Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant

Last week we were feeling quite adventurous and decided to try the brand spanking new Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant(PBR) at Market and Leticia Sts. PBR is in the space formerly occupied by the uber-douchey club Triada. As of last week PBR did not have a sign out front, so its easy to miss.

The interior has a very clean, simple design. There were only about 8 other people there when we went so it was hard to picture what it will look like and how it will accommodate the masses that saturate Old City on weekend nights. We were seated at one of the six or so high tops just off the bar area and got the impression that on a weekend night our seats would probably be smack in the middle of the "dance floor".

The beer selection was similar to that of Drinkers. When Miller High Life is a draft selection, you can pretty much assume that these people really don't care much about whats going on during Philly Beer Week. We erroneously assumed that a place with such a shallow draft list would yield some pretty basic "pub grub" as well.

We started with the pickled seasonal veggies. These came served in a mason jar filled with vinegar. No, it doesn't sound appetizing, but the cauliflower, green beans and carrots had just the right amount of zest. For our main courses we went with the Chickpea Burger and the Pumpkin Cavatelli.

The chickpea burger was delicious. Charred on the outside to give it some form, and accompanied by smoked gouda and chili aoli, it was one of the most delicious meatless burgers I've ever had. Definitely exceeded my expectation for the type of "veggie" burger that this place would turn out. The Pumpkin cavatelli was also a surprise. The pasta itself was the pumpkin flavored ingredient and was slightly overpowered by a gorgonzola cream sauce. If you're selling the dish on being "pumpkin", then we're thinking it should be the primary taste.

Service was good. But it usually is in a restaurant with only 10 patrons. We're curious to see how they'd handle a full bar and dining room, but aren't brave enough to venture in on a weekend night. Restaurants and bars in this area seem to do pretty well as long as they know who they need to cater to. Its not worth it for them to try to impress us weeknight folks when the Snookie and JWoww wannabes are they're real bread and butter.