Standard Tap is a deceptively tame name for a bar with d‚cor, menu and beer selection that surely does not lack in frills -- minus the typical space-age, minimalist interior design. While you won't find white-plastic, egg-shaped chairs and neon lights at Standard Tap, its charm lies in the clash of colonial and contemporary. The door is adorned with beer-taps fitted together to form a modernist jigsaw puzzle, while turn of the century gas lamps hang from the copper-colored coffered ceiling. To match the standing ashtrays and other antiqued accoutrements, unfinished walls add an urban aesthetic and the jukebox spins mostly rock, including a large selection of The Who.
From the exterior, Standard Tap looks like a watering-hole at which any upright colonial soul would proudly have a pint. But, judging from the shaggy-haired waitstaff and the fancy mixed cheese plate ($12) on the chalkboard menu, this surely is not the haunt of your Grandpa Lou and his buddies from the American Legion. In fact, Standard Tap regular and Temple University junior Justin DiBerardinis bemoans the influx of "too many hipster-doofuses." Aside from those flocking to Northern Liberties to be seen, beware of beer aficionados serious about Standard Tap's offering of all local brews, all on tap. The selection includes Flying Fish, Appalachian, Yards and Victory for about $4 a pint. If you don't find the beer too filling or if you need to get something in your stomach first, the fare at Standard Tap is quasi-gourmet. There is a wide selection of reasonably priced salads, appetizers and entrees including double beef burgers and pork sandwiches, served with fries thicker than a shoestring and the occasional pickle ($8-$12). Standouts include the spinach salad, fried squid and portabella mushroom burger, the veritable steak of the vegetable world, well-marinated and served on a sourdough roll ($8.50). North of Spring Garden, on the corner of Popular Street, Standard Tap's kitchen will allay the loud late-night growls of your stomach. But the place is packed on weekends, so get there early -- or try the upstairs bar for drinks with the same boisterous, easy-going crowd, but considerably well-lit in contrast to the dark, cozy downstairs.
