Don't judge a bar by its cover.
Grace Tavern. It was a name we’d heard passed back and forth between the lips of locals, peppered throughout conversations behind the bar and in the midst of parties. We were informed of its status as a hole-in-the-wall that was, nevertheless, well worth a visit. For us, it became like a legendary El Dorado, a promised land that only those in-the-know could reach.
We were not disappointed by our nighttime venture. We walked through its misleadingly shabby exterior, into a realm cut directly from a Pink Floyd album cover. Like Dr. Dave Bowman after confronting the Black Monolith, we were drawn forward into a landscape of strange hues and distorted geometry. Grace Tavern can be summed up in only a few words. The atmosphere? Psychedelic. The color? Purple Haze.
Nevertheless, don’t let the trippy atmosphere fool you. This hippie haven is well-stocked with the best in beer. With featured drafts from Monks Cafe and Nodding Head, and a bottled beauty for almost every letter of the alphabet, this bar at 2229 Grays Ferry Ave will keep you happy all night long.
Sure, the bathroom may be kind of small, and the Bevador in the corner may look like a leftover prop from Forbidden Planet, but this bar screams “cool” as fiercely as a Bob Dylan record. From the floral pattern etched into the ceiling, to the funky lighting, Grace is sure to please the flower child in all of us. So hop aboard the magic bus and take a ride to Grace Tavern.
And if you should have trouble spotting it, just remember, it vaguely resembles the background from the original Whose Line Is It Anyway? set:
Philadelphia ExBEERiment! 