South Philadelphia Tap Room and The Devils Den

Tim and Amy join some friends on a holiday trek through South Philadelphia.  This trip included 2 stops, first at the South Philadelphia Tap Room and the second stop at the Devils Den.  Both are solid beer bars, but the group takes an instant liking to the comfortable atmosphere and diverse beer list at the Den.  The name to atmosphere connection is deceiving though.  While I would have expected something “den-like” or dark and shady, the place had more of a chain restaurant vibe to it.  It was quite comfortable though considering we visited in the winter and sat next to the fireplace smack in the center of the space.

The Tap Room had a decent beer selection as well, but seems to put more focus on the local beers and had what was a surprisingly modest bottle selection.  However, the food at the Tap Room was excellent and that was certainly where it stood out for the evening.  Unfortunately, the food at the Den on the other hand was not something we would write home about.  Of course, we are here for the beer, so we will leave the food critiques to Craig LaBan…

While out, we taste several decent beers, including the Legacy Nor Easter, the Bells Christmas Ale and the Southampton Christmas ale.  Not typically a fan of the Holiday beers, Amy was impressed by her Bells, while Tim stuck with the dark stuff – the Nor Easter.

Being originally from the area, it’s exciting to see all of the new good beer bars popping up around the city of Philadelphia.  The area is full of great breweries and brewpubs, but in the past had a very limited number of good beer bars.  We spent most of our Philly pub days at Monks, which is a great Belgian pub, but can be really cramped and crowded on any given night.  So as a consumer its nice to see some new options in the area.

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