Garage Passyunk occupies a former auto-body shop at 1231 East Passyunk Avenue, a beer bar stocked with more than 300 canned beers and filled with pool, skee-ball and pinball. The pull is cheap cans, bar games and a rotating guest-chef food cart in the corner.
This is the room for a drinker who wants a can, a game of skee-ball and a screen for the night's match. Anyone after a cocktail list should head up the avenue. The crowd runs from neighbourhood regulars to large groups and game-day fans.
The room. The old garage layout leaves room for pool tables, pinball and skee-ball alongside a long bar wall of fridges. Philadelphia Magazine named it among the city's best for bar games, and Punch has profiled it as a Passyunk fixture.
What to order. Pull a can from the fridge wall, where the range is the whole point, and add a shot if the night calls for it. A stationary food cart runs a different chef most nights, and patrons are welcome to bring their own food, including a cheesesteak from up the street.
Who it is for. Garage suits a group night, a casual game-watch and a low-key date built around skee-ball. It is the wrong call for a quiet drink or a refined menu.
Best time to go. Early evenings are easy for a table and the games, while weekends and game days fill the room. The bar runs to 2am nightly, so it works as a late stop after dinner on the avenue.
Garage Passyunk is one of the most-recommended stops for Philadelphia craft beer and fits an East Passyunk night in our Philadelphia bar guide. For the wider field, browse the best craft-beer bars pillar.
What regulars say. Across more than 200 Yelp reviews, drinkers single out the can selection, the games and the bartenders, and the bring-your-own-food rule is a repeat favourite. The most common note is that it is a group and game-day room rather than a quiet one.
