The Blue Ox Bistro

Bar, Eatery

7980 Oxford Ave.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19111
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.85
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
4
pDev:
5.19%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by weeare138:
Photo of weeare138
Reviewed by weeare138 from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I've wanted to check this place out for quite some time. While passing through the Fox Chase section of the city, I finally had the opportunity. They have a nice, spacious parking lot right on Oxford Ave. Upon entry to this establishment, you pass a small hostess area with stairs leading up to a seperate dining room. There are also seats arranged downstairs, and a nice sized bar featuring 10 beers on draft of mostly German, or German style brews. There are a few Belgian and American micro's featured as well. Over 30 bottles featured on the menu with mostly German standouts, and some of the better Belgian beers.
The food menu is rather large, consisting of American pub grub, pasta, steaks, seafood, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, and a small, authentic German menu.
We opted to go to the outdoor Biergarten, which is a small patio with 6-7 round tables shaded by umbrellas.
We opted for the pierogies as a starter with a Franziskaner Hefeweizen & a Radesberger Pilsner.
We moved on to the potato pancake & bratwurst sandwich. The only thing that made this German meal complete was the finishing touch...my favorite German beer, Aventinus.
With a lack authentic German brauhauses left in the Philly area, check this place out for some fine brews, pub food, and German fare.
Aug 11, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of PopeDX
Reviewed by PopeDX from Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -5.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4
This place is just enough inside the city limits for 7% tax and 10% alcohol tax. Doesn't help keep their prices down. Which is the main problem with the place, to be honest. Platters, while very delicious, are on the sparse side and range from $17 to $30. The service was on the slow side as well. The main plus is the great German beer selection. About 6 good taps, including Celebrator, and a decent bottle selection. They even had Berliner Kindl Weisse, with a choice of syurps. A lot of the beers were served in the brand glassware...and the ones that weren't were served in appropriate glassware nonetheless. The bartender, who seemed to be the manager or owner as well, had a noticeable German accent and was showing the servers the correct pours on each of the beers. Someone else in my party got a 100% perfect pour of a Dunkelweisse bottle into a 23-ounce wheat beer glass, which is hard to do and was very impressive.

So overall, I'd go back, but probably just to sit at the bar and eat some fries or a sandwich and enjoy some fine German brews in a comfortable setting that feels like it was pulled right out of Bavaria (it doesn't try too hard, like SOME places *cough*).

Pubcrawl options are very limited, as there's really nothing very close. The only place I can think of is Tailfeathers, which is about 10 minutes down 252 away from the city. Or 15 minutes back into the city will put you at the Lodge.
Mar 14, 2005
Photo of WilliamPhilaPa
Reviewed by WilliamPhilaPa from Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Hard to believe it but this is house dates back to the mid 1600's. It has been a very long time since I went to the Blue Ox Brauhaus, so long in fact that I wasn't old enough to drink the last time I was here. On this particular visit, it was the beginning to my bachelor party. When arriving with a group of friends the place was fairly packed and then I spotted my pop at the bar drinking a brew with a in-law. This place is just authentic as can be. The mood is mellow even with tunes coming from the man playing the accordian. Just a absolute great atmosphere. Nice dining area on the first floor and a somewhat tight but also enough room bar area with decent brews on tap. They have approx. 7 brews on tap. After a brew and a few handshakes we headed upstatirs to one of the 3 private rooms. We all had a blast and our server was friendly as can be, he kept the pitchers & the jokes flowing. The fried pickels were very tasty. I had the prime rib which was made exactly to my request... it was excellent. I will be sure to start coming here more often. If there is a any downside to this place, it would have to be the food prices, they do seem a bit high(even though I did not pay for anything). But hey besides that, The Blue Ox Brauhaus is a highly recommended visit when your in the NE Philly.
Oct 21, 2003
Photo of stirgy
Reviewed by stirgy from Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3
Ate here recently with the family. The beer selection was pretty good with a lot of German favorites. I had a bottle of Paulaner Salvator and then a draft Bitburger. Both were very good. My girlfriend got a bottle of Lindemans Framboise. The food was decent although the I thought the portions were pretty small. The building dates from like the 1600's and is very cool inside. I don't think I would come back here again too soon - For better potions and prices I would go up the street to the Austrian Village, which I like much better and is maybe more down to earth.
Mar 07, 2003
The Blue Ox Bistro in Philadelphia, PA
Place rating: 3.85 out of 5 with 4 ratings