Have You Ever Missed a Bar?
Like in a totally normal and non-addictive type of way.
I’m a Philadelphia stan. Just need to put that out there. Yes, I was born in the metro area. I grew up around there. I lived there as an adult. I adore the city and the metropolitan region. I love a lot of other cities too. Seattle? Awesome! Portland, of the Oregon variety? Beaut! San Francisco? Pricey. Really pricey but still so cool. But it always comes back to Philly. It’s one of my favs. Forever. Probably nothing will ever change that short of the majority of citizens somehow showing up on my very little slice of the internet and telling me I’m a fucking asshole. Even then I might still be a stan. That’s just Philly.
In my time living there, with my then girlfriend and now wife, there was so much to do and see. Much of it was within walking distance or a ride on a bus. You haven’t lived until you’ve lived in a walkable city. It didn’t take long until I found a place within walking distance of our place that I would fall in love with.
Sitting at the south east corner of 10th and Tasker in South Philly was my spot. The charm of those corner businesses among the stretches of rowhomes was a spot with character, charm and satisfaction. The little neon sign in one of the windows let you knew you were in the right spot. You had arrived at Fountain Porter.
Let’s just get the sticking points out of the way. The burgers and the beer. Times have changed since I lived there and prices aren’t what they used to be but you still can’t beat this. A $6 cheeseburger. It was $5 in my time there but I would gladly pay an extra buck for this piece of beauty. All the simple stuff you need for a classic cheeseburger. They essentially followed Bourdain’s rules for a perfect cheeseburger. You want fries? It’s $4 now but you will be hard pressed to find a better burger and fries for $10 in modern money. I would recommend not wasting too much time trying to find something that beats that. In all that time you are looking you very easily could have eaten one of these and be a much happier person.
Oh yeah, there’s beer. Lots of it and very good quality of it. My go-to was almost always Half Acre Daisy Cutter, which they had for the stupidly low price of $4.75 a pint. At the time of writing this it is up to the still modest price of $5.50 for a world class pale ale. Besides this they usually have an ultra curated list of beers from many of the area and nation’s best breweries at prices you will never see anywhere else in the city. When they would have Maine Beer Company’s super popular Lunch on tap I would jump at that when charging $8 for a pint. I sometimes questioned how they got away with pricing like this being just a block off of the super foody Passyunk Ave in Passyunk Square. I don’t care to know the answer to that anymore. Whatever they do to remain open post pandemic I’ll accept it. The world needs Fountain Porter.
Couple all this burger and beer loves with a just as passionate list of wine, a full bar, music from vinyl only and just a cozy space and it’s everything I ever want in a bar. Hell, it’s maybe everything I ever want in a business. I want a pet store like this. I’m not kidding. Maybe a little.
My wife and I even took our engagement announcement photo seated at the bar on a Saturday afternoon. No frills. Just a selfie of us with her showing the ring on her finger as we waited for our burgers. So, it does have some deeper significance to me too.
I am extremely humbled when people who are visiting Philly ask me for recommendations. I don’t want to be an authority on all things Philly. I don’t know everything. There is still so much I want to learn about the city. I think people see my passion for the city and know that I can at least offer up some good ideas of places to go. When passing out recommendations to people Fountain Porter will always be near—no—will be on the top of the list. Some people don’t take this seriously. Their lose. Others have been super appreciative of the rec. One friend once told me that they so loved Fountain Porter that they couldn’t wait to take their wife there the next time he had to travel to Philly for work and was bringing his other half with him. That’s some high praise.
I will wear my Philly love and pride on my sleeve. Go Phils! Go Birds! Go Fly…urgh. Maybe in 5 years or so. I haven’t been to the city since late 2019 and ever since then I don’t think I can go a week without thinking about sitting at that bar with the love of my life having a fantastic burger, a great beer and just feeling like I belong. There aren’t many place I feel I belong. Fountain Porter makes me feel these foreign feels and I don’t want to hide this feeling from others. I want you to potentially feel this. It’s cool if you disagree. It’s okay to be wrong.
I’d Have a Beer
Who doesn’t love Allagash? If you know someone who doesn’t ask them this.
“Do you even know who Allagash is?”
If they answer “no” then it’s not their fault. They don’t know any better. Get them some beer from Allagash and change that. If they answer “yes” however…don’t associate with those people. Like, maybe they should be in jail.
Now that we’ve gotten that person out of your life let’s have a beer. In this case an Allagash River Trip. A beaut of a beer right here. This pale ale isn’t what you would normally think from the style. Yes, it has a nice hoppy character but not piney and not really bitter. Big notes of citrus and melon with a touch of bubblegum from their house yeast. It’s pretty easy drinking too. Putting down multiple tall boys would be an easy feat.
I’m very lucky to have Allagash back in Florida. It was a lot of years without them. So many I don’t even remember how many. Let’s just go with 43 for arguments sake, okay?
If I had a river nearby that I would want to traverse or wade in I would want this beer. What a coincidence that it was named in such a way.
This is a Photo
Philadelphia, PA
Would you believe that this is in the city limits? It is. It was also taken with an older iPhone. Obviously color edited but some nice sharpness for that phone. This is the Devil’s Pool along the Wissahickon Creek. It’s a cool spot when it’s not littered with trash by degenerates. Go see it. Go see Philly in general.
Prints are available for sale if you are so inclined. You can check out all of my available print options at my store. Hey, this newsletter is free so I’ll push ways to make a few bucks. Or buy me a beer through Venmo.
If you’ve made it through 3 of these now and big thank you! Follow me on Twitter or Instagram. Listen to me talk about beer on my podcast, United We Drink.