Flat Rock Saloon - Manayunk

I've been living in Manayunk for three years now, making it my default drinking hang out. Center City has the majority of Philly's beer-centered establishments, but Manayunk has plenty of places to belly up to the bar and navigate through the craft beer world. My favorite is Flat Rock Saloon. It's cash only, and it's on the corner of Main Street and Roxborough Ave.

The first time my wife and I went there was a couple years ago. We had been out for a few hours before hand so she wanted an easy drinking light beer, which led to this exchange with the bartender.

Wife: Can I have a Bud Light?

Bartender: We don't have Bud Light.

Wife: Do you have anything like it?

Bartender: Water.

I, meanwhile, was laughing and slowly backing away, putting some distance between the beer novice and myself.

My wife thought it was a little bit harsh of him, but that's the kind of dedication to good beer that you'll find at Flat Rock. The bartenders are usually the same three middle aged guys and they are generally more than willing to help you figure out which beer to try off of their extensive list. Just don't ask for Bud Light, they don't have any of the typical domestics. 


The large rotating selection of craft/micro brews ensures that you can always have something that's new to you. There are usually one or two beers on tap along with bottles of domestic craft beers from all over the country, a pretty good selection of high quality imports, and usually a few high ABV drinks that they tout as "drinks for men" on their chalk boards. If you are there for dinner, they have good sandwiches and some pretty tasty mussels. 

On most weekend nights they have acoustic cover music and the crowd is clearly a hang out crowd, rather than the club-type crowd of the more college friendly places in Manayunk. It's really a great place to go grab one beer at happy hour or to grab a spot for the long haul and try out a bunch of quality beers.

And I'm happy to say that my wife would now rather have a case of Yards Brawler in the fridge than Bud Light.

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