Village Whiskey

rfgetz

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 5 | $$$

Predominately a whiskey and burger bar, Village Whiskey has the look of a 1920-30 lunch counter... subway tile, white and black tiled floor, faux(?) tin ceiling, distressed mirrors and metal topped bar. Small place with about 35 seats or so, gets crowded at all times of the day.

Beer menu consists of 6 taps and 1 cask, about half local craft with 2-3 rotating craft taps and usually one lighter item such as a cider. All priced at about 6 bucks for a 12oz pour. Bottle menu offers about 20 more items, frequently marked up 100% over cost (Sculpin was $28 for a bomber!).

The food menu is limited with most of the menu dedicated to their locally renowned burgers (8oz burger topped with about anything ya want) and pickled items (all served in mini mason jars). The burgers are the best i have ever eaten - its all about the meat here, not the rolls or toppings (which are exceptionally fresh). Once again, pricey with a burger pushing $15-$17 with toppings.

Service is good, maybe a bit rushed due to the crowds, nothing special and not too friendly. The major thing that keeps this from being more than a once and a while destination is the price. Its supposed to be hip and trendy with a hip and trendy chef as owner (Iron Chef Jose Garces) which means you are going to pay for that aspect of it too.

10-24-2010 16:31:24 | More by rfgetz

Seanibus

California

3.88/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$$

Let's be honest - this place exists for liquor, not beer. And the liquor selection is astonishing. But the small beer list isn't bad too. Only five or six drafts and a small collection of bottles, but the choices are well thought out. On my visit, it was a Boulder beer IPA, a locally produced "Novemberfest," the Brownstone Ale from Sixpoints and a couple of other on tap.

The restaurant is very (very) small and feels more like a French bistro. Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable - both waiters who helped us were fully conversant in the beers and were able to chat about the unusual spirits on display behind the bar.

The menu is almost as small as the restaurant - mostly burgers, which are absurdly huge, but tasty. The Kentucky Hot Brown was far from authentic, but it was tasty, and the duck-fat fries were tasty.

This is a fun little place if you can find a seat. But be warned - they are not shy about charging you money - $6 or $7 for a 10-12 oz beer, and food prices in the $12-26 per plate range (fries not included).

11-12-2010 12:49:46 | More by Seanibus

PhillyStyle

Georgia

3.86/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Visited in Sept 2010:

To be fair, this is more of a whiskey bar (around 80 bottles of whiskey) than a beer bar, which I am sure that most got from the name, but we checked out the menu and headed over.

Arrived at around 6pm on a Friday night and the place was pretty packed. So we put our name on the list at the front door and waited maybe 15 minutes. Upon entering, the place is kind of small; maybe 15 places are the bar and just a couple of tables. The wait was for the tables, as we thought that we were going to eat there, but noted that the food prices seemed a bit pricey, but I didn't believe that the beer was overpriced ($5-$6 for a pint, depending on the beer). The place did seem a little loud as at times we had trouble hearing our friends, but not overly bad. Overall, the interior as well as the location are very good.

The service was slightly above average, knowledgeable about the menu and the beer, but when we decided not to eat there, they basically kicked us out of our table, but they were nice enough about, especially given the limited space for diners. They did have a few tables outside as well.

The beer selection was good; I had the Cigar City IPA and noted that they had Victory on cask, as well as a Sixpoint and a "Special Selection." Don't really recall what it was the night that went, but at least they have some rotation to the beers. They had 6 taps and a cask and maybe 6-7 22oz bottles. Nice selection and nice variety of styles.

Overall, a good spot, great location and a place that if you have the time and are in Philly, worth checking out.

10-21-2010 20:02:40 | More by PhillyStyle