McMenamin's Tavern

eldondre

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

Excellent neighborhood pub. I've been wandering this city for a few years now and I have to say this is one of the most solid pubs in the city. While it's not the only great bar in the city, most neighborhoods would be lucky to have one of these. The beer selection is not overly large but well chosen. The atmosphere is warm and friendly. The food is more varied than yoru typical bar fare and well done. A favorite of mine is the hot turkey sandwich served with cranberry sauce. I also enjoy the curried lamb. It's a good excuse to visit mt. airy or a good place to grab a quick dinner before a show at NXNW. If you live near here, you've probably been already.

09-20-2004 20:40:43 | More by eldondre

bonkers

New Jersey

4.16/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped by after going to Earth, Bread, Brewery for dinner, about a 30 second walk down Germantown Ave. The place looks like your typical neighborhood bar, and when we got there it was pretty crowded. We were fortunate to grab 2 seats at the end of the bar and the bartender had drinks in my hand in about 30 seconds. The draft list is pretty good, 15 taps and a hand pump. Unfortunately, the cask of 75 minute had kicked just before our arrival. I had a PtE and a RR sanctification on this visit. We didn't try the food. Overall it has a good vibe, a good crowd, and a nice tap list. I wiil return on my next trip to earth, bread.

03-13-2011 16:40:18 | More by bonkers

onix1agr

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev -3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Been coming here on and off for the past ten years so I guess it's time for a review.

A- McMenamin's is a bar on germantown avenue in philly. You walk in to a bar area with a semi dark look but a inviting enviornment. Beer signs on the wall, old bottles of beer on the high shelf, including a fairly old Chimay Blue with the old label. It's pretty small and gets fairly cramped. A dining area towards the back, kinda no frills but thats what this place goes for. Also a outside seating area for a nice night.

Q- The lines are clean and the food comes out looking good, "what more can I say" (C)-Pharrell. This place is pretty clean as well with a respectable bathroom. No complaints.

S- Never had a problem with service here. It's a small place so It's kinda hard to get bad service here. Friendly with a smile. I never really did chat it up with the bartenders here though.

S- A fairly great selection here for the beer. It's not the boldest selection but possibly in fact the best in the area. About 15 taps in total with some BMC thrown in to keep the lights on. I recently had some Port 4th anniversary here and my mouth was salivating on how good it was. This place does not put on any big events so it's pretty low key, I think that's what they are going for and I kinda like that. A decent sized bottle selection mostly consisting of big bombers. I believe they do to go and growlers as well. Come by for a pint and a bite.

F- I love the food here, the fries rock, that is all.

A low key beer bar in a section of the city that's kinda dry in terms of places to go for good brew. It's 30 seconds from Earth Bread & Brewery so it's always a spot to hit up for a mini bar crawl. I like this place, Alot!!!

07-03-2010 21:58:33 | More by onix1agr

regspeir

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

This is the closest thing in the Philadelphia area to a European pub. The actual establishment is small - small bar with a back room "restaurant" section. Parking is great and free! You are likely to encounter ANYONE in here - such a great multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic hodge-podge. And the staff is VERY down-to-earth and friendly. There are regulars, but anyone walking into this place feels at home. The food is surprisingly good as well. Beer selection isn't vast- around 15 taps and one hand-pulled - but there is a good mix of things to fit the mixed clientele. This is simply the epitome of warm and cozy neighborhood bar and should be on everyone's list of places to try in Philadelphia.

06-17-2010 02:24:03 | More by regspeir

koopa

New Jersey

4.06/5  rDev -3.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

On my first trip to Earth Bread yesterday, the bartender recommended that I check this tavern out. So I walked 30 yards down Germantown Ave and entered McMenamin's Tavern. First off it seemed like a popular place and the people seemed pretty fun / friendly. Nice amount of craft taps plus European staples works for me! The one bartender that helped me seemed nice and into beer. The other servers seemed a bit less focused on providing an experience to the consumer.

Didn't try the food but the guy next to me swore by the wings. The menu looked more than solid for a pub btw. I told him to try Capone's 25 cent wing special and get back to me :) Prices seemed fair and I enjoyed the quick pint of Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter that I had before heading back to my hotel in Plymouth Meeting. It was especially nice stopping here after Earth Bread considering Earth Bread concentrates more on session beers while McMenamins had "bigger" craft choices.

06-13-2010 00:54:50 | More by koopa

Chinon01

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Seventeen rotating taps including cask. The tap list is always balanced with Belgian quads and tripels, German pils, IPA, DIPA, porters, stouts, etc. Bottle selection is great to and recently expanded to include Green Flash and Stone IPA. Note: The draft beer is served with virtually no head as that is how they choose to do it. You don't get cheated on a pour though. As for the atmosphere it's basic neighborhood with a friendly mix of young and old black and white and everything inbetween. Tunes can be hit or miss depending upon the bartender as they control the tunes. If you go to McMenamins long enough they'll know your names and break balls; it's that kind of place. I really need to eat more of there entrees. I've never been disappointed by any of them particularly since they hired a new chef several years ago. What I typically get are chicken salad sandwich, Caesar salad and wings. None taste by the numbers. Great bar for local sports and the Birds inparticular. About a dozen flatscreens with NFL ticket.

01-02-2010 11:18:33 | More by Chinon01

TheFightfan1

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Well this was after we went to Earth Bread and what a place to stop at during your visit. Has a nice feel in the place comfortable and warm. The bartender's are nice and very helpful. As you walk in the bar is right in front of you with a couple of tables to your right and a large dining area in back.Also a nice covered patio section( good thing because it was drizzling at the time ).

My wife and I sat in front of the bar at a table and I ordered Fuller's Tripel which was served in a chalice which was excellent. My wife had a Brown Ale sorry couldn't remember the name of it. Both were exceptional. They had 15 taps and one on the beer engine which was Sly Fox 113 IIPA.The tap selection was nice mixed with some hard to find one's like the one I had and some easier to find one's Kenzinger etc.

As we are sitting there looking around my wife says it."We need one of these places around us". I couldn't agree more our area sucks for craft breweries. We have a dozen bars and none of them have nearly the selection this place has. That is just sad.

A great place to come to if you are just strolling around town. I will be back.

08-30-2009 16:05:47 | More by TheFightfan1

gdfan47

Pennsylvania

4.36/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

A- finally checked this place out, very clean but the bar had character, cool beer signage throughout. A nice big bar with a few tvs, a dartboard (electric... but still a dart board). A nice area in back for dinner, we got there kinda late though

Q- The beer selection was nice, about 15 or so on draft. I dont want to name names but a really really nice selection of IPAs, Belgiums, stouts, and some other treats. The bottle selection was awesome, some hard to find belgians and domestics

F- didnt get to have any food, but the wings smelled AMAZING

I cant wait to go back here again, bartender was super friendly and the locals all seemed nice. I hear the draft selection changes alot

01-16-2009 07:17:18 | More by gdfan47

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -16.2%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $

Nice neighborhood sports bar with pretty good comfort/ bar food and a decent selection of beer. With all of the high reviews that this place received on BA and other sites I thought that the selection would be a lot better. They had a small but decent list, some nice german beer on draft, but nothing that I was too excited about. The service and food were average but overall not too expensive. $7 was the cheapest I ever paid for an Orval in Philly. Decent but not worth seeking out if you don't live in town.

11-26-2008 08:09:13 | More by corby112

nventi

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

This place is on the way home from work for me, so I've become a bit of a regular. Friendly people all around, including the bartenders. It frequently gets noisy, especially during Eagles games, so both conversation and tracking down a bartender can be difficult sometimes. Usually 2 bartenders pouring drinks and serving food for the entire house (including the outdoor dining area), and one barback.. Sometimes the owner stops in and helps out.

Both food and beer are priced reasonably, except for the Belgians and take-out beer. Most draughts are $4-5, and the Belgian draughts are closer to $7-8 for a 10.5 oz pour. I've only taken out a 6 pack once, and it ran me $13 (it was Brooklyn Brown). Perhaps I'm just used to NY/MA prices. You can generally get a decent meal (pub fare) for under $10, but it you want to splurge a little, their specials are great, and none are usually over $20. The Fish/Chips and Hot Roast Beef au jus are two of my mainstays.

Selection is very good, probably the biggest reason I keep coming back. They just had Pliny the Elder recently and I think I showed up everyday until it was gone! They've got one cask engine, but in the three months I've been living/working here, it's always been Yards ESA. I've read some favorable reviews of this beer here on BA, but I'm not impressed by it.. I'd love to see them switch it up with something from Middle Ages, or maybe Bluebird Bitter if they could find it. They don't keep a paper menu of drafts/bottles, which can be a drag if you're not sitting at the bar or if your vision is starting to get a little blurred.

Not bad. I'll definitely be back for more!

09-17-2008 18:37:28 | More by nventi