Philadelphia,PA & Mt. Laurel, NJ

You guys were spot on with the recommendations from my last trip to the MI/Canadian border. So I've come back for more!

I'll be on the road again for work and I'm looking for some awesome places to eat and drink in the Mt. Laurel, NJ area. As long as it's within 30 minutes to 1 hr drive I'll consider it.

I'm also taking recommendations for things to see on Saturday before my flight out of PHL. I've considered Pottsville and the Yeungling Brewery and might do that if something better/closer isn't mentioned. Also, I've already done the historic side of things around there (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc...).

Keep the hits coming.

There's plenty to do Beer-wise in Philly.

There are a number breweries/brewpubs within the city itself:

yards brewing
Philadelphia brewing co
Nodding Head
Earth Bread and Brewery
Dock Street

Philly Area breweries, most are within an hour or so from the city:

Flying Fish
Dogfish Head
Victory
Troegs
Slyfox
Lancaster

There are numerous beer bars, some of the most popular being:

Monks and Eulogy for Belgians
Standard Tap
Grey Lodge
Memphis Taproom
Devils Den
Brauhaus Schmitz or Frankford Hall - for German


I mean really, the best thing to do would be to decide which area of the city you'll be in and you'll be able to find any number of places.

That's a pretty good list. Flying Fish is really close to Mt Laurel

Wow, thanks for the huge list Barnzy! I'm actually excited to be going to Mt Laurel this time. My Google-fu was weak, as none of that stuff appeared to me last time I was up there and looking.

Cid- I will have to check them out since they are closest to my actual place of work. I've never heard of them or seen their beer.

Their exit series beers are exceptional and the rest of the brews in their lineup are all good solid examples of the style. IIRC they only have tours on Saturdays, but most of the bars around should have a beer or two of theirs on tap.

There are more great beer places in the Philadelphia area than you could possibly get to in one trip. Philly is really an astounding area for beer...

Two brewpubs that were not mentioned above were Iron Hill's Maple Shade location (less than 10 minutes from Mt. Laurel), and Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore PA. Also Forest & Main Brewing in Ambler PA.

And for beer bars, you can add Kraftwork, Local 44, Resurrection Ale House, South Philly Taproom, Devil's Den, Barcade, the Blind Pig, and countless others in Philly. Closer to where you'll be is the Blue Monkey in Merchantville NJ, 40 taps all devoted to craft or imports.

IMO you can skip Victory, but if you're going out to Downingtown be sure and stop in Station Taproom -- far better food, atmosphere and vibe. (Victory makes great beer, but the brewpub is a disappointment IMO -- I'll gladly drink Victory at other beer bars, but I don't bother with the pub any more.)

And while you're in Philly you're probably gonna want to go get a cheesesteak. Do yourself a favor and skip Pat's, Geno's and Jim's on South Street (the three most touristy and overrated places in the city; Pat's and Geno's are OK but not great and Jim's is terrible). My recommendation is for Chink's in NE Philly, a couple of blocks away from the Grey Lodge Pub.

Good luck, have fun in the area and do report back on where you went and what you liked!

PS. Dogfish Head is not within an hour of Philly, more like two.

PPS. Hope you're bringing a GPS!

Iron Hill in Maple Shade is practically in Mt. Laurel.

dzlater said:

Iron Hill in Maple Shade is practically in Mt. Laurel.

Click to expand...

True... when I'm thinking of Mt. Laurel I'm thinking of the other end of town, not the Moorestown Mall end... so I guess it depends on where the OP is going to be, but either way it's a highly recommended very local stop for him.

BDR - Thanks for your input, especially Iron Hill. That's going to be really close to where I'm working/staying. As far as cheese steaks, I had one last time I was up there. They pretty much tasted the same as the true-to-style ones I've gotten down here. They're in need of more taste! Same goes for my sandwich from Dinic's in Reading Terminal. Looked SO awesome being made/assembled, but really lacked flavor. Might just get my next one smothered in cheese wiz.

That's disappointing to hear about Victory though as I really like their beer. The same thing happened to me at the Abita Pub, though it looks like it might have been beefed up since my visit some years ago. May have to go back and check it out some time.

I will be sure to update this thread once I've been, seen and (got) conquered!

Double check with Flying Fish before you go. I dont believe they are offering tours in Cherry Hill anymore because they are in the process of moving to a larger facility in Somerdale.

A quick update for everyone. So far, we've been to Frankford Hall, Blue Monkey, and Iron Hill. I don't like driving back and forth across the bridge to PHL so I think we're going to probably go back to Blue Monkey tonight. It was cheaper than Iron Hill for food but the beer was more expensive (and a wider selection).

We will probably make a drive into PHL tomorrow to do something, we're just not sure what yet.

Well, this turned out to be more of a review and long winded recount of the trip. I apologize, and have italicized the final word on each place for those of you who are likely to TL;DR. :cross:

Frankford Hall - We stopped in here on Sunday before heading out of Philadelphia into NJ for work/hotel. The weather was perfect for this type of place. The atmosphere was relaxing and really enjoyable. It was mostly younger people with a few families. The beer was good and the food decent, kind of a perfect place to stop after a day of travel. I had a Bavarian pretzel and weisswurst, and the co-worker had one of the burgers. We like the atmosphere so much we want to open one down here, but we're pretty sure the constant 85+% humidity might put a damper on it. I'd do this one again any time the weather was nice and would recommend it to others as well.

Iron Hill - We went here the first night in town. It was a bit pricey on the food, but my seafood pot pie was awesome. That was some of the best quality seafood I've had in a while. I could have done without the green peas, but they didn't slow me down. I didn't care for their 2 Logan TJ, too sweet for me. The Pig Iron Porter was pretty tasty, as was the West Coast Wheat and the German Pilsner. Co-worker had the Jaegerschnitzel, and said it was pretty good. I'd do this one again, the food was good and the beer decent.

Blue Monkey Tavern - We went to this one twice. First time, we enjoyed it. I had my first Kasteel Rouge from the tap, it made the GF jealous. I also tried clams for the time....meh, for the price I think I'd rather an oyster. The Manhattan clam chowder was good, and different than expected. Little did we know that not all clam chowders are created equal (NE vs Manhattan). I honestly can't remember what I had food wise (even after looking at the menu online), so it couldn't have been too great.

The second visit was full of really bad orders. After such great quality of seafood at Iron Hill, we decided to try the scallops with cilantro. Fairly small scallops and a ton of arugula. I also tried the Southerntier Creme Brulee stout. The best way I can describe it was that it smelled like a Yankee Candle and tasted about the same as it smelled. There was very little left to the beer, even after warming up a little. I tried the Philly cheesesteak, awful. It tasted like hamburger helper on a piece of bread. The flat iron steak the co-worker had looked pretty dang good though. Not sure if I'd do this one again. I think I may have seen all there is to see there, unless they get some awesome beers on tap.

The Pour House - Decent pub atmosphere with a fair selection of beer. We had been and were drinking beer, so we ordered the appetizer containing the Bavarian pretzel bites, home made chips, and landjager. All were good salty foods for eating while drinking beer, but the landjager was a disappointment. Tastes like those little pepperoni sticks from my childhood. Not bad overall and would probably consider it again on any future trips.

Brauhaus Schmitz - We walked to here on the morning before our flight. Destiny was on my side that morning. I sent a picture of my half-liter of their house Oktoberfest to my GF. She replied, "Isn't it a bit early?" Well, it just so happens 11 am Eastern is 5 pm in Munich, which I informed her of. She could reply with nothing other than, "Touche." :rockin: Here we ate Kasewurst, Bauernwurst, Bratkartoffeln, and Spatzle, the wursts were good, sides needed more taste. These were probably the best beers we tried the whole time we were up in the area. I would visit this one again and recommend it as well. The food is pricier, but not as high as Iron Hill (for the most part).

Unfortunately we didn't have the time to go to any of the breweries and still make it other places without feeling rushed so we had to forfeit on that. The noon start times for tours put us too close on getting some food and making it to the airport in a timely manner. Maybe next time....