Author Archives: John E.

Shake Shack Serves and Satisfies Eager Customers

At 11:23 a.m. on Thursday, 23 minutes into its second day open to the public, Shake Shack‘s new location in Philadelphia (20th and Sansom) had a line of 15 people out the door.  Add in the 20-25 folks in line inside the building.  Meanwhile, every dining seat as well as every waiting area seat were also already filled. 

So I guess you could say that Shake Shack’s newest outpost was both eagerly anticipated and a big hit.  Of course, this is Philly, which loves to hit up new food places and bars as soon as they open, though regular return visits aren’t automatic.  Judging by the initial reception, as well as Shake Shack’s success at its other locations, it’s pretty likely that long lines will stay the norm for quite a while. Continue reading →

Come to Dock Street Brewing Co. for the Beer and Pizza

Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia is an evolving area.  Greater numbers of university students and professors as well as hipsters have gravitated to the area.  Summer farmers markets at Clark Park have become big draws. 

Over at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue, in a converted fire station, is Dock Street Brewing Company.  Dock Street has a long and storied history in the Philadelphia beer scene.  Founded in 1985, it was the city’s first microbrewery.  It continues to brew some pretty exceptional craft beers, such as its pilsner and Rye IPA. 

At the brew pub, beer, of course, is the specialty.  The food menu, and specifically, the pizza, is also worth checking out.   There’s a pretty good menu selection of pizzas and calzones as well as appetizers, burgers, wraps, salads.  Dock Street offers twelve different pizzas, each of them hand thrown, using stone ground flour and heated in a “hardwood-fired” oven.  Continue reading →

Philly Beer Week Is Coming and Is Bigger Than Ever

For area beer enthusiasts, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Next week marks the beginning of Philly Beer Week, the annual beer festival of America’s Best Beer Drinking City.

What started out as a festival with modest goals has grown into the largest beer festival of its kind in the country in terms of number of events.  Check out my prior article about its origins here.  This year, there are over 200 venues having well over 1000 events over two weeks.

Continue reading →