Pub Food Restaurants: The 2009 Philly Mag 50

Pub & Kitchen
Rittenhouse Square | Pub Food | Entrées: $13-$20
Ranking: 23 • Last Year’s Ranking: New to the List
Overnight, it seemed, Chaucer’s vanished and this new, cleaner bar appeared in its place. Locals were skeptical, because Chaucer’s was a lovable dump. But as soon as we got a taste of Pub & Kitchen’s burgers and onion rings, potato chips and meatballs, oysters and lobster BLTs, most of us happily erased Chaucer’s from our memories and threw our collective arms around the newcomer, where delicious but unpretentious food meets the relaxed corner bar of our dreams. (And now, Northern Liberties and South Philly aren’t the only ’hoods with real, not-trying-too-hard, food-focused bars.) It helps that Jonathan “Johnny Mac” McDonald (formerly of Snackbar) has brought his personality and passion to the kitchen. He’s given us bar food that’s some of the best food in the city. Order: Sautéed chicken breast with Irish biscuits and gravy. 1946 Lombard Street, 215-545-0350. See User Reviews, Hours, & Other Details

Standard Tap
Northern Liberties | Pub Food | Entrées: $13-$20
Ranking: 26 • Last Year’s Ranking: 11
It’s true that the waitstaff can be rude. And that no one who works here cares that you’re waiting for a table. And that there’s no printed menu, and it’s pretty hard to see the chalkboard, especially given how poorly lit the place is. But Standard Tap is more than a gastropub. It’s the original gastropub, the restaurant that helped put Philly back on the national food radar in 2000. Almost 10 years later, the Tap has stuck to its simple mission of great local craft beer, good local food, and prices that are ever more appealing as our 401Ks swirl the drain. If you go at an hour when there’s no competition for tables, it’s a downright relaxing place to be. After a microbrew or three, you’ll realize that Standard Tap not only has a strong sense of place; it gives us a sense of current Philadelphia. Order: Steak frites. 901 North 2nd Street, 215-238-0630. See User Reviews, Hours, & Other Details • See Menu

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