Ron's Original Bar & Grille

Ron's Original Bar & GrilleRon's Original Bar & Grille
Ron's Original Bar & GrilleRon's Original Bar & Grille
Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

74 E Uwchlan Ave
Exton, Pennsylvania, 19341-1203
United States

(610) 594-9900 | map
ronsoriginal.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.02
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
29
pDev:
12.19%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Bill69:
Photo of Bill69
Rated by Bill69 from Pennsylvania

4.19/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4

Mar 12, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of beer_me_phl
Reviewed by beer_me_phl from Pennsylvania

3.16/5  rDev -21.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.75 | food: 2.75
This place's menu is too big. They should offer less and focus on quality food. The beer selection is good but there are so many better places in the area.
Jun 02, 2016
 
Rated: 4.26 by Lurkerson from Pennsylvania

Apr 09, 2016
 
Rated: 4.08 by Slatetank from Pennsylvania

Jun 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3.36 by Mantis701 from Pennsylvania

Feb 12, 2015
 
Rated: 4.23 by Yellolab2010 from Pennsylvania

Jan 18, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by penut from Pennsylvania

Jul 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Casey3236 from Pennsylvania

Jun 02, 2014
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Reviewed by Shandycan from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4
Usually coming here for a meal, and not necessarily the bottle shop, though it works in a pinch and is there if you need it. Pricing, as mentioned before, can be all over the map in there, and the selection is decent enough.

The restaurant/bar however usually has a really nice selection of beers on the menu, and can at least be somewhat competitive with the 'other' locations in the immediate vicinity. Standard pub fare that I've never had an issue with, but the calling card are the "ovals"- elongated personal pizzas. Always tasty, and sometimes BOGO!
Apr 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Barnsley from Pennsylvania

Mar 07, 2014
Photo of hackomal
Reviewed by hackomal from Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5
The bar

Always a solid selection of crafts on tap, with occasionally some rare treats. I usually go on sundays during the day, and the bartenders have always been awesome. The pricing is consistent with the average for the area. The menu is expansive, with at least 100 different items to order. I have never had a bad meal here.

Take out shop

They have a good amount of beer available to purchas in their take out side. The pricing seems to be all over the map with some things being pricey, and others being super cheap. The only downfall i would say is that some beers sit on the shelves for a while, so check the dates when you purchase something. Overall highly recommended
Dec 22, 2011
Photo of garuda
Reviewed by garuda from Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -24.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 2.5
In many other areas, this place would be great. However, when you're in the Philly 'burbs, you have some stiff competition. I have to rate this place directly in comparison to other area beer bars, and Ron's just isn't as good. 2nd rate quality beers and food compared to the competition.

The food is just pub grub, nothing special with it, and seriously lacks consistency. One time its good with large portions, next time the same dish is mediocre at best with small portions.

Yeah, they get some good beers from time to time, but about 6 of their taps are always taken by macro beers.

Service has always been slow, not always very friendly or helpful, whether sitting at the bar or in the restaurant.

After such inconsistencies here and having the disposal of other world-class establishments in the area, my wife and I just try to avoid this place from now on. Look a little further, and you'll find better places close by.
Dec 01, 2011
Photo of tigg924
Reviewed by tigg924 from Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -25.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 1.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Ron’s Original is a mixed bag restaurant/beer place. I was absolutely thrilled with their to go window. The variety was amazing, but my eyes lit up when I found Great Lakes, Bells, and four different Russian River brews. The bombers were perfectly priced, although singles to go were a bit pricey -$3.50 to $6.00. As for the restaurant portion itself, it is big and airy with several different rooms to eat in. It has a homey feel and is a pleasant restaurant to eat in. There are about 14 different draft beers to choose from. They had a pretty good mix of local and national beers. Not as good a selection as I was hoping for, but good none the less. I was disappointed that the server told me that I could not get any of the bottles from the to-go room, nor was a bottle list available. Speaking of the server, service was horrible. I was left for dead several times. I would have ordered another beer if the server would have come by. Also, I was waiting for a good 15 minutes after finishing my meal for the check. I finally had to track down another server to get it for me. The food was very good for the money. I has the squash soup and chicken parm. They were not the best I have had, but were good for the value. Overall, I think I would come back here for the to go window. However, there are just too many other good options in the area to put up with above average food and poor service.
Oct 14, 2011
Photo of Natural510
Reviewed by Natural510 from Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Ron's is situated in a strip mall in Exton, which is itself a collection of strip malls.

The atmosphere is typical of a bar & grill, thankfully minus the kitsch found in many of the chain restaurants in the area.

They keep around a dozen craft taps at any given time, with a couple BMC thrown in the mix. At least half are from local SE PA breweries, rounded out with national and international craft selections. They also have a large bottle selection, including bombers (most of which are from DFH, Stone and Lost Abbey).
Extra credit given for serving in proper glassware, such as snifters and imperial pint glasses.

Service was friendly and efficient, and prices more than fair: all tap offerings in the $5-6 range, even from breweries who tend to be "pricey".

All in all, a solid destination for craft beer in Exton, along with the Drafting Room. Check it out.
Sep 05, 2011
Photo of Rifugium
Reviewed by Rifugium from North Dakota

3.88/5  rDev -3.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
We liked this place a lot. Seated in an innocent shopping plaza, this place has a "rustically contemporary" and family-friendly atmosphere, with a very nice albeit small, quaso-Euro-style bar. About 15 good beers on tap, including locals and crafts, and many more in bottles. They boast a huge menu with lots of tasty options ranging from pizza and hoagies to Italian fare and steaks. Staff was friendly, but the bartenders are a little bit loopy at times. Definitely worth multiple visits.
Apr 30, 2011
Photo of Umbra
Reviewed by Umbra from Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5
Stopped in after getting directions from Exton Beveridges. I was around and looking for some singles we couldn't get in Baltimore. Found right on route 113 off of 100. Easy to find with plenty of parking.

The restaurant was packed and i had better options near the hotel, so i only grabbed some brews to go from the to go area. Quality was stout. Service was friendly and helpful.

Selection was a great mix of local, regional and national micros. Picked up a mikkeler, rr damnation, some bells, great lakes, and a seven gates batch of brews. Got $6 off of the mixed sixer for grabbing the good stuff.

Food looked good, but i wasn't in the mood to wait.
Jul 14, 2010
Photo of mgbickel
Reviewed by mgbickel from Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
Popped in here real quick on my recent visit to Exton, PA.

I was there on a Tuesday...around 6:30pm. The place was packed! Both the dining area and the pub area were very crowded. The horseshoe shaped bar was filled with happy hour business types. Pretty tight quarters made it hard to maneuver around and see what the coolers behind the bar were housing.

They seemed to have a decent draft selection...nice locals and domestic crafts.

I would like to have been here while there were less people so I could see what the place was all about.
Mar 15, 2010
Photo of Katahdin
Reviewed by Katahdin from Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +24.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
A nice little beer bar only maybe a mile or so from the more famous Drafting Room. I find Ron's to be far far better than the Drafting Room. The atosmphere is very inviting, warm and friendly. I ahve always found excellent beer conversation even with strangers at the bar. A great mix of suits and jeans adds an ecelectic appearance to the crowd. The bartenders are very outgoing and very willing to help with beer selections. The food is rather good, I enjoy the personal pizzas. A fun after work Happy Hour location but as with all things in Exton it can be a tad on the pricey side. That being said you do get what you pay for.
Dec 22, 2009
Photo of FeDUBBELFIST
Reviewed by FeDUBBELFIST from Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev -21.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 2
I ended up at Ron's after doing an internet search of local restaurants and bars. Wanted something different. As soon as I saw their beer menu on the website, I was excited. Didn't even bother looking at the food menu. Also saw growler fills on the website. More on that later.
The beer selection is great. Several refrigerators full of bottles of great variety. There draft selection was medium size but very good.
The menu was mainly bar food but very large. The food we ordered was not impressive (crab dip and chipotle cheesesteak) but I've heard of more positive reviews for other menu items.
The bar was full (live band that night) and I imagine the bar table service was lacking because of that.
Beer prices were fair but were offset by the varying pour quantities. There were several $6-$9 beers that ranged from 8 oz to 10 oz.
Back to the growlers...I do not recommend filling your growler here. They basically multiply the cost of 1 beer by 5.5 (approx. number of pints in a growler). No scale of economy whatsoever. I was quoted 3 different prices ($25, $30 and $37!!!) for different beers before I decided on not filling up.
In any case, I'll be back for the beer, and maybe snack on some bar food, but I'll leave the growler at home.
Nov 08, 2009
Photo of John_M
Reviewed by John_M from Washington

4.05/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
Visited this place for the first time yesterday. While Ron's is pretty solid, it's less then 5 minutes from TDR Exton, which IMHO is a superior beer destination.

Ron's is located in a strip mall, just north of hiway 100 on the right. Ron's has something of an Applebee's vibe to it, with a menu to match for the most part. As you walk in from the parking lot, the dining area is off to the right, while the darkly lit bar is to the left. The bar area (where I sat) is pretty good size, with a U shaped wrap around bar, with some 20 seats. The bar area also has some tables and chairs scattered around, and there were also 5 or 6 TV's with various sporting events on. Food here consists of burgers, pizza, hoagies, wings, etc. Nothing at all wrong with that, and the small order of extra hot wings I had were pretty decent, but this is not a fine dining destination. The menu here is not nearly as upscale as TDR, and the type of clientele that seem to gravitate to Ron's reflects that. On the other hand, prices seem very fair for what they have on offer.

OK. Enough about the atmosphere and food, what about the beer selection. IMHO, the best thing about this place is the beer selection. Ron's does a nice job of providing a brief description of the beers they have on tap, except for "the usual," which are just listed in order (peroni, miller lite, coors lite, etc.). Aside from "the usual" offerings, the selection here was pretty strong, with some 16 other beers on tap, including things like Blind Pig, Stone Sublimely Self Righteous, Moylan's Wit, Mad Elf and the 2007 Anchor X-mas beer. Very impressive. My understanding is that Ron's has a pretty good bottle selection as well, but given how strong the tap list was, I didn't give the bottle list more then a passing glance.

Service was pretty good, with the young man and woman manning the bar providing quick and efficient service. When I asked about the Anchor X-mas beer (I had read on-line that it was the 2007, but the menu did not reflect that), the bartender didn't know if it was the 2007 or not, so he went and found out. Immediately. I thought that was pretty impressive.

All things considered, this is definitely a solid place. I guess it's different enough from TDR that they don't both compete for the same type of customer, though I'm sure there is some cross over. I'd come here again if they had something special on tap that I really wanted to try, but otherwise, the food, service and beer selection are typically superior at TDR, which is where I'll probably continue to take my business.
Jul 12, 2009
Photo of mhatters
Reviewed by mhatters from Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3
Separate bar from a pretty basic pizza joint. Bar is nice, dark,and comfortable. U-shaped with tables on the outside walls. 12-16 taps, mostly interesting micros - I have had Dogfishead Red an White, Brooklyn Blunderbuss, etc. A few TVs on the walls with sports on, but not loud. Good bottle list - and a nice six-pack shop in the back. Service is friendly, the bar manager solicits ideas for beers to run - hard to beat that! Food is OK - nothing exciting, but cheap and well executed. Located in a little strip mall less than 1 mile from the Drafting Room in Exton
Apr 19, 2009
Photo of slander
Reviewed by slander from New York

4.44/5  rDev +10.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
Benkus' birthday bullshit. Why can't he just drink in his backyard or crawl local like everyone else? Nope, not him, he's got to be differenticult. Southampton last year, Pennsylvania, this time around, I think he's already scouting out Vegas airfare & hotels for next year, I do, yes. Whatever, I live on the road anyway. I got out earlier than they that day and I do move quicker than most, plus they caught the rain, which slowed 'em down some. All this leaving me with time on my hands, I can meet up for a pre beer with them beer without them...

In a stripmall, all subtle and tucked in the far corner, I nearly missed it, but for the sign amongst a large mess of what's going on in the stripmall collective sign noise, and with just enough time to hook a very unexpected abrupt turn in. Funny foyer with cool brick arches, slate floors, and exposed rock & brick under stucco, separating the bar side from the dining side; the latter holding nearly 3 dozen tables & booths between the 3 rooms collectively, divvied up by windows and a space between another 2 where the front end of a bus sits. If you ask, someone may tell you, so don't.

Down on the other end, large wood beam uprights and cross sectionals, plank wood ceiling, and stucco walls showing exposed rock and slate work over wood paneled lowers. Paned window doorways at both ends, a small marble bar counter in a nook in between, below fogged panel windows, and a slanted ruffled metal overhang sporting that tin shed effect. A pair of bar tables below the slat wood blinded front widows, another pair to the rear near the juke & mounted Caribou head. The "U" shaped wood bar on the far wall seats 18 on comfy leather chairs. A bar island inside holds 5 towers of 4 taps each forward a long horizontal framed mirror. Flatscreen above, and shelved booze below with glassware to both sides there. Some wine & glassware on both of the unit sides. The wood bar overhangs runs above the bar all around, with drop bulbs in thick round glass holders lining the underside, and sunken ceiling spots elsewhere. TV's in all corners and recessed in the overhang.

Glass front coolers on the far wall behind the bar unit to both sides. 140 bottles by my count, more than 2/3 of them American micros. Some of the good "resentment towards Pennsylvania" offerings (Founders, Bells, Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Hoppin' Frog, New Holland) and a good collection of 22's and 750's, (which by the way, are available to go in the attached bottle shop, hooray!!), but I'm tap happy today. 20 in all, a few of which take up permanent residency (Peroni, Yuengling, Miller Light & Coors Light), 'cause you don't ever want to not have them on. The rest are mostly micros heavily regional (Victory Whirlwind Wit, Stoudts Pils, Troegs Mad Elf, Ramstein Maibock, Flying Fish Impy Espresso Stout, Southern Tier Uber Sun, Southampton Double White, Brooklyn Dopplebock, DogFishHead Festina Peche), and handful from beyond (Avery Maharaja Impy IPA, Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat, Stone Impy Russian Stout, Rogue Black Brutal, Anderson Valley High Rollers Wheat), and a pair of imports (Chimay Cinq Cents & Youngs Double Chocolate Stout). The beer lists printed couldn't keep up with taps kickin', can I get a, nope, that's gone, something new on now. Beers were fresh and Scott behind the bar was more than happy to give little samples of anything, everything. Little sampler glasses, little sampler glasses (Hey, thank you Scott). And it didn't take me long to notice that nearly ½ the beers there packed in over 7%, some upwards of 11% (Maibock, Dopplebock, Double White, Impy IPA, Summer Wheat & Stouts, and more). Some good high octane stuff.

And there's the phone, not a sampler too soon. Got lunch at a brewery really recently renovated juuuust down the road but I almost hate to leave here. Beer fresh, service good, food, yes, they have food, pizzas round & oval, stromboli, hoagies, sangwiches, pastas, salads, apps, you know how it is with food. Serious house on 113, it totally tightens up the greater area.
Jul 16, 2008
Photo of sholland119
Reviewed by sholland119 from Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Now called "Ron's Original" after a massive redo of the bar.

The bar atmosphere is very cool with the most comfortable bar stools I have ever sat on. Lots of dark wood and leather. The bar itself is 3 sides of a rectangle with room for about 15. The bar is also nicely secluded from the restaurant which is a family pizza place (with some broader choices).

About 15 taps, with 3 or 4 BMC and all the rest craft. Some different choices than other local craft beer bars (e.g. New Holland Dragon's Milk). I also liked that they have a couple of stouts on tap in the summer. I like to drink them year round.

Service is very attentive in the bar. Beer knowledge is probably just ok but they will let you try anything (cool sampler glasses) and the draft writeups are pretty extensive.

In addition to the tap list, a great list of bottles with, again, some surprises you don't see elsewhere (e.g ST Java, Burton Baton).

Food is very good for what it is. Cheesesteaks and hoagies, ovals (kind of a pizza in an oval shape without the sauce) and breadsticks are the highlights. Nice cheese fries too.

Prices are quite reasonable. As others have noted, they were apparently way out of wack at first but have settled in. Food prices are a bargain.

Worth checking out.

HV
Jul 07, 2008
Photo of BeerImmediately
Reviewed by BeerImmediately from Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3
Been going to Ron's for years, and wow have they done a nice job adding to their takeout selection.

Took the kids yesterday, sans wifey, and was surprised to see all the construction - can't really rate the atmosphere based on this, but it's always been a nicely themed place.

They've always had a very small bar (kind of wondered why they bothered), with limited macro selections -- hopefully this will be changing with the remodeling.

Service has always been solid (esp for an inexpesive place like this).

Food selection is HUGE for your typical pizza/hoagie/Italian joint. 'Ovals' are original & tasty, and the cheesesteak selection is second to none! Had a spicey Carolina BBQ cheesesteak yesterday that had coleslaw mixed in w/the steak - terrific!

While the kids colored, I studied the beer menu which must have close to 100 excellent selections - especially heavily weighted to American craft brews ... even had the Lost Abbey collection and other west coast faves. I need to start picking up some singles from here in the future for ratings.

Overall, a terrific place for the family - can't wait to see the finished look after remodeling is done.
Mar 02, 2008
Photo of tgbljb
Reviewed by tgbljb from Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +10.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Stopped by on a Sunday afternoon at about 2pm. We were promptly seated. A waitress came in an appropriate time to take our drink order. There was a blackboard on the wall with a number of their top bottle selesctions arranged by category. My beer selection was served promptly, but with a frosted glass. Our food order was taken at this time. The food was served in an appropriate time frame and at the proper temperature. The food was excellent. I selected a wrap with fries and my wife ordered a buffalo chicken oval. Everything was great about the place. Several things to note. There is a slight upcharge on the single beer prices from the prices listed on the cooler if you order them to consume with your meal, However there is a significant discount from the single prices when you get a mixed six-pack to go. A very nice place. Enjoy.
Sep 29, 2006
Photo of ggaughan
Reviewed by ggaughan from Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
I had heard of this place for awhile and seen ads and coupons for their food and their bottle selection and the discount they offer on 6 packs to go but I didn't visit until last night. You would not expect a family restaurant like this to have such a good beer selection but I was impressed. They had what seems to be about 15 different Oktoberfest beers and maybe another 8 pumpkin beers including DFH, Weyerbacher, Bethlehem Brew Works and a handful of others. They also have an impressive selection of other bottles including DFH WWS, 120 minute and Old School Barleywine and Golden Shower. I was also very impressed to see they had Allagash Mussette. Overall their prices are pretty reasonable and the food is also very good and reasonably priced.
Sep 16, 2006
Photo of tbonepa
Reviewed by tbonepa from Pennsylvania

4.28/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
this will probably come off a little biased, so i will try to be as nuetral as possible, but the selection of beer i think is fantastic. there are other places in the area with similar selection however, their prices do not compare to Ron's. Ron's prices their selection to try to keep it manageable for everyone and anyone (of age of course) to try something new. also, talk to the managers, if there isn't something there that you are looking for, let them know, they are pretty good at getting in requests! as for the service and atmosphere, rumor has it that the whole place will have a makeover and they are shooting for mid-fall to be finished construction. the bar i hear is going to rock with everything available, including a Belgian Beer tower!
Jul 14, 2006
Photo of NolanGTI
Reviewed by NolanGTI from Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
6/9/08 UPDATE - The makeover is amazing and the selection is way up. Unfortunately it seems no staff education has gone along with the increased selection. Prices have been in flux the past few weeks (they were through the roof at first) so watch what you are charged. A worthy stop that has upped their game.

3/1/08 UPDATE - Even while under construction during expansion they have managed to stock about 100 solid craft bottles. Servers and mgmt seem to have made understanding beer part of their repertoire now, pretty impressive for a pizza place. Definitely worth a stop for food and a pint.

I assume they will have draft beer back once the expansion is over. This family friendly place could be earning a bit more of my business.

***

This is a decent place for take out bottles, they have a discount for mix and match six packs that are taken out. A mix of some bombers and about a fridge full of singles. Some off code beers, so be careful. Overall not a destination place but they have somethings you can't get down the road at TDR.

The food is very good pizza place type food, great sandwhiches and ovals. Not a huge fan of the pizza, but too each his own. They also have a small bar onsite (4 seats maybe?). No killer taps. The service over the years is tolerable at best and frequently terrible.
Jul 10, 2006
Photo of ECdOc
Reviewed by ECdOc from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Ron's is a great place I discovered in Exton, Pa that has a great six-pack selection. They carry various ever-changing craft beers and offer discounts on mixed six-packs. You can also order the singles at the dining area, but you wont find a list available yet.Though I must comment they have excellent food!
When you walk into the restaurant you can go right and that brings you to the dining area, to the immediate left is the bar area. You will find the beers available if you walk straight from entering the doorway instead of the dining area, this is the six pack fridge and takeout area, ask for a six pack holder and select some great beers. I'm not sure on the total amount of beers they have in the selection at any given time but it is impressive, and difintiely worth a stop. Recently they had a lot of my favorite double IPA's such as 3F Drednaught and Avery Maharajah :) Stop by if your in the area looking for good food and a great six pack selection.
Jun 23, 2006
Ron's Original Bar & Grille in Exton, PA
Place rating: 4.02 out of 5 with 29 ratings