Berwyn Tavern

625 Lancaster Ave.
Berwyn, PA 19312
(610) 889-9352
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The burbs have a couple of things going for them where the city is relatively weak. One of which, and probably the most important thing: blue collar bars with great drink specials and cheap delicious bar food. I'm not saying there is NO WHERE with this in the city, but the ratio of places where you can get a cheap domestic and some good wings is way off. As you well know, I am not a big fan of trendy gastro-bullshit that will be out of fashion in six months and cost me $40 at happy hour. Berwyn Tavern is the best of both worlds.

They have some unique specials, and incredibly fresh food.

They also have a load of traditional style appetizers, and some interesting twists.

The happy hour runs 7 days a week (!) from 4-6pm. Not my favorite hour spread, but having the weekend specials is a huge plus. All appetizers are half off, and they have a bunch of drink specials. Baskets of wings for $4 is enough for me, however. I was told I had to try the boneless wings and buffalo shrimp. So I had to oblige. Below are the coconut curry boneless wings and buffalo shrimp.

The wings (boneless, in this case) are fried extremely crispy, and the coconut curry sauce is delicious. Subtle, yet slightly spicy, and there was a hint of creamy coconut cutting through the heat. They also offer hot, BBQ, teriyaki, Thai chili, sesame ginger, and chipotle flavors for both boneless and regular wings; so there's no shortage of flavor opportunities. I'm willing to bet the wings with bones come out just as crispy and I shall find out soon enough.

I also tried the regular buffalo hot boneless wings, and they were also delicious. I am so fat.

The shrimp were surprisingly good, crispy, breaded, and lightly tossed in buffalo sauce.

The breading had a nice seasoning to it, you can see the pepper flakes below. Who knew that buffalo shrimp could be a thing? And then turn out to be such a GOOD thing? I mean, dipping shrimp in blue cheese dressing sounds crazy, but just take my word for it, you won't regret it.

As I had been there WELL past happy hour, I started to get hungry again, and so I asked to see the menu one more time. When I saw they had a riff on the "Schmitter" I knew I had to try it.

Pit beef, salami, fried onions, American cheese, tomato, and Thousand Island dressing on a brioche roll. This is all served on a bed of fries. My heart was struggling to pump at this point.

While this is no Schmitter, this is one good sandwich. I could only eat half. Mostly because I recently (but I won't say how recently) eaten 3 orders of fried appetizers chased by fries and one or 10 beers.

Delicious in its own right, their "stadium sandwich" is worth a try.

The fries were cooked to perfection, crisp with skin on the ends - they may not be fresh, but they are some of the best fries that can come out of a freezer.

While it may not look like much from the outside, its the type of place those in the know go.

And yes, I will be back to try every app on their menu during happy hour.