Category: Misc.

Getting Drunk When You Can’t Afford a Cab to Old City: Tacony Edition

By Disaster Surely Follows
updated 5 months ago

For those of us slumming in the low-rent neighborhoods of the Greater Philadelphia area, here is a comprehensive bar, pub, tavern guide to Tacony.

So, after one of those weeks, where my rent, gas, phone and student loans are due at the same time, I try to save a few dollars by “not going out,” which in my vocabulary means “going out without a $35 cab fare.” When the drawing sticks for designated driver duty inevitably fails, I stick to the neighborhood bars. Unfortunately, Zagats doesn’t always have time to make it to the smaller, less affluent parts of Philly. Here are some of the best places in my neck of the woods.

Harrington's

7226 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19135

Harrington’s reminds me of my college hangout: dark and dirty with rock bottom drink prices and a 1:42 chair to patron ratio. The crowd can be hit or miss: locals off from their 9-5’s for happy hour midweek to wall-to-wall college students at 1 a.m. on a Saturday night. Best reason to go: I got a grey goose and pineapple for $4. Oh and if you go to their Irish breakfast on Sunday’s, let me know how it is. While I’ve heard good things, I can’t brink myself to eat at an establishment where I watched a girl in a birthday tiara puke in a toilet.

Reale's Restaurant & Bar

7233 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19135

Reale’s Sports Bar & Grille has one of the best Wing nights in the North East so get there early on Wednesdays if you don’t want to wait for a table. On a regular days the bar is generally a group of regulars, and often mostly men and I tend to like it better when I go in a bigger group. Also, this may be just me, but when I go there, I seem to have to wait forever for drinks from the waitress, so I find it easier just to order from the bar.

Caspers Place

3510 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19149

In the greater Frankford & Cottman area, Casper’s is as close as you will get to a swanky bar with its exposed brick and appropriately dark dance floor. It’s definitely a good place to take a date, but for meeting people, it can be pretty desolate since there doesn’t seem to be a constant, reliable amount of people showing up on any given night.

Grey Lodge Pub ATM Machine

6235 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19135

Ok, I know this says the ATM, but the bar is good too. So good, in fact, that Esquire magazine rated it one of the Best Bars in America. It has a ton of microbrews rotating on tap, you can get new type of beer literally every time you go. They also have the “Best Fries” in Philly, which I am going to try the next time I go, unless I fill up on Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.

Mayfair Diner & Dining Room

7373 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19136

So, after a night of boozing up and down the Ave, my stomach generally screams for greasy breakfast food. The Mayfair Diner, in all of its vintage charm offers such, but with less than appetizing choices. That being said, if you are going out with your slightly less-than-charming friends, the wait staff seems to be able to handle belligerent patrons quite well.