The Grey Lodge Pub

Deuane

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +3.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Having been to TGL many times this is a long time coming. Visited last Friday for X-mas in July. X-mas in July is a fun little fest offering a bunch of on tap holiday beers in July...fun.

Food has always been solid. Nothing crazy but always tasty and filling. Had some poutine last time...not as good as what you get in Montreal but hey...this is Philly, not Montreal so I was glad to even have something that was close. Our friend got a fish sandwich that I swear had an entire fish on...VERY filling for sure!

The selection and service scores are due to the tireless efforts of THE man of TGL, Scoats. The man is a beer finding dynamo, plus a hell of a nice guy always willing to take time out of his VERY busy day to chat for a few minutes about this and that.

As far as atmosphere....well, I prefer the cozier and more comfortable upstairs area. The downstairs bar is more "old school" and not as inviting.

TGL is a must stop if in Philly on a beer tour or if you find yourself in the area. Scoats is ALWAYS throwing special events....a trip for a Friday the Firkenteenth cannot be missed....and even on a normal day the tap selection is impressive to say the least.

I am a big fan of TGL and try to hit it up whenever I am in the area. Keep up the great work Scoats!

07-13-2009 18:03:13 | More by Deuane

OneDropSoup

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

After hearing about the Grey Lodge on this site & various other publications, I was real happy my friend's best man chose this as a surprise destination for his bachelor party.

Very unassuming exterior, which I liked. Inside was welcoming: awesome beer memorabilia all over, & the restroom mosaic was a thing of majesty. It was nice that they had a second floor tap room, & the party pretty much took it over.

The tap list was impressive: I'm pretty proud of the variety Pittsburgh has to offer, but was thrilled to see some great stuff not available in my part of the state. Pliny the Elder & Roy Pitz Ludwig's Revenge topped my list.

The two female bartenders, while not appearing particularly thrilled to be serving 18 rowdy guys in the mid-afternoon, suffered us fools adequately. They also didn't seem especially versed in the beer, but were helped by cliffnotes for each tap.

I wasn't knocked over by the food menu at first -- seemed like typical heavy pub fare -- but was very satisfied by the biggest crab cake sandwich I've ever seen. And who's going to complain about delicious, starchy pub food anyway?

All in all a great time, at what struck me as a down-to-earth, beer-fearing and -loving establishment.

06-25-2009 03:20:30 | More by OneDropSoup

TheFightfan1

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev -12%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

My wife and I went here for the 75 min IPA simultap. It was a very rowdy crowd at first but once everyone got their beer everything settled down a bit. When you first walk in their is a staircase to you left (which we did not venture to look upstairs) and the bar is straight ahead. Two massive flatscreens above the bar. The looks of the place are that of a hole in the wall bar (literally there was a massive hole in the wall where I was standing). There was a big blackboard with all of the brew's on tap , bottled , and in the upcoming future. I probably wouldn't have a good reason to come back as it is a hike from our house but it was worth the expierence for the 75 min IPA.

03-27-2009 14:12:11 | More by TheFightfan1

ClockworkOrange

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in during Philly Beer Week for the upstate beer/breweries event. Was greeted by the friendly owner upon walking in as he was busy taping up signs for the event, tap list and food specials. I really felt welcome there from that moment on. I really dig the vibe and atmosphere of this place. I'm used to the old time coal town bars in NEPA and the downstairs reminds me of that. Upstairs, where the event took place, was more updated. every seat filled up within minutes, and still, service did not suffer. I had a Stegmaier Porter, always a fave of mine and it was fresh, tasty, and reasonable for Philly at $4. I've heard good, no great things about the cheesesteak and fries here, so that's what I settled on. I was not let down. The cheesesteak could have been a little less greasy, but other than that, no complaints about the food. Looking forward to my next visit.

03-20-2009 04:45:02 | More by ClockworkOrange

ImHereForTheBeer

Vermont

4.38/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

We are big fans of Grey Lodge. We have been going there for many years, we started going there because the second floor was nonsmoking (now it is all nonsmoking).

The food is good, typical pub fare. I am a big fan of the Spinach and bacon salad. We love the that the draft beer selection focuses on primarily local PA microbrews. I still prefer the second floor, it is not so loud and a little more cozy. The staff has always been friendly and knowledgeable about the beer. I totally love Wednesday night Quizzo. Be sure to say hi to Frank the Tank if you go!

03-17-2009 19:45:04 | More by ImHereForTheBeer

bwd110

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

This is your typical fun-loving neighborhood bar (that Philly is famous for) where hi-jinx often ensues... And, oh by the way, they have a decent draft list and impressive bottle list taboot.

My experience has always been the people are friendly, the staff knowledgeable and the beer constantly rotating. What makes this bar stand out, is their attention to "important" social events like Groundhog Day, Friday the Firkenteeth, Beer Season, Stout Season, the list goes on.

Lots of character in this place too.... the bathrooms are not to be missed!

02-17-2009 15:17:33 | More by bwd110

bonkers

New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $

I went to the Grey Lodge for a special event, Friday the Firkenteenth. The place looks like a hole in the wall neighborhood bar form the outside. There are 2 bars, upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs bar had 8 taps, not sure how many were downstairs. The atmosphere of both are not that flashy. The place shines in quality and variety. The tap list is very large. The list is heavy on locals brews but they get quality in from all over the country. I had a firkin from the Bruery today. The waitstaff were friendly and knowledgable. My friend and I both had cheese steaks and they were great. The beer is very reasonably priced, most brews are in the 5-6 dollar range. I will be going back.

02-14-2009 00:08:20 | More by bonkers

LocalGuy

New Jersey

5/5  rDev +14.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

I've been coming here for a while now, this is my first post. I can only imagine that this is the kind of place our dads & granddads enjoyed. The people are friendly, the food is great, the bartenders are knowledgable. There's a sense of community here that many places would kill for. And it doesn't seem to matter if your a longtime regular or new. The events are well-thought out and just plain fun I drank Perdition here twice last week-what a enjoyable beer. I try to get here with my sons as much as possible. One of my favorite "comfort" bars.

02-12-2009 01:16:37 | More by LocalGuy

murray333

Pennsylvania

4.95/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

What a great place. Tried the Grey Lodge for the first time a few Saturdays ago and I was not disappointed. For an afternoon the place had a great crowd and the service was top notch. The only negative about the place would be the overly chatty regulars that seemed to try to tick off the bartender every chance they had. He had to keep reminding them that there were normal people in the bar and to watch the foul language. I would recommend the Grey Lodge to anyone looking for good food and even better beer.

02-06-2009 19:27:01 | More by murray333

jim102864

Connecticut

3.88/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

I vistied twice this week while in the Philly area on business. Very much out of the way, particularly for someone who's not from the neighborhood. Nondescript and hidden adjacent to a pizza joint. Kinda dark inside with very much a rustic "lodge" feel. Beadboard paneling, dark red decor and a few items of brewana hanging on the walls. The bar is a large rectangle that promotes conversation amongst the patrons. The local mailmen were there on night one for their pints and were soon followed by a guy and his son (I assume) who worked in the Philly beer industry (see the review immediately preceding mine). Good chat. Night two was as dead as it gets as far as the willingness of the patrons to converse which makes for a less than enjoyable experience. Anyway, Lodge is a good spot for local beer since the emphasis is clearly on that. There are only 12 taps and 30 or so bottles. Yes the local brew is tasty. Yes the bottle selection includes macrocrap along with a nice selection of local and regional stuff. Yes the lines are clean. But I can't help feeling the selection is rather pedestrian for a big city beer bar. 12 taps of primarily local brew doesn't flip my skirt. Expand your horizons! Add more taps of something outside of the PA area ! I do think they try to be different. The firkin of High and Mighty espresso stout was a nice touch. The food is very good pub food. Nice steak sandwich and fries with a cheese sauce. Night two's french onion was dead on for a cold winter's night as were the bbq ribs and fries. The barkeep on night one was pleasant and efficient but hardly conversational. Night twos barmaid was more of the same. No proper glassware for the few Belgians available from what I could see. I suppose it's because the neighborhood is primarily working class but so what?

The Lodge is worth a visit and recommended. Just don't expect an exceptional experience. I don't mean to be overly critical since this is a nice spot, but I think Philly can offer more than two exceptional Belgian bars and one slightly above average beer bar, don't you?

12-06-2008 12:39:54 | More by jim102864