HAPPY HOUR HOPPER: MidAtlantic

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HAPPY HOUR HOPPER: MidAtlantic

POSTED: Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 8:48 PM

Filed Under: Booze | Dealage | Happy Hour Hopper

Happy Hour is a place to vent daily frustrations and unwind, a time to reconnect with friends and coworkers you don't mind seeing beyond the boundaries of Cubicle Land. It's is also the ideal time to score a deal on your favorite gustatives and gulpables. Although my work scenario has me behind a kitchen prep station rather than a desk, I can appreciate HH just the same. For this feature, I'll hop bar by bar to HHs across the area and report back to Meal Ticket every Tuesday. If you've been to this week's featured HH, tell us about it in the comments. I want recommendations for future trips, too! Let's delve into it at MidAtlantic.

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WHERE YOU AT? I've got to be honest, I've stayed away from University City for my happy-houring because I was fearful I'd be consumed in a crowd of obnoxious, barely 21-year-old kids-gone-wild. Now that school's out I felt it would be a bit tamer and their antics wouldn't crush a good time at MidAtlantic (3711 Market St.). Situated at street level in the Science Center building, MidAtlantic's got major space, including an outdoor patio and a roomy bar separated from the equally spacious dining room by a rustic, wooden communal table. With such a vast assortment and such nice weather I weighed my perching options, but that was short-lived — my duty as Happy Hour Hopper is best fulfilled at the bar, this time atop a backless stool pulled up to a 15-seat metallic surface, with a great view of the beer walk-in and red-white-and-blue-stained wood-paneled wall behind it. WHAT'S THE SCENE? As hopped out of my cab I heard mufflings of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and feared it was coming from the restaurant. (I wasn't in a Rat Pack mood.) After spinning a few circles looking for a speaker I could kick my foot through, I saw a man zip down Market Street on his motorized wheelchair, mic-in-hand. A West Philly sighting of Sonny Forriest Jr.! After not being able to produce evidence of last week's three-man wonder and Prince-wannabe sightings, I learned my lesson and snapped a photo. Things inside were much more serene. Aside from employees it was just me on the premises, but I was soon joined by my HHH partner-in-crime, a few repairmen savoring sips after a job and a few corporate coworkers doing the same. I confessed my initial reservations about U-City happy hours to the âtender, Joe, and he reminded me of the nocturnal habits of college students. I forgot how cool it is to sit in your matchbox-size dorm room for 7 hours, get wasted then wander around campus. My comments may or may not have annoyed/upset/offended the guy flying solo next to me, who conspicuously got up and relocated to a high-top table. Was it something I said? WHAT'S THE DEAL? Initially, Joe told me three select drafts (Kenzinger, Stoudt's and Lionshead) were on special for $3 each in addition to two wines (Pinot Grigio and Shiraz) and two cocktails (Root Tea Julep and Skukyhill Fish House Punch) for $5 each during MidAtlantic's happy hour that lasts 4:30 to 6:30 every Monday to Friday. Enter Manager-Who-Made-My-Day: He tells Joe to offer all draft pours, excluding the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (dammit), for $3. WHOO! This week's draft list included the aforementioned plus Brooklyner Weisse, Dock Street's Royal Bohemian Pilsner and its Rye IPA. For research's sake I tried the Root Tea Julep then finished off with numerous Rye IPAs. I'm a sucker for hops.

Tweets that mention HAPPY HOUR HOPPER: MidAtlantic :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-06-01 22:01:44

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MarieDiFeliciantonio, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: It's Tuesday — HAPPY HOUR HOPPER time! This week @luckyporkchops makes a go of it at @MidAtlantic3711: http://bit.ly/ar7pGK [...]

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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