What to do in Philly for the day?

Go to Monks just to cross it off the list. Even if it is below your expectations, it is still one of the more renowned beer places and has a lot of history to it. There are some other places in Philly like Eulogy and I did not read if you are looking for bottles too, but you could hit Foodery or a couple of other places to see if you hit anything good. Don't bother with the hassle of train or car to the burbs.

 

Monks is crowded with obnoxious bros and surly servers. And you can get Belgian beers in any major city. My vote is to skip Monks and head to Tired Hands and Earth Bread +Brewery. Much nicer people and beers that are more unique.

 

I suggest hitting up Reading Terminal Market first (since your visit starts in the AM) then go to Monk's.

 

Traffic + parking Costs + what others have said makes the rental car a hassle. I'm not sure about teresas or Tj's, but the paoli line to tired hands takes about 15ish minutes from 30th street station, at least it has the five or six times I've taken it. Some good beer locations offer brunch (possibly even breakfast?) depending on the day you are going to be in town, so that may help out with the earlier hours of the day you are in philly. Spending 8 hours in philly for the day is not very hard to do (factoring travel time and pre-flight padding time) whether you do it in the city or the burbs. I would suggest the city, but without a brunch place that opens early you won't be able to do any drinking until 11-12 most likely, unless you find a kind BAer to take you in. All the bars and suggestions of where to go in CC have been listed above.

 

also in the Reading Terminal Market is Molly Malloy's which serves alcohol early in the AM.

If you want to stay in Center City and visit a brewery you can get on the Market Franford Line, get off at the Spring Garden stop, and walk to Yards Brewery. (they open at noon) Then you could either cab/walk to Frankford Hall/Barcade/Johnny Brendas or head back towards Old City and go to Eulogy or Khyber Pass Pub.

If you do plan to go to Tired Hands it will be about an hour ride back to the Airport by train. Personally I wouldn't go that far out as you're at the mercy of the train schedule and you would have to check back in to the airport.

If you do plan to use the rail lines/subway/MFL the Independence Pass ($12 mentioned above) is a great deal.

 

OP: This you will truly enjoy. Best sandwich you will ever have. And a good "base" for drinking a lot of beer.

Though, I still recommend a trip to 9th & Passyunk, especially after dark. Cheesesteak Vegas!

 

Not going to work if it's a weekday. The OP's layover is only until 6pm and Tire Hands doesn't open until 4pm.
http://www.tiredhands.com/cafe/hours

 

Is that based on your one trip here last St. Patty's day? I'll be sure to consult a Texan on my next trip to Virginia....

Seriously, on an 8 hour lay-over going to Tired Hands and E.B.&B. is just ******ed. I live IN Philly and wouldn't hit up both those places in the same day.

 

If you do make your way down to Pat's or Geno's, The Garage is right next door and they let you bring your steak into the bar. They have a great list of craft cans. http://garagephilly.com/menu/

DiNic's is great and all, but you might be waiting 45 minutes for a sandwich depending on the day and time. If this is strictly a trip to get some beer, I'd find a bar that has good food.

If you're dead set on getting a cheesesteak, a place closer to center city that I would recommend is Steve's Steaks (although not as good as the NE location) at 16th and Chestnut. Monk's is right down 16th street.

There is no point in going to Tired Hands, what if you don't like it? You're at the mercy of waiting for a train to get back to the city and then 20-30 minutes on the train depending on the stop.

Stay in Philly, you can get to multiple places easily.

 

When I hit Philly for a daytrip from VA next month, i'll hit Tired Hands for lunch and E.B&B for dinner. Did not like the vibe at Monk's AT ALL based on the random Sunday dinner time I was there last Fall. Servers at Tired Hands and (especially) EB&B were totally sweet, while out server at Monk's was a complete *itch.

And I think he said *10* hour layover.

 

Ah, you're right.

Same for Earth as well.

http://www.earthbreadbrewery.com/about.html

 

Yep, I second this. The lady and I did this last month on my return trip "home" (grew up in South Jersey but hadn't been back to the city in a number of years). Had lunch at Reading (DiNic's), walked around the area doing the touristy thing (Liberty Bell, Love Park, etc.) and then headed over to Monk's. During a weekday afternoon the place wasn't packed at all, and with having a Pliny on draft and a bottle of Fou Foune among other things, that was a damn good day.

 

During the day I'd also recommend Monks or Kyber Pass Pub. Both are accessible with a little walking from the MFL line, which is accessible from 30th street station, which you get to by taking the airport line into the city. The burger at monks is awesome, and the pulled pork nachos at Kyber are amazing.

 

I'm not sure if you mentioned the day of the week, but a knock against the regional line to the burbs (at least in my opinion) is the train frequency. It's a half hour on the weekends during the day, which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you plan frequent stops it will add up. So as much as I love the bars on the Paoli-Thorndale Line, it's not the best use of your time.

 

Please check the schedule... unless your daytrip is saturday or sunday, you might be disappointed.. (Tired Hands only open for lunch on week-ends, and not at all on Monday)

 

We work Mon-Fri, so all Philly visits would be on Sat or Sun. So we're good! Thanks.