Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant Does a Better Job at Making Food than at Coming up with a Name


When the gastropub Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant first opened up, my first thoughts were about how incredibly uncreative the name is. It almost turned me off completely, but then I checked out the menu, which was in contrast, pretty creative. I saw that a few sandwiches fell within the ML price range, so I headed to Old City to see if they put more time into  the food than they did in selecting a restaurant name.

The space is modern and cute, though it was a little strange that V-Day decorations were still up when I visited. Our waitress was peppy, though it took a little while to get her to take our orders, even though the place was almost empty. An added benefit is the thoughtful draft list and lengthy bottled beer list, which I guess is to be expected since the word Bar is in their name. I kept it local with  a Manayunk Cali Dreaming.

The fried mac and cheese croquettes were a nice start, and more properly constructed than the mac and cheese balls I had a while back at Beck’s Cajun.

Even better were the short rib puffs with its super buttery puff pastry encasing an equally buttery textured braised short rib topped with a tangy sauce. I could eat a troubling amount of these.

I liked the sound of the chickpea burger ($8) that came with  chipotle aioli, smoked gouda, tomato, and crispy shallots, on an onion roll with a side of chips. I really enjoyed the texture of the chickpea burger, it was dense, but in the best possible way.  I liked the seasoning too, it was hard to put my finger on which they used. The onion roll was a smart match. Although they are completely different, I would have to say that I enjoyed  this vegitarian burger as much as the one I tried at National Mechanics. It seems like Old City is the place to be for vegitarian burger cravings.

The + (what someone who likes this place would say)

  • Great beer selection
  • Fun gastropub menu
  • The chickpea burger is a yummy vegitarian alternative to a burger
  • And the short rib puff is there to satisfy your meat craving at the same time

The – (what someone who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Serve me quicker, I am hungry
  • A lot of the menu is over a $10 price range

Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant, 120 Market St (@ Letitia St), 267 253-9438

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