Earth Bread + Brewery

Chinon01

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

This neighborhood place does so many things so well. It's a place that you can as easily take a date to as someone could their kids. Large dining area upstairs with a more intimate downstairs. The heat and bready aroma from the "brick" oven perfume the space as does a wonderful and refreshing selection of music from Johnny Cash to classic jazz to more obscure indie rock all at a volume where it can be appreciated as well as your conversation. The bartenders are all friendly and attentive while the servers are quiet and efficient. The menu is limited to flatbread pizza and a few other items. But it is among my favorite around. The crust has a texture that is at once crisp yet chewable. The toppings can be restrained (tomato and cheese) or in your face (proscuitto with fig compote goat cheese and sea salt). The beer selection is house beers brewed on the premises guest beers on draft and bottle selections. In the year that they've been open I don't think that I seen or drank the same house beer yet. The brewer likes to experiment some are ok many are fantastic few are a bust. The adventure of it is worth multiple visits; although for some that could be a turn off. The wine selection is well thought out as well with North America, South America and Europe well represented.
My only complaints are that I'd like to see a broader menu and steady cask offering of a house beer. When the cask is on it has been typically a guest offering.
Thanks

01-02-2010 10:31:09 | More by Chinon01

rfgetz

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -12.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Fairly unassuming exterior. Upon entering, your a greeted with a staircase to the upstairs bar and dining area or an entry way to the main floor. The main downstairs has a bar with some hightop seating around the perimeter and a big brick and stone pizza oven in the rear corner. Upstairs has another small bar and significantly more seating. Overall vibe is okay, lots of recycled and reclaimed wood and industrial scraps, local art hangs on the walls.

Only 4 of their house beers available, none ever repeated. Four feels like too little for frequent visits and long drinking sessions. A dozen or so guest taps also available, mostly local or regional with a few larger domestic craft offerings. Most house beers showcased a nice cereal grain quality, but hops were lacking.

After visiting American Flatbread in Burlington, VT, we were excited to visit a place inspired by there. Flatbreads are good with unique combinations of minimal ingredients on most. Some were too cheesy and bready and lacking in particular ingredients to get all the subtle nuances of flavor. The crusts are good, but a little thicker than I prefer for a flatbread.

Service friendly and knowledgeable and the prices were okay. If it wasn't for the location and limited house taps, id be back more frequently.

05-21-2012 15:03:23 | More by rfgetz

Centennial

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev -5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

Not your typical brewery or beer bar, but Tom(owner/brewer) knows his beer and is a top notch brewer. If i was reviewing just Tom's beer this review would be an A+

Chances are you won't find the same (in house) beer here on a recurring basis but you will find something you like. Most offerings tend to be on and then gone, but there is a good selection of in house brewed beers along with "guest" taps and bottles

No tv's and could use some more bar seating (has a second bar, but it is not always open and is on the second floor away from the other) Food is basically just flat bread and on the pricier side for the size. Would be nice to see a more expanded menu on the food side. No daytime hours during the week is disappointing as it would be a great place for lunch.

11-11-2011 05:14:43 | More by Centennial

nfo

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +5.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

A great neighborhood brewpub. They usually only have 3 of their own beers on tap, but the rotate them quickly so there's always something new. I get the impression they don't repeat much. Guest taps are quality craft beers. On my two visits, their IPA, Kolsch, and Berlinerweisse were all great.

Service was excellent on one trip, 'merely' good on the other. The seed pizza is creative and delicious. Non-flatbread food is okay, but I'd stick with the flatbreads. Looks to be family friendly and solo friendly - a good casual option for any occasion.

08-20-2011 20:15:58 | More by nfo

schoolcb

Texas

4.13/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

In town on business and had some time to kill Sunday so I stopped by for dinner. Got there before they opened, but they opened the doors promptly at 4:30pm. Kitchen didn't open until 5:00pm, but that was ok I was not in a hurry and was willing (twist my arm) to have a few of their beers first. Liked the "Deter" amber lager the best of all their beers. The handpulled 1492 pale ale had a phenolic funk too it (maybe the beer engine was not clean). Ended up at the bartenders recommendation having the fresh mozzarella salad (cheese made fresh daily) and a small flatbread, perfect amount of food. It was slow at the bar so the service was attentive. Did notice a lot of couples with kids heading to the upstairs seating area. List of "guest" beers was impressive, although already having consumed their 5 offerings, only tried the Mahr Hell Lager (OMG was it good). Nice place, will be back if I am ever in Philly again.

07-25-2011 16:50:59 | More by schoolcb

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

A pretty simple yet friendly place in the Mt. Airy neighborhood. Simple and organic layout and decor, with the stone ovens and brewing equipment in plain view. There are two bars, one downstairs that seats maybe 15, and one upstairs that seats about 8 or so. Plenty of table space.

They have about four or five house brews on tap at any given time, and an occasional cask-conditioned ale. I sampled two on my first visit; they were okay, nothing tremendous, although the pale ale they had in the cask was mighty tasty. Each subsequent visit yields more and more interesting additions, and they never have the same draught line-up twice, that is, they never brew the same beer twice. This is a double-edged sword: on the plus side, it's a display of their innovation; on the down side, they will never have a beer that "puts them on the map," so to speak. Maybe they lack confidence in their consistency, but it seems to me they've been in the business long enough where they should at least specialize in one solid year-round beer that they can really call their own. But what do I know.

They also keep about 4 or 5 local "visiting" craft or micro brews on tap. As for food, it's simple: mainly flatbreads with salads and a few appetizers, but all excellent. Friendly and helpful staff. I can definitely say that if this place wasn't a pain in the ass to get to, I'd definitely go more often. But it is kind of a pain in the ass to get to, and you have to either drive through the ghetto to get there if you're coming from the south, or the daunting Lincoln Drive coming from the west. Is it worth the trip? Yeah. More so nowadays. It's not a trip I make too often, but I do like the place, and I go whenever I possibly can.

04-29-2011 13:40:46 | More by Rifugium

onix1agr

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -12.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$

Been here a few times, now on to a review.

The vibe is ok here. Nice people, nice beer, nice food. Alot of the staff and most of the patrons are very uppity and snobby, the only drawback in my eye. Earth is a very open and clean space with plenty of seating and limited at the bar seating. Earth is very kid friendly from what I can see and it gets old real quick The quality is top notch in terms of cleanliness and the beer is brewed in house so fresh as can be.

The beer list consists of 4-5 in house brewed beers of varying styles. Most of what's offered is sessionable in alcohol range which makes it easier afterwards, I love session beers. The other 7 or so taps are dedicated to local brews and anything else we can get in PA that does not go over the owner's budget, don't expect many gems. The flatbread's are oven baked, nuff said.

The service is attentive and on top of their game when they think they will get a good tip out of you. If they don't, expect to be treated not as a customer but as in the way. When sitting at the bar good service is pretty much guarenteed but while sitting at a table the service could be spotty. EBB is a big place so I can understand a little delay but there were bigger gaps than that during some visits. While not being beer experts the servers/bartenders did know what they were serving so that's a plus.

The food is mostly flatbread pizza's with a few varieties of styles that you can get. You can also build your own. Smaller side dishes are also on the menu with some non alcoholic beverages for the not of age yet peoples. The ingredients for the prep of these flatbreads is not all that expensive, so I wish earth could expand a bit on it's menu, as is, it's pretty dull.

Edit- If a large portion of your patrons really dug a beer, why would you not brew it again to appease them. It gives off a 'holier than thou' attitude that has no place in this thing of ours(Good beer), but in Earths case it's this 'thing of theirs'. Good beer is good beer and I want it again. A major turnoff for me is their unwillingness to brew great beer again, but over and over again they 'earth' will brew shitty ALT after shitty ALT and brew 10 IPA's per year that all taste the same, read: Not good.

04-18-2011 21:16:03 | More by onix1agr

touchmeimsac

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $

Earth Bread is the perfect place to grab a beer and a pie and relax.

The beers are contantly changing as the brewer never brews the same recipe twice. As a result the beers are always different and very inventive.

Thusfar I have had their pale ale made with Cherrios, their tea leaf Gruit, a nugget and gold hopped IPA, a Beligan RIS, and a dark saison and have enjoyed all very much. In addition they keep a number of guest taps going showing they know their beers stand up to the commecial ones.

Pizza is very good and everything is homemade. They have a nice selection of pies with local ingredients for very reasonable prices. The seed and four cheese are both great and I have a few more still to try.

They showcase local art on the walls and you can buy them as well. The whole place has quite an eclectic feel. Being able to see the tanks and know what is in them at a given time is cool too.

They update their website constantly which is great so you can always see what house beers they have going.

Earth Bread is my go to spot when I don't know where I want to grab a bite and I just want a chill relaxing atmosphere and a great local vibe.

Highly recommended

04-07-2011 13:25:52 | More by touchmeimsac

bonkers

New Jersey

4.05/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

I headed over to EB&B the other night for dinner. We got there about 6 on Sat, and it was packed. There was a long wait for a table, but we were able to grab bar seats. The bar overlooked the kiln, and had an ecclectic feel to it. The waitress was very attentive and we got quick service. They had 4 house taps, and about 5 guest taps. They had some I enjoyed a German IPA and a honey IPA from Manyunk brewery. Some of the upcoming beers on tap looked great. We split a pizza and it was fantastic. The prices were very fair, $3.50 for a 13 ounce pour. A great place for a pizza and a beer.

03-15-2011 01:29:15 | More by bonkers

DIM

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

I finally made it here on the last weekend in Philly for sister and B.I.L. I've never been to Mt. Airy and I really like the neighborhood.

My sister used the word "salvaged" to describe the decor and think that fits very well. A hodge-podge of materials come together to create an inviting 2 floor space with bars and dining areas on each. I was disappointed to see only three house beers on tap, but I well thought out selection of guest taps rounded out a very nice selection. I enjoyed an IPA made with bread yeast, but had to send back my BA barleywine. That one was pretty bad. Our server was pretty gracious about taking it back at least. The flatbread options were intriguing and Mexican I split with Jes which was great.

I'm glad I finally got here. This is a great space on a worthy mission.

03-01-2011 11:45:03 | More by DIM