The Tavern on Liberty

57md

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

A: Kind of a hole-in-the-wall place, but definitely a beer lovers temple. One of the few bars in the area that still permits smoking (that is probably a big plus or a big minus depending who you are).

Q: Clearly the owners wish to cater to a craft-beer crowd. Important note: this is a beer bar ONLY - no wine or hard liquor is available.

S: Can be disappointingly slow at times, even when the bar is mostly empty.

S: Top notch. The beer on tap is rotated frequently with a large variety of styles. Also, seasonal brews are always well represented. The bottle selection is enormous. There is no better selection at any craft beer bar in Allentown or the surrounding area!

F: Not you ordinary pub fare. Gourmet soups, designer sandwiches to die for, awesome wings and thick burgers. Portions are big for most selections. You can also get something as mundane as pizza slices or calzones.

V: Food is a bit pricey, but beer prices are pretty good considering the variety.

09-05-2011 06:04:07 | More by 57md

Neorebel

New Jersey

4.44/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25 | $$

Went here for wings and beer after work - they seemed to have a mix of 'bar food' and more higher tier menu items. Clearly they have a real cook in house. The beer selection was quite good - I had Founders, Unibroue, & De Dolle, all on tap. Several coolers are there for take-out six packs and bombers as well. On Fridays, they have coupons for discounted to-go items. The pricing is on par with the going rate in Pennsylvania... (I am from NJ & generally craft beer is a bit more inexpensive) The alcohol served here is exclusively beer, by the way. As other reviews said, the place isn't much to look at on the outside, but it improves inside and the beer/food selection more than makes for a worthwhile visit. Right next to Moravian, I bet there is mostly a college crowd during prime times. (Pool tables are available as well) For these reasons, I have this notion that the tavern flies under the radar amongst beer geeks, which is why some harder-to-get beers can be found here without a problem. I have to give the place props for regularly rotating the beers on the menu, and for the very friendly staff. Definitely will make this a regular spot as I mentioned it's right near my office. How convenient!

11-03-2012 00:59:16 | More by Neorebel

mdh327

4.5/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I love this bar, I have my own mug and come here at least twice a week. This place may not look like much from the outside but once you walk in and see the mass amount of tap handles displayed overhead you will be impressed. It may be a small place yes but the immense amount of beers in their fridges and the constant rotation of beers on tap will leave even the biggest beer fan dropping their jaw. The fact that Liberty Tavern only serves beer is awesome too, personally I think its really unique and I've never been to any bar that's only served soley beer. Id recommend this place to anyone who lives in or is coming to visit the Lehigh Valley, I still have yet to find a bar that even comes close to the amount of beers served here. The service is pretty good too as well as their food which is phenomenal by bar standards. Anyone visiting I would strongly suggest trying the pizza and wings both are awesome! They even have a pool table and booth seating in a room to the right of the bat.To sum it up this place is pretty awesome and I would suggest it to anyone who loves beer or is just looking for a good night out.

08-09-2012 19:36:51 | More by mdh327

kahjdfh

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

The bottle selection is beyond belief and the prices aren't too bad. The draft selection is where its at. What makes it special is the other selections of drafts. They have at least a dozen taps besides the usual Bud, Coors and Yeungling. Where else can you get on tap Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Dogfish Head Namaste and St. Bernardus Apt 12 (this is always on tap- it's the owners favorite). They had Dogfish Head 120 IPA on tap for New Year's Eve.

The food is good. The pizza, cheese steaks, burgers and tacos are good. They also have seasonal specials like squash soup for the fall.

01-06-2012 01:43:01 | More by kahjdfh

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

2.43/5  rDev -43.9%
vibe: 1 | quality: 2 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | $$

After a visit to the amazing Farmhouse restaurant, I wanted to check out a few other places in the area, since I rarely do come to the Allentown area. Our hosts at the Farmhouse recommended the Tavern on Liberty, citing their selection as a plus. But they failed to mention that the place was a hideous hellhole in all other regards.

As soon as I walked into the Tavern, I just wanted to turn around and walk out. A dirty little hovel of a place, kind of like a greasy little pizza joint with a bar. Noisy and annoying, crowd full of rednecks, d-bags, college preppies, or some combo of the three, and rap blasting in the background. Cautiously, the wife and I took two seats at the bar. Everyone seemed satisfied enough, but no bartenders came to greet us, which was fine, considering I didn't really want to stay. The tap list was decent enough, with a good 14 beers to chose from, and many of them good crafts and micros, though nothing too out of the ordinary. Prices seemed decent. Several large fridges offered a wide variety of beer to go in bottles and cans. So after about 5 minutes at the bar, we got up, checked out the bottle selection, and then walked out, and started to detox ourselves from the horrors we had just witnessed.

I visited 3 bars/pubs on this little jaunt to Allentown/Emmaus, and had 3 entirely different experiences. Which is good. Except for when it's not. Like when I went to the Tavern on Liberty. Dump. To be avoided at all costs...unless you're stopping in for a quick take-out.

11-20-2011 14:30:04 | More by Rifugium

SamuelJackson45

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

From The Founders Night.

A- The Atmosphere was pretty lively still not alot of people but but busy for being a real small hole in thew wall corner bar.

Q- Not bad was kind of shock. It's seat right by Muhlenburg College in Allentown PA.

S- The service was pretty good. Friendly workers.

S- The beer selection beside the founders was pretty good that was shocking.

F- The food was awesome very tasty and very good quality.

V- The price was more then reasonable. not bad for a college local bar. Would drop by again..

08-13-2011 07:34:32 | More by SamuelJackson45

skiofpinsk

Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I was here with some friends on a Friday night. The bar was pretty crowded, but I pulled up to the bar as I was the first to arrive. The room with the bar is narrow, but has plenty of seating area along the bar and at several tables. I didn't walk through the entire place, but there appeared to be more table area in at least one other room.

Got a Evil Twin Yin, decent pour. I enjoyed it while I waited for my friends to arrive. A couple TVs were located behind the bar, with the Phillies game on.

People showed up, so we relocated to a table. The food menu was pretty good. I settled on a reuben, which turned out to be enormous. We were checked on several times during our meal and there always seemed to be someone there when a glass ran empty.

Overall, a great place. Beer menu is up there as one of the best I've seen. The food was also better than standard bar food. I would definitely recommend this place, and can't wait to make it back there.

07-23-2011 18:08:28 | More by skiofpinsk

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

A friend of mine had been asking me to check out the place with him sometime, so one day we went after work and had a few rounds. The atmosphere wasn't too bad because we got there before the major rush of a Friday night and had a seat at the bar. The bar was a pretty decent size that sits maybe 20 people or so. As time went on it started getting much more busy and we were glad we got there when we did.

The beer and food selection was impressive. The beer list is quite extensive with lots of bottles to choose from along with a hell of a lineup on drafts. They don't mess around too much here. The food menu was typical of what a bar would have. My friend and I wanted to try to something off the wall and had the Thankgiving Day Pizza. It had turkey, stuffing, cheese and cranberry sause on it... The sound of it may not be all that appealing but it was pretty interesting.

Service was good but pretty typical. Nothing too over the top really. I was never without a beer in front of me so that's a plus. The price of the place was pretty easy in the pocket too. I can't really say too much bad stuff about this place because I can think of anything. This is a place to check out if you're in the area for sure.

05-25-2011 05:33:45 | More by Knapp85

timtim

District of Columbia

3.6/5  rDev -16.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

Beer Advocate saves the day again! Up in Allentown on business, so I checked BA to find a place for an after work beer. This place had the best reviews, so I went to check it out. Here's what I found: college bar with tons of smoke. was packed at about 745 on a Tuesday. the bartender acted pissed when we tried to order drinks, like we were bothering him. service was slow at times (what can you expect at a packed pub?), but other than the bartender, they were all helpful and some knowledgeable. food was okay. $5 for two relatively massive tacos with a home-deep-fried shell that was actually pretty tasty. here's where it gets good... selection included things like Evil Twin and Weyerbacher one-offs on tap, and Lost Abbey, Alesmith, a few Cantillons, lots of locals, Dark Horse, and tons of other fantastic beers in the bottle available for take-out. The food was cheap, and the bottles were well priced (mostly) for a bar. Overall, a decent value and good beer. Probably wouldn't frequent a place like this at home, but I liked seeing how the locals do it there in Allentown, and I thoroughly enjoyed my beers. Cheers Allentown!

05-13-2011 10:23:29 | More by timtim

paulys55

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -12.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

I will say I frequent this place quite often but usually for six packs. Fun college bar with good tap selection and really nice bottle selection. Tons of bottles, both 12oz and large format, though the large format bottles tend to be a little pricey, even for a bar. But you can make mixed sixers and they keep the selection fairly fresh with new brands all the time. They have tasting events fairly often and get some pretty tasty treats (Founders CBS was a nice one). Staff is fairly knowledgeable and the food is good. The only problem I have with this place is the smoking. I know it's a college bar and no smoking would probably kill their business but it's hard for me to enjoy a good beer when I can't breathe. Otherwise, really nice place with great selection. My go-to place for take out six packs.

05-05-2011 14:42:21 | More by paulys55