Tap Room On 19th

By Craig LaBan

Inquirer Restaurant Critic

It's a repeating phenomenon that has spawned quite the pub circuit below the Washington Avenue equator, from the pioneering South Philly Tap Room to P.O.P.E. (Pub on Passyunk East) to the new Tap Room on 19th (at Ritner), where the serious crab fries (with actual crab) would make Chickie's cry "uncle."

Tap That - philadelphia weekly online
A new South Philly gastropub could be the key to neighborhood change.
by Adam Erace

Beautifying neighborhoods is dirty work. Town watch programs, community meetings, street cleaners in teal jumpsuits. Please. I’m putting my stock in a simpler solution: bars.

The ongoing revitalization of Newbold sprung from South Philly Tap Room. In Fishtown, Johnny Brenda’s showed us life north of Girard. All located in former neighborhood nuisances, Station, 1601 and Watkins Drinkery prove divine providence is on the beer drinker’s side. When God closes a coke bar, he opens a gastropub.

Don’t misunderstand. This area is quite picturesque: a leafy latticework of slim one-way streets and wider avenues lined with 100-year-old trees, well-kept rowhomes and double-parked Cadillacs. But I grew up in this elbow of South Philly and can tell you no one’s flocked to 2400 S. 19th St. the way locals are now, enticed by unpretentious, affordable pub fare; beer specials; and a Dynamo pool table.

Quiet, you gentrification doomsayers. Witness the good a bar can do.

Over the summer, owners Kahlil Mir and Jeff Papa (who also own the Green Room in Fairmount) did a 35-day renovation, tricking out the Tap Room with picture windows, handsome woodwork and five 50-inch plasmas. Cherry tables line one wall, a godsend since sitting comfortably at the bar (whose granite counter comes flush against its base) involves Basic Instinct moves.

Contractors in company tees and Leah Remini types mingle with hipsters and curious Fairmounties. An SPTR waiter sits nearby. A bag lady blows in with a Hefty full of knockoff Gucci.

She’s not the only one making deals. That night tacos and empanadas were on special for $1 each; Coronas and margaritas for $3 and $4, respectively. “Fiesta Monday!” proclaimed the slate sandwich board outside. Corny as tortilla, but hello, deal. |

Tap Room on 19th

2400 S. 19th St. 267.687.7817.
Cuisine: Gastropub.
Hours: Sun.-Thurs., 11am-11pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-midnight.
Prices: $3-$15.
Atmosphere: Pool-and-plasma playpen, warmed up with woodwork and natural stone.
Service: Saucy and sweet.
Food: Cheap, tasty and needed in the neighborhood.

On a recent Thursday, Lager and Yards were $2.50 and $3.50, respectively. Roast pork sandwiches and cheesesteak spring rolls oozing shaved rib-eye, provolone and fried onions cost $5. Chef Ross Essner, of the dearly departed Django, has peppered the week with bargains, luring in locals hungry for red-gravy alternatives.

Italy is well-represented (among others, a crisp but underseasoned chicken cutlet sandwich topped with garlicky spinach and provolone), but Essner impressed more with simple, satisfying stuff like fork-tender brisket ($5 on Beef & Beer Tuesdays); crispy shrimp tempura with seaweed salad; and piping-hot chicken potpie, a wintry pea-jeweled veloute topped with flaky puff-pastry “biscuits.”

Under a landslide of mushrooms and onion rings, the filet mignon sandwich boasted tender medallions tucked into a horseradish-smeared Cacia’s Kaiser roll. Its rich meatiness welcomed a crisp Spaten lager or Pikeland Pils, but unlike South Philly Tap Room, 19th pours nothing of the sort. Fortunately, their underwhelming, roster (10 draughts and 25 bottles) just got an upgrade from Legacy, Dogfish Head, Rogue and Victory. Or you could always go native and order a Dewars and water.

Not all the food was great. The grilled shrimp tostada hit a ho-hum note, and the earthy roasted red-skinned peanuts needed salt, lime and chili to really make them Mexican. Beneath the brisket, the “roasted garlic potato puree” tasted like instant mashed.

Save your carb allowance for Tap Room’s hand-cut, skin-on Idaho frites, which come three ways: plain; gravy, a Stateside poutine topped with brisket scraps, button mushrooms, caramelized onions, brown gravy and American cheese; and Vermont cheddar-streaked, scallion-speckled, Old Bay-dusted Chesapeake, pummeled with a hailstorm of lump crabmeat. Far as I’m concerned, these are the only crab fries in town.

There’s no dessert, but an Italian bakery waits across the street. Beer and biscotti? It’s a poetic analogy for where this part of town is going—and where it’s been. South Philly’s always defined itself by food, and no matter how the neighborhoods change, that fact never will.

A News Bouche: Taproom on 19th
September 24, 2008
By: Adam Erace

Tap dance | Over the summer, a handsome new saloon swaggered into a former nuisance bar in a largely unhipsterfied nook of South Philly. The owners of Taproom on 19th also own the Green Room up in Fairmount and they’ve renovated the spot with a polished granite bar, pool table and five flat-screens framed in dark wood. Round these parts, the streets run thick with Sunday gravy and cannoli cream, so the gastropub menu comes as a welcome change of pace. Ross Essner, who just closed Django, is in the kitchen, turning out grilled ears of Jersey corn with truffle butter, giant filet mignon sandwiches and life-changing Chesapeake fries topped with crabmeat and Vermont cheddar—all for under $15. The beer list is boring, but they pour Yards Philly Pale Ale, Magic Hat #9 and Hoegaarden, which I can get by on just fine. The bartender reported beer requests are welcome for budding regulars. Here’s mine: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Pretty please.
Posted by Foobooz on November 5th, 2008
Adam Erace discovers that there are tasty bargains all over the menu at South Philadelphia’s Tap Room on 19th.
On a recent Thursday, Lager and Yards were $2.50 and $3.50, respectively. Roast pork sandwiches and cheesesteak spring rolls oozing shaved rib-eye, provolone and fried onions cost $5. Chef Ross Essner, of the dearly departed Django, has peppered the week with bargains, luring in locals hungry for red-gravy alternatives.

blogalicious
Posted by Adam Grace on 9/18/2008

What Comes After Django?
 Why, the new South Philly gastropub that’s been blowing up the blogalicious comment board, of course! When a little birdie chirped that Taproom on 19th had a link to Django, we thought, “Oh, cool.” Then came the news Django was closing its doors, and we thought, “Juicy.” During a visit to the warm woodsy saloon with the five flat-screens and buttercream pool table, the friendly bartendress confirmed Ross Essner in the kitchen. Essner cooked at Bleu and Rx, where he formed a partnership with owner Greg Salisbury. The duo purchased Django from Bryan Sikora and Aimee Olexy in October 2005. Suffice to say, it didn’t work out. Judging from what we ate at Taproom on 19th, it seems like Esser may have kicked the rain cloud: (not) chopped salad loaded with grilled chicken and shrimp; sweet grilled corn on the cob rolled in truffle butter and parmesan; the best mussels we’ve had in recent memory, a generous bowl of PEIs mixed with roasted potatoes, spicy Italian sausage, scallions and white wine. Served in a wire basket lined with wax paper, the Chesapeake fries are definitely going to become the Taproom’s signature item: crisp, fresh-cut spuds topped with lump crab, Vermont cheddar and scallions. And Chickie’s & Pete’s dares to call their fries crab. Taproom’s are the real deal, loaded up generously and served warm. Snaps here. Ten taps include Magic Hat #9, Hoegaarden, Yards Philly Pale Ale and Lager. Bottles don’t get too crazy. Budding regulars are encouraged to make special requests for beer stock. Nice! And heads-up to the naysayers: they've amended the pay-up-front policy.