Victory Brewpub

Victory is a great brewery. I'm glad to have it in the area. Still, I wish the brew pub was a bit closer. It's about a 45 minute drive from Philadelphia, but is completely worthwhile. Upon walking in, I was surprised. The brew pub, which is tucked away in a forgotten corner of a suburban housing development, is huge. Despite the size, and I'd guess it seats around 200, the place was packed. I was visiting with my good friends Allie and John and we had to wait almost an hour for a table.

Waiting here isn't really an issue. You can make your way to the bar and order drinks. Everything comes in two different sizes, and the prices on beer are reasonable. Victory boasts an impressive beer list, 22 Victory taps, four of which are hand-pump. While you're ordering at the bar, marvel at the growler filler that seems to have come from the future. Victory has their standard rotation, as well as one offs, rare, and out-of-season beers. I had the delicious Zeltbier, an Octoberfest style lager that is so new that I couldn't find a shred of information about it online. Growlers are on sale on site ($15) and cost between 7 and 11 dollars to fill. It's a great deal on some brewery fresh beer.

You can also visit the on-site store while waiting. They have interesting merchandise for sale, although I'm always confused as to why I can't buy koozies at breweries. The atmosphere overall is a bit weird, it's large and crowded like a beer hall, but filled with families, yuppies, and suburbanites. The service was a bit lacking too. Once we were seated, it wasn't bad, but we saw tables sit dormant for upwards for 20 minutes while parties crowded the door waiting for seats.

The menu here has a lot of interesting options, and I love that they suggest a beer pairing for every menu item. It's divided into two parts, a standard menu that consistently offers traditional bar and pub fare, as well as a large rotating menu that offers seasonal and special dishes.

I opted for the spicy pork loin topped with blue cheese and pear on a bed of sweet potatoes. There was a lot going on with this dish, and the chef perfectly blended the flavors. I was quite happy with my choice, especially considering this is the kind of place where I'll usually ordered a cheeseburger and not expect too much. Allie ordered the same dish I did and was also satisfied with it. John ordered a jerk chicken grinder that was a great rendition on a fairly standard sandwich. As a side we ordered fries, and were served with a bowl of steak and sweet potato fries topped with leeks. The fries, like all the other dishes we had, have an extra touch that put them above what you'd normally expect.

Bottom Line: I like victory's beer, and I like this place. It's way too far out of town for me to become a regular, but the option for limited edition beer and the cheap growler fills are definitely a draw. Everyone should visit at least once.

Essentials:

420 Acorn Lane, Downingtown, PA 19335

610-873-0881

Hours: M-Sat 11:30-12, Sun: 11:30-10

Avg Ent: 10-17

Cash Only: No

Reservation: Not taken

Best Of Philly: Chicken Wings

I don't need to write too much, because my best of Philly chicken wings write up is likely to be a repeat of my previous entry on Moriarty's. I won't focus on the less than finer points of this establishment and get right to the wings. They're nearly perfect. For my taste, the sauce is spot on. It's spicy, but not over done. It has the classic buffalo flavor. I want to taste it right now just thinking about it. For size, these wings are great. There aren't many places that serve up full wings, and Moriaty's serves up large, full wings. They're cooked just right, with a crispy skin and tender meat underneath. No breading. And any chicken wing is incomplete without celery and blue cheese on the side. Again, Moriaty's doesn't fail. I don't love this place, but the delicious wings make me a regular customer. These are truly the best wings I've found in Philly.

Deals on Food in Philadelphia

If you haven't signed up for Groupon or their daily email, I highly recommend it. Today's deal is for the Marigold Kitchen, which I wrote about all the way back in June of 2009. It's definitely a good deal on a charming BYOB.

Also, I'm not on to repost, but I'm sure a bunch of people still need to bear about the excellent deal at Bridget Foy's. $10 on a Wednesday night will get you a 1/2 lb burger and a beer. With 60 minute IPA on the list and a menu of burgers with thoughtful toppings, I'm aiming to hit this up soon.

If you haven't signed up for Groupon in the past, I'll happily take your referral. We both get $10 credit after your first purchase. My email address is wgkealey at gmail. Let me know of other deals, let me know where you find the best ones. Opentable.com just launched a group buying programs where they offer half off $50 gift certificates from a different spot each week. Check out the current deal here.

Fractured Prune donuts

Driving down the Costal Highway in Ocean City, MD is fun. And while cruising with my friend Dan, he pulled into the Fractured Prune. Now I'm not crazy about donuts and I thought this joint had a dumb name, but when he walked in to order a half dozen, I followed him nonetheless.

Upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised; nay, blown away. After navigating through the small crowd of hungover bros, we stepped to the counter. Behind the register was a conveyer belt of hot fresh donuts pouring into a small bin in the staging area. They were just old fashioned, regular donuts; no glaze. Even by themselves they would have been some of the best donuts I've ever tasted.

Here's the trick, they're basically made to order donuts. They have several glazes, and more than a dozen crushed toppings. They will basically make anything you can think of, but the menu consists of the most tried and true. You can have their take on a reese's cup: peanut butter glaze with mini chocolate chips. Or my personal favorite: mocha glaze with crushed oreo crumbs. You can check out the whole menu here.

Bottom Line: They start with awesome donuts, and they're hot and fresh. Topping them with great glazes and ingredients only makes things better. These are delicious donuts, and this place is open to franchise. Please someone hop on this for Philadelphia and I'll do my best to personally keep you in business.

here's a picture I didn't take:

Best of Philly: Bartender

In an effort to bring more content to my blog, I'm going to start a "best of" category. I'd like to do this weekly, but the amount of research required, along with the relatively low priority of this blog compared to other things going on in my life, will inevitably lead me to fall behind.

To start, I'd like to mention my favorite bartender: Dave from Eulogy. He's usually working the lunch shift during the week when I'm lucky enough to make it down there. He's friendly, attentive, and on top of his job as a server. It almost seems that everyone is a regular.

He has a great deal of beer knowledge without coming off as condescending. He is able to give great beer recommendations, and I've had some excellent beers served by him. Too bad I usually go for the most expensive beers.

He's also started his own website, which I'll take an opportunity to plug: sketchjobs.com.

Bottom Line: I really enjoy going to Eulogy, and Dave just makes the experience that much better. I recommend visiting and asking him for some beer selections, and then seeing where the day takes you.

Noble American Cookery

I can't tell you the last time I so quickly decided that I wanted to revisit a restaurant. Noble was one of my picks for this round of restaurant week. I'm not sure how it ended up on my radar, but I'm really happy that I ended up there.

I dined with my good friend Quinn, and we met for dinner on a Friday night. We were seated quickly and began to look at the menu. The decor of the place in simple, earthy and elegant. I didn't see the bar, but I've heard it's also nice.

While we were still looking over the menus, we were brought a small taste, fried haddock with capers. It was good, and piqued my interest for the rest of the meal. For our appetizer, we both ordered the scallops. They were good and well cooked, but they should have more thoroughly washed. They were a still a bit sandy, but this was my biggest complaint of the night.

For my main course, I ordered the hanger steak. I ordered it as the chef recommended, medium rare, and was really happy with this dish. The steak was a good cut, and cooked and seasoned perfectly. It was served with mushrooms which accompanied the steak quite well. Quinn ordered a gnocchi, which was fabulously done. Perfect portion, cooking, and presentation made this tasty dish a real star.

Dessert was good, a great well to end the meal at Noble. I ordered a parfait that came with delicious toffee syrup. Quinn had a Vanilla pana cotta with berries. We both enjoyed our desserts. We swapped for a moment, but we generally like what we order on our own.

Noble also features local and organic food. While this idea can sometimes become a gimmick, it's not at Noble. They are serving excellent food and also happen to be conscientious about where it comes from and how it is grown. Impressively, they have a rooftop garden which features ingredients in several of the dishes. This idea is even extended to the beer selection, which consists of a lot of respectable locals, Yards, Victory, Troegs, PBC, and the likes while also offering featured beers from lesser known breweries in the US. To top it off, some of these featured beers are generally unavailable in the city, which is impressive for Philadelphia.

One of my favorite things about Noble is there is a beer and a wine pairing suggestion for each item on the menu. The pairings are well thought out, and our server was knowledgeable enough to talk about the menu, pairings, and drinks. The service was leisurely, but overall good. Our server was a little goofy, but added to our overall experience.

Bottom Line: Like I said, I can't tell you the last time I so quickly declared I wanted to revisit a place again. There's a lot to like about Noble. It's pretty, the food is good, and the menu has a lot of interesting options. I'm looking forward to my next visit. (Want to go, Mom?)

Essentials:

2025 Sansom St (at 20th)

215-568-7000

Hours: T&W: 5-10; Th&F: 5-11; Sat: 12-11; Sun: 11-9

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Strongly recommended

BYOB: On Sundays!

Kelliann's Bar & Grill

I've ridden my bike past Kelliann's at least a hundred times. And while that's no exaggeration, I didn't know the name of this place until I visited last week. If you're unclear of the spot I'm referring to, you may know it as I did: "Crappy Irish place on the corner of 16th and Spring Garden." But my previous title and judgement were way off the mark.

This place is pretty small; a long bar greats you at the door and runs almost the entire length of the skinny space. Some outdoor seating surely helps this place from seeming too crowded. Upon entering, I looked towards the taps to judge the place. Some regular locals, plus Sam Adams, a few Irish brews, and the real star of the day, Spaten Octoberfest. This is a tasty beer, and at $5 for a 20 oz mug (in proper glassware, if that's your thing) it was a great deal. Overall, the beer list is nothing special, but you should be able to find something that will pacify if not satisfy.

The place doesn't have much atmosphere for itself, but it surely has an interesting collection of patrons. Off duty nurses, construction workers, staff and students from nearby CCP, and folks like myself are elbow to elbow at the bar. To help me feel more at home, our bartender was friendly welcoming, and attentive.

Looking at the menu, I received the biggest shock. Almost everything on the menu was between 5 and 7 dollars, and included items such as a cheeseburger, turkey club, 10 piece chicken wings, steak sandwich, and the likes. Not incredible food, but decent food at a good price. I had a few wings, which were solidly average, but enjoyable. The turkey club was also good, and included a ridiculous amount of sliced turkey, and was topped with cheese. I'd eat here again.

Bottom Line: Kelliann's isn't amazing. But the good deals on food and beer, coupled with good service and real people make this an enjoyable joint. Everyone should at least give it a chance.

Essentials:

1549 Spring Garden (Spring Garden and 16th)

215-563-6990

Avg Ent: 5-7

Cash Only: No

Reservation: No