Kraftwork

Updated interior, right in town. Tap list offers a bit of everything, in several pour options. Food available. U-shaped bar offers plenty of seating. Lively crowd.

 

 

 

 

Stopped in here just because we were nearby. The place has a decent vibe to it. The seating was limited the night we were there but managed to eventually get a few seats at the bar. The service was good. We didn't have any food. The selection was good although several of their taps had kicked and they hadn't put anything new on in place of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having slaked a thirst at Yard's Brewing (See Reveiw), I strolled up to this Fishtown favorite. Situated on the corner of Girard and Montgomery - and accessed by a trolley car (No. 15) - Kraftwork is a small venue with a rather industrial decor of brick and unfinished plasterwork; it is a single room dominated by a circular bar with a scattering of picnic tables along the walls.

Kraftwork offers 25 well selected taps, which cover all your basic styles; I enjoyed Yard's Brawler, a mild; Racer 5 Cask and a savory FBS. The beer menu provided glass type, something I thought unique. Great service that passed the water test and an intriguing food menu boasting a Breakfast Cubano (pork belly atop toast with fried eggs).

A great stop in Philadelphia's Fishtown and in proximity to several other great places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

love this place -its my go to in fishtown!!! the decor is amazing. the details in the wood and metals are so cool. also, central wrap around bar is ideal for bar sitters. love sitting at this bar more than any other bar!!! beer selection is great! food is great!!! love the staff. you can tell they love their jobs, that is so important, and says so much about the management. the first time i ever went here i ate a rice crispy treat with chocolate and bacon....but it was removed from the menu later - pleassseee put it back on it was soooo good!!!

Generally awesome place if you appreciate craft beer, or if you don't.
Quality food and service to support the 25 beers they have on tap. They offer a full-service bar and growlers to go, so there is something for everyone. The staff is knowlegable and they always offer $10 flights of four beers to sample if you are having difficulty choosing from the extensive tap list.

I wouldn't have installed televisions, but for some locals, I'm sure having the game on can be an attraction.

If you are a beer fan and live anywhere in the area, there is no excuse not to stop by kraftwork, you owe it to yourself.

Saturday with Witzel Phillying again, it’s been some time, you see. Started out late, arrived early, as it is with speeding. And if you spin a U’y on Girard and no one is around to ticket you, is it really illegal? Yeah? Says who? Whatever, I did what I had to do. The end justifies my means of procuring a sweet spot, which I did. Parked right there with minimal walkage, it’s what I do...

Corner joint, somewhat pretty easily identifiable by the large wrench shaped Kraftwork sign out front and band saw blade action. You’re greeted by a rounded wood “U” shaped bar with a stainless steel inlay all around, a mesh base plate, and foot rest. Seating for 22 on puzzle piece stool seating, they’re totally cool. A long row of taps from end to end running the length of the base of the “U”; nitro on one end, and cask on the other. Glassware shelved and shelved and shelved below the bar. Slender bar island in the center; booze wellings all around, wine & glassware atop, with an anvil, of course, and a juice squeezer on the far side. A large hand saw with hop cut outs sits over the bar island suspended from an I-beam. It’s Paul Bunyan sized, seemingly unused, as he was more an axe guy.

Beaten brick walls with some non-chipped away whatever used to front it all around, and large vertical windows front and to the side. Diagonal wood slat floorings, and a black ceiling with round bulbs on wide pan backings, and phat drop lanterns about. Flatscreens on opposite walls and tunes a-playin’ from somewhere. Bench tables on both sides of the bar and off roundies up front to both sides of the door.

24 taps, ½ of which are American craft beer offerings, from here to there (Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter, Allagash Curieux, Terrapin Side Project #14 – TomFoolery Black Saison, Abita Pecan Harvest, Bells Oberon, Moylan’s Special Bitter, Coronado Idiot IPA, Uinta Dubhe Imperial Black IPA, Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin, Ballast Point Calico, Lagunitas IPA), and the other ½ of them imports (Evil Twin Before During and After Xmas beer & Katz Pis American IPA, Mikkeller Black Hole Tequila & Red Wine editions, Lefebvre Blanche De Bruxelles, Bavis Petrus Aged Pale Ale, De Glazen Toren Saison D’Erpe-Mere, Boon Kriek, Liefman’s Oud Bruin, Reissdorf Kolsch), a token retro (PBR) and single cider (Doc’s Framboise). And a single cask offering (North Coast Red Seal). I drank the Bells Oberon, Abita Pecan Harvest, Terrapin Side Project #14 – TomFoolery Black Saison, and the cask North Coast Red Seal. What? They were shortys.

The beer menu lists the available offerings (+ the next 2 on deck), and shows the brewer, make, model, and abv. Beers are served in increments differentiated beer to beer (8 oz. pub, 10.5 oz. goblet, 16 oz. pint, and the 64 oz. growler), and they also do flights of 4 for $10. Plus a few customer cocktails & a half dozen wines.

Sadly, we’re in brunch mode so I can’t get that amazing short rib sandwich I had last time (um… roasted pablano crème, fried onions, pepper jack cheese, hello), so I’ll slum it with the Kraftwork burger (special dry aged blend of awesome), with Grafton 2 year cheddar & thick slab bacon for a few bits more, and I’ll take that medium please. Oh, and fries or a salad? Witz says “you don’t win friends with salad (no conga line)”, and it becomes apparent that it’s true; every other sentence that comes out of his mouth is a Simpsons quote. It will be fries. Accompaniment of lettuce, yes, and pickles, no (removed and plated them). Okay, now that was a serious good goddamn burger. I inhaled it and then picked at the fries lamentingly. Witz had the Kraftwork Breakfast, two eggs over easy, hashbrowns with peppers & onions, and a buttermilk biscuit. Worked for him, he dug on those crispy potatoes.

Good menu and the food was great (Damn you elusive short rib sandwich, I will be back for you). Solid beer selection, fresh and well maintained. Plenty of goods; wasn’t so easy to prioritize what I was to be having next. Server was pleasant, albeit scared somewhat by my slight scribblings in a little book of crazy. Ed is on celebrity watch, thinking he’s seeing beer industry people. Ed is paparazzi. Cool scene, and a better looking crowd than I remembered this neighborhood holding.

I love this place, and make it a point to go there when I am in Philly.

First of all- I went there for the beer, but the food is amazing. They make one of the best burgers I have ever had, and their fries are so good that they are memorable, which says a lot for fries.

They have a smaller selection, which is why I gave them a 4 rather than a 5, but for what they have, it is amazing. They always have at least 1 or 2 things that I am very excited about. I'm from Jersey, so it gives me the chance to get some Bells, and Russian River favorites that do not make it to my state. I always leave with a growler of something.

The service is not only knowledgable but also very friendly, and they never leave you waiting. They really make the experience excellent.

As far as value- I would say that the food, for the quality is excellent value, while the beer is a bit pricy, but its nice to be able to get some rare gems while having a good meal in a low-key place.

One of our favorite beer bars in the city. Just being able to sit so close to 24 taps and ask for a flight of your choice of those beers is amazing.

You can pretty much guarantee there will be something to drink for everyone, even if they typically don't like beer. Kraftwork usually has a cider, or something similar on tap. The food is always spot on as well, I love the crab salad.

As the owner himself said, "I'm not doing my job right if I have 24 taps and can't put something on there to satisfy every palate” - Adam Ritte.

When I lived in Chicago, people in bars would often ask me where I went to school (i.e. OSU or IU). In Boston, people usually ask me to get out of the way. In Philadelphia, at Kraftwork, I had two different parties of vastly different ages engage me in conversation about beer. I think I'm in love.

It's a little out of the way, but man was this stop worth it - and not just because I kicked the keg of Pliny that they'd gotten in the day before. This is a serious beer bar in a serious beer city. At 5:00 on a Saturday, Kraftwork was packed with people of all different ages enjoying a fantastic selection of beers. Though the tap list wasn't the biggest I've seen, all of the selections were well-chosen and interesting. In addition to Pliny, I saw St. Creme Brulee, Deschutes Inversion, Great Divide Hibernation, and a host of others on tap. Additionally, every entry on the beer menu is listed alongside its on-deck replacement. I wasn't given a bottle list, but when I mentioned to the bartender that I was a big fan of Consecration he was more than happy to pull a bottle out from underneath the bar.

Service was impeccable here. Our bartender made sure to let us know as soon as we sat down that we could order samples of anything we liked - nice touch. Cambridge has plenty of tatted-up beer geek bartenders who can wax nostalgic about old Abyss vintages, but not many that are this friendly.

Though I didn't get the chance to order food, everything coming out of the kitchen looked awesome. Moreover, everything seemed very reasonably priced, though I suppose it's a bad sign when I'm automatically excited about a burger that costs less than $14.

A brighter, friendlier Lord Hobo with a smaller but nonetheless excellent draft list. I'm sorry I left.

Kraftworks is located in Fishtown. I was here for the Firestone release. I thought the place was very cool. Very industrial looking place with a pretty wide mix of people. Food and service were good considering the large amount of people that showed up. Burgers were very good and food came out quickly. They had a stellar tap list....including Cantillon St. Lamvinus which I had a glass of to finish the night. Awesome! They were also one of the lucky bars to get Abacus on tap. I would definitely go back to this place.

My first foray into Philly was fraught with the peril of nearly running out of gas. As I was also hungry, I figured some place would avail itself to me. Being Philly, I thought if I just drove a couple blocks, I'd find a decent beer place with some good food. What I found was Kraftwork.
I stepped in fresh off the street, ready for anything. A full bar, beautiful bartenders, and an outstanding draught list? Check, check, and check. Thank you, Philly. Ordered up an Abacus and an outstanding burger with some pretty good garlic fries and got myself back on the road. Good service, great selection. Further investigation will take place in the future, but an impressive first showing, Philly.

Kraftwork is a really cool craft beer bar in the ever expanding web of gentrification in Fishtown. The bar is on a non-descript corner on Girard, with a little bench in front of a large bright street side window. Theres a cool sign in the shape of a wrench that announces the name of the bar. The interior is very cool with some steam punk influences, exposed brick wall, exposed industrial fittings and a really cool maple bar. The tables are scattered throughout and are of different sizes which is helpful for small and large parties. The floor is pretty wide so there's room for those that want to stand and mingle.

The food here was good but not great. The portions were fair, but I felt like several of the courses were tasty but I had little criticisms about seasoning or ingredients that could improve them. The veggie options were available, which is always helpful for mixed crowds.

The beers are the star here with a good mix of craft beers on 24 taps and 1 hand pump. There is a good representation from on East Coast beers as Terrapin, Flying Dog, Yards, Victory, Troegs, as well as Belgians and West Coast beers on tap. There selection is always interesting and they provide detailed description on each beer, pricing on different size pours (half pints, tulips, pints and growlers), abv, and what is coming next. There are often seasonals and limited beers that you'd have trouble finding elsewhere in the city.

This is a nice place to go before a concert at Johnny Brenda's, dancing at Kungfu Necktie, or just a night of craft beer drinking.

Kraftwork, not far down the street from Johnny Brenda's, might just be the nail that finally tacks down this further part of Girard Avenue, leading to a comeback. Not that other businesses haven't done a good job, but they weren't the kind of places that build a solid, loyal customer base. And, in fact, a lot of them are already gone. They were ahead of their time given the sketchier character of the area at night, and the lack of foot traffic during the day. But Kraftwork should create a flow of customers on the street during the afternoon and through the evening that creates a presence, and essentially, makes the area safer. Moving forward...

Upon entering you find a fairly large island bar in the center, with some high tops along the front wall, and some cool, exotic wood tables for dining along the sides. The decor is kind of 'modern-faux-industrial'. There are charming elements to it, and there are pieces that seem over-done; and the lights beneath the bar and surrounding the entrance to the kitchen don't quite fit, but they don't really hurt either. And to be honest, I don't think that most people will really notice. What they will see is the massive, black-bladed crosscut handsaw with artistic hops rendered/cut into it above the bar. And the large twisted pipe wrenches adoring the walls and bathrooms. They've put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's paid off. The tables are small, and snug (think Irish or English pub), and much more casual and comfortable than if they'd used standard furniture. And although it can get crowded, there's room around the bar so that you can grab a beer and stand until a seat opens up. (Let's hope they're not a victim of their own success and end up like so many places where idiots will just pack themselves in like sardines because it's the "cool" place to be).

As for the beer, no problems there. I'm quite jaded, and I found several selections to tickle my fancy. I love the Left Hand Stranger American pale ale (recommend it), and I was able to go back to an old favorite that I haven't seen in years, Ichtegem's Grand Cru. In fact, I don't believe I've ever had it on tap.

The food menu itself can be a little hard to decipher at first, but I assume many will find it charming, and it does tie the whole fabrication theme together. The food is very good, but not great - however, I can't complain given the prices as there are many places that plate food of a much lower quality and production standard at much higher prices!!! I think with a little more time they'll emerge as one of the pre-eminent gastropubs in the city (well, they kind of actually already are, but I think they'll eventually rise above their contemporaries). They offer an interesting array of items, and although I initially found it kind of disjointed (crispy pierogies, Korean BBQ tacos, Sicilian Arancini, smoked trout salad, pizza, mussels, burgers, falafel, lobster bisque), with hindsight it's actually kind of well-rounded. And they offer a pretty decent selection for vegetarians as well.

The service is something I should note. I felt it was a little slow, although the food was not held back in any way. But in the same way that they're not using standard furniture, they're not exactly doing standard restaurant service either. It's too small a place to have too many servers, so it seems like they use one per side, and if it's busy you might get passed by for a drink order unless everyone's glass is empty. So I don't really mean that as a fault, it's just what you might expect from this truly "gastropub" experience.

Absolutely worth a visit.

Let's not bury the lead: Go here. Go now. Go often.

Kraftwork is without doubt my favorite new craft beer bar, well, anywhere really. Located in a still somewhat sketchy part of Fishtown (half a block from a precinct house; you see some interesting things on the way in and out), plan on taking public transit if you don't drive. Cabs can be tough to hail.

Inside is one of the most attractive bar spaces around. A U-shaped bar with about 25 seats sits in the center of the bar, with long tables around the inside walls and some hightops by the windows. All the bar stools, and many of the decorations are hand made steel art pieces. The artistry, and the time taken to put the dining room together adds a real wow factor to the visit.

The tap list is excellent, 25 deep, with a list that shows what's on tap and on-deck for each tap. All craft, with the exception of the hipster swill of the moment (usually PBR, really the only off note here).

Food is even better than the beer. Beer can chicken sandwich is a must. I have never had a bad meal here. Service is competent and warm.

HV

God I hate writing reviews...
I stopped at Kraftwork on Monday when "BeerAdvocate Preemptively 'did' Philly." The taproom was absolutely excellent. The interior was gorgeous. Polished cuts of wood were used to make barstools and tables around the outer walls. Nothing looked cheap, boring, or inattentive. Windows allowed for outside light to shine in, keeping the mood vibrant and clean instead of dark and dead like some places. The best attraction was the view of Girard Avenue.
That said, the food was outstanding and priced well. Serving sizes were perfect. The taps were full exhibiting at least fifteen beers, all of which were displayed on a list accompanied by a full description showing the brewer, beer name, style, ABV%, and serving size. There was even a list of what was on deck.
That wait staff and bartenders were kind, caring, and didn't bother you while you were eating.
Overall, an excellent time. I will go back, and would recommend Kraftwork to anyone.