Flying Pig Saloon

baybum

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $

Great local bar. The beer selection is top notch, both draft(19+) and bottles(50+). The food is great bar fare food, no fancy dinners here. The potatoe skins and the sheppards pie are the best in the area. Also all the sandwiches are very good, the Barnyard is my favorite. Very resonably priced, most drafts are $5. Including the top notch beers like Pliney the Elder, Bells two-hearted, FBS, or Racer 5. Strong selection of imports on draft.

If you love beer this is a must see local dive bar. The waitstaff is much improved, very knowledable about the beers they have, and right on with a suggestion if you tell them what kind of beer you do like. They also have some "aged" bottled beers you can chose from, like a DFH 120 from 2006, and this changes as they pull beers up from the cellar.

01-20-2012 21:44:06 | More by baybum

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Transcribed from undated notes, probably early-to-mid June 2009.

The squat, white stucco building seemed incongruous as compared to its neighbors as I walked up East King Street having just disembarked from SEPTA Regional (R5) at the nearby station. It looked to me like a southwestern structure more than something that I would expect on the Main Line. Entering, a coat rack, two white leather sofas and a chair sat to the immediate right in the corner by a couple of windows. The "U"-shaped, hammered-copper-topped bar was in the back right corner, directly aft of the doorway. The lavs were to the left end of the bar, followed by the entrance to the kitchen. To the left of the doorway were a series of high tables and chairs followed by a mini-sea of standard tables and chairs.

This was not a huge venue and my first server, Deena, told me that it can get packed at times. My other server, Suzanne, laid the history of the place on me: it used to be a biker bar (I can totally dig that) and the current owner put a much-coveted pig weather vane on the roof as a good luck charm. That led to the place's name as well as all of its porcine inhabitants. People donate pigs all of the time so that the place is puerco-central. Fortunately, no local pork came to disrupt my afternoon. I am allergic to pigs in cruisers, dig? It was a friendly, welcoming atmosphere to which I would return in a heartbeat.

Food: I had a groovy egg sammich as a late-breakfast/early- lunch gig. There seems to be a myth that I do not eat and I'd like to lay that to rest. I love to eat! Sometimes, I do so two or three times a day. This was one of them.

Beer: Nine AmeriCAN CO2 taps, three Belgian taps, and one rotating cask. Twenty-four bottles. Best of all, they will fill a growler with ANY of their drafts! Yow!

08-18-2010 20:47:08 | More by woodychandler

joeyspit

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I just stopped in here on a Friday after work for a few beers on the way home. It's a decent size place with a nice wood bar with about 10-15 seats. Great draft and bottle selection. Live Bob Marley was on TV and playing over the speakers. Great atmosphere. I could've spent all night there. A guy next to me was eating a "Cheesy Pig" which looked delicious. Bartender was courteous and service was good. I did not have to wait for a refill. Prices seemed reasonable as well.

I will definitely be back and would recommend to anyone.

02-03-2010 20:44:34 | More by joeyspit

Hophead101

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

visited on 7.18.09 after Todd's wedding prior to his reception.

first off - I walked in and immediately saw PtE on tap - I knew I was in a good place. very woody and dark and saloony kinda place (which was good). there was a nice L shaped bar in the corner - TV's all over and flying pigs hanging from all over the ceiling (go figure). 14 or so beers on draft - almost all of them were awesome - constantly rotating once one empties. I would guess there were about 240+ bottle offerings. too many to count. they do serve macros but not many. prices were really reasonable. great visit - will definitely be back.

01-27-2010 21:54:13 | More by Hophead101

marybeergarden

Pennsylvania

4.6/5  rDev +11.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

A very comfortable and pleasant vibe at this corner bar in town. Have been here after work on several occasions. A mix of people frequent this place. Lots of wood, windows and even some sofas. A quite large and varied draft and bottle selection. It's obviously carefully chosen by a beer enthusiast. No beer prices are listed on the blackboards but beer prices are about average. Don't know of any other local place that frequently stocks a plum lambic. They even ordered some bottles of Cantillion after I mentioned how much I like it. Decent and reasonably-priced menu of pub-style grub, many sandwiches and a few entrees. Generally good and pleasant service. Located near the R5 Malvern station. There's a free town lot a block away.

10-09-2009 15:30:35 | More by marybeergarden

Thirsty2383

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -13.3%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 1.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $

Small, dark dive where even a handful of people can sound like a crowd. Patrons don't come for the atmosphere, they come for a stellar beer selection. Chalk boards line the walls listing the ever-rotating beers on tap. And there's at least 30 at any given time. Plenty of bottles, probably over 50. Usually live music on Saturdays. Otherwise, good jukebox and plenty of plasma TVs. Reasonable and food isn't half bad, either. I suggest going on a random week night or earlier in the day to get decent service and a seat - there aren't too many.

10-05-2009 19:10:57 | More by Thirsty2383

schmitter

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$$

The Flying Pig is by far my most favorite restaurant ever. There is literally no better place on the main line to catch a Phillies game belly up and enjoy some of the finest brews around. I will agree with previous posters that the service is a bit 'iffy' but it seems to be because a.) there is always a new waitress, and b.) that waitress is usually the only one for the entire bar (I've even seen them being the only bar tender as well). So I dont blame it on them, more on the owners. Anyway, thats why you need to get there early, often, get a seat at the bar, and get to know the people there and you're set. The selection is incredible, always new beers on tap and they have a bottle conditioned menu with anywhere from 10-20 beers available. Finally, the food. It's bar food, nothing gourmet, but it is incredible. If you go, don't even look at the menu, just get the cheesy pig. Trust me on that.

06-30-2009 17:58:40 | More by schmitter

BeerBishop

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -26.2%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $

Hit this place with my beer buddies as part of a little beer tour of the area. The Flying Pig, followed by TJ's, followed by Teresa's Next Door.

Heard awesome things about the Pig... but our experience didn't live up to it.

Decent tap selection and really nice bottle selection. Our waitress, however, was only frustrated and nonplussed when we ordered anything out of the norm. She'd sigh heavily and mumble about not knowing if they actually had this or that beer. Her efforts to check each time we ordered something meant we'd wait 15 minutes or more, watching her furnish all tables around us, while we still waited for our beers. Sometimes she'd bring them, other times, after all that wait, she'd just mention in passing they were out.

Ate some nachos and such, as anyone who's been to Teresa's knows it worth saving your beer and food appetite for there. The food was average. Okay. What we'd expect.

The place was also a smokehole filled with locals. You couldn't help but feel those "look at them outsiders over there" glances. Not a very conducive atmosphere for beer enjoyment or exploration. And the waitress only made it 1,000 times worse. In her defense, I think she was single-handedly serving all tables in the entire establishment.

As it's located smack dab in a neighborhood of rowhouses, I suppose I'd frequent the place at off hours (for better service) if I lived down the street. The beer selection is nice. But to drive 30 minutes or so there? Nah. Not even close to worth it. To date, we haven't been back. And we're not planning on it anytime soon.

Venture here with trepidation if you're on the lookout for an awesome beer experience. My advice? Skip it and head to Wayne/Paoli where you'll find TJ's and Teresa's along Lancaster Ave. They're hands down completely worth it every time.

01-29-2009 14:49:39 | More by BeerBishop

gdfan47

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $

I really dig this place, always have

a very demographically diverse crowd, young and old, working class and wealthy... its hard to fit out of place here

its a cool little bar that can get very crowded. Very strange ambiance, low ceilings and a giant comfy white leather couch that is a nice place to take a lady friend

It has some of the best food I have had for the money, the burgers have won local awards and the menu changes a bit. I think the last time I went I had a Shrimp club sandwich which I enjoyed and he had the crabcake sandwich which he also dug (and he is a crab cake snob)

the service can be hit or miss, sometimes nice... some cute waitresses, I have never fell in love with a bartender there. It also noisy in there and I have never really taked to any of the employees about beer, but most stuff I am pretty familar with

The tap last is wide and ecclectic, some belgians and some cool west coast and other domestic micros

the bottle list is big and really well organized , each beer has the name, brewery, bottle size, style and abv.... I mean just really layed out very well

just a great place to go with friends or bring a ladyfriend

the food and the beer are very cheap comparitivly

its in a very wealthy area and most sandwiches are under $6 ...

12-07-2008 00:09:17 | More by gdfan47

sholland119

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -10.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

A very good corner bar that will be even better once the PA smoking ban takes effect. Few places in the area are smokier. Otherwise the Pig has a nice corner bar vibe.

Food has typically been very good for basic pub grub over the years. At times the food has slipped, but it's been better recently. The tap selection (15 or so) always has some good stuff, as does the bottle list. All drafts I have ever had there have been served in pint glasses, regardless of ABV so look out. Recently, they have started to post ABV on the chalkboard if it's over 8%.

My only complaint is that service can be hit or miss. They seem to understaff a bit to make sure the servers can make some money. I think that's fine, except when the server is too busy flirting with the guy at the next table to get you a beer for 20 minutes. Or unable to find a higher gear when she is weeded.

This is a great place to hang out in on an NFL Sunday as they have DirecTV and a dozen or so TVs. The owner is a nice guy too.

HV

06-20-2008 19:48:34 | More by sholland119