Great Beer in Philadelphia: Monk's, Eulogy, Ludwig's, and the Foodery

There's nothing worse than visiting a new city and getting stuck in some cheesy tourist trap when I'm unable to find a good bar, usually because the good bars tend to be a bit outside the main tourist drag, and require some exploring to find. As we Philadelphians know, there are a ton of bars in this city, ranging from new and nice to not renovated since the 1950's (many of these in South Philly), so here are my three favorite bars I go to when I want to have a massive selection of beer at my disposal, half of which I've never heard of.

Eulogy, Chestnut St. between Front and 2nd-A small, Belgian-style tavern located in the middle of Old City with a massive beer selection and good food. I don't remember how many hundreds of beers they say they have, but no matter what you're looking for you'll find it here, though it will likely be in bottle form, as they only have about 10 or so beers on tap. This was a bit disappointing to me, as I prefer my beer on draught, but really only a minor inconvenience which was forgotten after about two strong Belgian ales. It's a small place, though it has two floors, and if you don't have a seat it's really not that nice to stand around, as you're always in someone's way, but unless you're there on a weekend night it shouldn't be a problem. Eulogy is a cool bar with good food and beer that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys that sort of thing, certainly a nice alternative to the other Old City crap, the ho's and the G's tend to stay away, and it's dimly-lit, laid-back atmosphere makes it a great place to just chill out and drink some great beer. If you go with a group, try to get the coffin room upstairs, my favorite spot.

Monk's Cafe, 16th St. between Walnut and Locust- This place is really bad-ass, with truly great food and a great selection of beer, including 25 Belgian ales on tap. They win the "best beer" award or whatever ever year for as long as I can remember, and they absolutely deserve it because it's great. When the guys who opened Eulogy a few years ago were looking for a place to rip off, this is where they came, because Eulogy is a not-as-good version of Monk's. It's all dark wood and dim light, with two rooms on the first floor, both containing bar seats and tables, and, while I believe Eulogy actually has more beers to select from, it doesn't even matter because you certainly won't leave here wanting, and, as I said before, Monk's draught selection is way better, which really makes a difference to me. The food really is excellent, get the mussels with pommes frites, I think that's their specialty and those things are unbelievable. As with Eulogy, it's kind of small and a lot of people go there, so you might have a problem finding a seat on a weekend night, but most other times you should be fine. And it's worth the wait, if you have to. Check out www.monkscafe.com for more info.

Ludwig's Garten, Sansom St. between 13th and Broad- While the first two were Belgian taverns, Ludwig's is German, so you can get things like Hacker-Pschorr, Celebrator, Warsteiner, big-ass slimjim looking things, and pretzels with cream cheese complimentary at the bar. They have a great selection of beers, lots of them on tap, and the bar staff is very knowledgeable about the beer, which is really nice when you're not sure exactly what you want or how a particular beer tastes. There's two rooms, one with a bar and a bunch of tables, and one which I suppose is the dining room, with booths and a big, rectangular bar, and live jazz most nights. I've found the bar service to be much better in the non-dining room, as I was served by the absolute stupidest person I've ever met in the dining room bar last time I was there, but I suppose her gigantic breasts made up for it. Speaking of that, the servers wear the German St. Pauli girl outfits, which is just a bonus. The food here is excellent but very German, so lots of sausages and stuff like that, they have great specials and the best roast beef sandwich I've ever had in my life, I highly recommend it. They also do a late-night happy hour from 11 to 1 am. This is an all-around great place. www.ludwigsgarten.com

The Foodery, 10th and Pine St.- Sometimes you want some takeout, and if it's one of those times, this is the place to go. In this small, unassuming little market lies the best beer selection in the city, everything from Chimay to Hurricane, and lots of Belgian and other European beers, though there's plenty of Americans too. You can easily spend a half-hour just looking at the beers and trying to decide, but the staff there is knowledgeable and will help you out if you ask. It's not super cheap but not super expensive either, it really depends what you're buying, and there's a small discount if you do a mix-a-six. Trust me, if you're anywhere downtown and want takeout beer then go to this place, you will not be disappointed.