dock street brewery

dock street brewery
701 south 50th street
philadelphia, pa
(215) 726 2337
www.dockstreetbeer.com

type of cuisine: brew house
culinary excellence: 7
vegan friendliness: 6

i don't know what's gotten into me lately, but friday night comes around and i'm all about the beer. or the places that offer beer and vegan food, at any rate. this week luca and i checked out the dock street brewery in west philly. quite a different scene than the belgian cafe and memphis taproom. dock street is housed in a giant warehouse of sorts and draws a diverse crowd of locals. they have an extensive menu of grilled items, fried items and gourmet pizzas, with many options for vegetarians and a couple for us hezbollah-like vegans. luca and i decided to share a large pizza with pesto, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, peppers, herbs and tofu. aside from a slightly charred, slightly dry crust, the mixture of flavors and textures was delicious. we ate half and took the rest home for a mighty tasty mid-morning saturday snack. i am proud to say that i finished my entire glass of their famous bohemian pilsner. still, despite its ranking as one of the "top 50 beers in the world", i'm afraid i wouldn't know it from pbr. maybe i will develop a taste for beer and wine some day, but at present it's like trying to distinguish between sarah palin seven months pregnant and someone who's not pregnant at all! for dessert we shared a lovely piece of vegan brownie cheesecake, imported from danielle in bethlehem. even now that i know she uses hydrogenated ingredients in her baked goods, i still have a hard time turning those bad boys down. i would definitely make a return trip to dock street for a pesto wrap out on the sidewalk.