Ansill is still fantastic, I was just there a couple days ago and everything was stellar. So are the Good Dog and Southwark.

1601 has taken a steep nosedive in quality recently, I wouldn't go there.

The Cantina is also not as good as it used to be, but it's still decent depending on what you order.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Buckethead (log)

[philadining]

No beer, and the hours aren't any better (probably worse), and I doubt the hot dog is better or as good (though the pretzel part is superb), but Fisher's @ the RTM does pretzel dogs.

←

I'd imagine a Fisher's pretzel dog would be really good, just because the pretzels are so delicious. Ooh, can you get melted butter on your pretzel dog?

It may not quite be Fisher's, but I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh and light and good the Khyber pretzel was. And while I won't go so far as to say that beer is required, it is highly recommended...

Edited April 22, 2008 by philadining (log)

[KatieLoeb]

St. Stephen's Green has been the best pub grub I've had lately, or in a while for that matter. Catfish BLT, Lamb tacos, great salads, lots of good beer and a full bar. TV's in the bar area. I seem to recall a steak frite or something similar on the menu.

1701 Green Street in the Fairmount area. Not hard to find. An easy couple of turns off of Spring Garden Street. Parking is on the street.

Edited April 22, 2008 by KatieLoeb (log)

[cwdonald]

St. Stephen's Green has been the best pub grub I've had lately, or in a while for that matter.  Catfish BLT, Lamb tacos, great salads, lots of good beer and a full bar.  TV's in the bar area.  I seem to recall a steak frite or something similar on the menu.

1701 Green Street in the Fairmount area.  Not hard to find.  An easy couple of turns off of Spring Garden Street.  Parking is on the street.

←

This is the old Cuvee Notre Dame space. Thanks for the great review. I was there about 1 month after they opened, and it was still rough. Glad to hear they are doing well!

[philadining]

The Cantina is also not as good as it used to be, but it's still decent depending on what you order.

←

I might just be ordering the right things, but on my recent visits to the Cantina, the food has been as good as ever. Cochinita Pilbil, Goat Tacos, Avocado and Pineapple salad, the chocolate/banana empanadas... um... wow, actually, it's embarrassing, I just keep ordering the same stuff over and over again! So maybe I can't really say anything helpful about most of the menu.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd recommend going down there anyway, if they're concerned about getting lost outside of center city. It's not THAT hard to find, but between the one-way streets and the diagonal of Passyunk Ave, it can get dizzying.

I can't think of one place where you're guaranteed to find a good steak/wine/ethnic/beer/baseball game on TV.

The Standard Tap often offers a very fine steak frites, and they have excellent beer, decent wine, and good food in general, although I wouldn't call it ethnic. There's no TV.

North Third might get closer for the steak/vaguely-ethnic food thing, and they have a good beer selection and OK, affordable wine. There's a TV over the bar, that depending on your timing, could possibly be showing a baseball game.

The Royal Tavern might have a steak, it's not on the regular menu, but it's not unusual for one to be on the specials. (They've got an excellent burger, if that's a viable fall-back.) I wouldn't call the other stuff ethnic per se, but there's some variety. They have a good beer selection, and a surprisingly interesting wine list too. There's a TV over the bar that could possibly be showing a baseball game.

Brigid's or Monk's might work for the food. Neither is a gourmet destination, but they have decent-enough food, huge Belgian beer lists, some wine too, but, again, no TV....

I'm probably forgetting something obvious, but I just can't think of a place that's sure to have the kind of food you're looking for, and is likely to have a game on...

(ahh, just saw Katie's post about St Stephen's Green - that sounds viable. I sat outside when I was there and couldn't remember if they had TVs.)

Edited April 22, 2008 by philadining (log)

[LizD518]

These all look so good - I'll have to be making more trips to Philly. Someone at work also mentioned Tria, which may be where we end up...Any opinions?

[philadining]

Tria has a good beer and wine selection, and light food, but no steaks, no "ethnic" food and no TV for baseball. So it will cover some of your desires, but you may need to bar-hop a little to get the other things.

[KatieLoeb]

Tria is good for the trio of fermented things they offer - wine, beer and cheese. Other than that it doesn't sound at all like what you're looking for. Menu is quite limited (except for the cheese) and no full bar if anyone wants a cocktail. No TVs as I recall at either location.

Stick with the gastropubs - St. Stephen's Green, Standard Tap, etc. and you'll definitely find something for everyone.

[Jeff L]

The Standard Tap often offers a very fine steak frites, and they have excellent beer, decent wine, and good food in general, although I wouldn't call it ethnic. There's no TV.

I'd vote for the Tap also. The jukebox makes up for the lack of a TV and they serve some of Philly's best bar food hands down. Here's a link to an earlier thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=76478&hl=

Edited April 23, 2008 by Jeff L (log)

[LizD518]

Thanks for the input - Maybe Tria would be better for a night out with the girls!

[philadining]

Is there a Nobel Prize for Bar Food? Or does anybody know anybody on the panel that gives out the MacArthur Foundation "genius" awards?

Because this one is just brilliant: The Pork Wing

Yep, like a chicken wing, but more, you know, porky. No breading, no deep-frying, just tender little pork shanks, a tangy buffalo-wing-like sauce, some blue cheese dip. It's brilliant, really.

We had these at the Cantina Los Caballitos, but I hear a similar version is on the blackboard at Royal Tavern. I'm not sure if they're different - the ones at the Cantina had a really delicious spicy sauce, heading a little more toward barbecue sauce than a traditional buffalo wing sauce. I might just have to get to Royal to see if they're the same.

I've recently made some bold declarations about "best bar snacks" but I think these might just take the prize...

[KatieLoeb]

Interesting. I just had "Pork Wings" earlier this week at The Cafe, next door to the Irish Pub at 20th & Walnut and under the same ownership. I can't figure out what cut of meat it is. The bone in the center is too small to be a leg, but too big to be a rib. From what part of the pig does its "wing" come from?? I've placed a call to the kitchen over there and will post the response when I get it.

The other delicious item on the Cafe Menu is the Chicken Thumbs. Bigger and fatter than a chicken finger and made of all breast meat. Delicious dipping sauce on the side. These are worth a trip all by themselves.

[philadining]

I think they're shanks, either from little pigs, or perhaps pigs' legs are more delicate than it would seem... I've seen pork shanks served elsewhere that were surprisingly petite.

[gbredben]

Definitely look like pork shanks. Grey Lodge just put them on the menu a few weeks back as an appetizer and they are fantastic.

[Scoats]

I think they're shanks, either from little pigs, or perhaps pigs' legs are more delicate than it would seem...  I've seen pork shanks served elsewhere that were surprisingly petite.

←

They are officially called "ribbies". I refused to put it on the menu as ribbies and went with shanks instead. Pat was trying to get me to change it to ribbies last month claiming they weren't moving as shanks. He hasn't mentioned it lately. If he does, I'll try to have them called pork wings. Whatever you call them, they are tasty.

[KatieLoeb]

They are shanks. I forgot to post that I'd gotten the answer to my query from the chef at Cafe.

What a cool thing to have on the menu. I wish more places would do them. They're delicious.

[Tim Dolan]

I've been to Nodding Head a number of times recently, having some of the hottest wings I've had in a while and a rocking good order of jerk mussels. On the menu it says the wings come in mild, hot and thermonuclear. I ordered hot and they were just about the hottest wings I've ever had, to the point I could only eat about 6 of them. I can't imagine what the thermonuclear would be like, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had mistakenly recevied them as opposed to the hot that I had ordered.

The mussels I had the other week were KILLER. They were plump, juicy, came in an excellent spicy broth and had only the essence of ocean, not the actual salt water. I'm not even a huge fan of mussels but these were GOOD. Nodding Head might be my favorite places to bring people to drink. People who have never been there always love it.