Roosevelt Pub

I’m sure you’ve had one of those Friday’s where you’re just getting off work and all you want to do is throw back a couple of drinks? Then head to Roosevelt’s.
Friday night happy hour is really the only time & reason you need to be here. $ 10 cover gets you penny drinks/​beers from 5−7pm. If the place isn’t too packed you should be able to get your covers worth and then some. No, it’s not top shelf stuff (well drinks, light beers), but what can you say for $ 10?

Roosevelt’s is nothing special, but also decent in a lot of ways. Prices aren’t bad and they have some good happy hour specials. Food is hit or miss depending on what you get. I usually stick to the mozzarella triangles or the burgers.

This place sucks. I wish it didn’t, as it’s the closest bar to my place. But it just does. It suddenly turned into a loud bass thumping club vibe, DJ and all. Food sucks, beer is warm, crowd is loud and aggro, staff is rude. Worst bar in the area.
There are a ton of other options within a couple of blocks with better food at better prices, and better vibe. I hate to be a negative nancy, but I honestly just hope it comes under new ownership *again*, and this time the owners have half an idea what they’re doing.

Horrible place. Food was old, stale, and disgusting. I came here for trivia and when I got there they said, «Yes we are having trivia tonight at 9:00.» It was 10:00 and still no trivia. I spoke to the manager and he said sorry, not enough people. The lied to me to get my business and then wouldn’t be honest about not having trivia. I would NEVER come here again. I hope NO ONE EVER eats here.
Spoke to manager. He was supper ghetto. Came to my table blaming everyone and did not accept any responsibility for lying and misrepresenting itself to get my business. I barely understood his ebonics and will never do business with an establishment that has an owner that doesn’t speak the English language.
D-​!

no. just no.
i went to the happy hour because friends of mine said it was a great deal, and it really does sound like one.
but then we get there, ready for beer and wings.
what do we get?
lousy, lousy LOUSY service. the bar was by no means crowded but it took forever to get my crappy 1 cent beer (in a tiny must-​be-​reused cup) and then the buffet opens about 2 hours late.
did i say buffet? i mean two small, shallow pans of anemic looking wings and sad looking noodles. those things don’t even go together. and they ran out by the time we found out the food was actually there. the only way we got food is because my friend spoke spanish to the chefs… and the chicken was undercooked and bland.
and on top of all of that, the music was lame. ugh.
so…yeah. never again. not worth the money. which is sad.

i’m gonna exaggerate a little bit (that never hurt anyone, right?) and say Roosie’s consistently brings me a good experience. it invites people of varied backgrounds together due to its location and drink specials. if ya dont know about penny drinks, ya better ask somebody.
the chicken ceasar wrap, salsa w chips, and pierogies are delightful. fries arent bad either. and most importantly, the beer does not disappoint. ask the bartenders to make you a random shot and just see where the night takes you. you’ll thank me later.

Tempered expectations based on their Friday happy hour: $ 10 cover gets you penny drinks (Bud Light, PBR, or well drinks). If my husband didn’t save me a bar stool I might have been a little more annoyed at the crowds, but everyone was friendly and the bartenders were quick. Bro/​College crowd, and seemed to be a lot of games of Asshole going on in the back. But everyone seemed to be having a good time. They seem to have good specials, tons of TVs. If you’re looking for some classy cocktails, this is not the place for you. Cheap drinks? Happy drinkers? Yes.

This is by far my most favorite watering hole to go to with a large group of friends. Don’t expect anything but a crowded bar with watery beer, slow service and a hilarious time… I mean what do you want for $ 10?!?

First night in Philadelphia lead us to Roosevelts. I ordered the chicken fingers. It’s a good thing I wasn’t that hungry because they were worse than pretty much any other chicken fingers I’ve had. Ligaments… gristle. yuck. My husband’s burger was apparently ok but I can only speak to the chicken fingers.
The beer was decent and reasonably priced but not a ton of variety so I’m not willing to get over the meal.

I have to be honest — for the better part of 3 years I hated this bar and refused to step foot in it because of some weirdo bouncer there who I stupidly gave my number to and called me every day for a week. I also saw no reason to come here since I live so far away. Fast forward to 2 months ago when I got hired at a new job and suddenly my world was changed.
I love this bar now. My coworkers come here at least 3 or 4 nights a week and once I eventually came here a few times I could see why. Firstly, it’s fairly priced. They don’t have the best beer selection in the world but hell, I’m going there to drink whiskey and beer for a few hours so sticking with a Kenzinger over some crazy high ABV beer is perfect. They also always have at least one Yards on tap for $ 5, which may not sound like the best deal but if they happen to have Thomas Jefferson being poured and you realize that you’re getting a pint of it for $ 5 then hell yes. Please and thank you.
The staff that works here is also amazing and perfect in every way. I love them all and once they know you then your experience will be so much more enhanced. They are sweet and super nice and I’ve had some lovely conversations with them all.
At any given point in the later hours of the night you will find an odd and eclectic group of regulars. Do yourself a favor and talk to them or challenge them to a game of ping pong. It will be worth it, trust me.
This place gets a lot of heat and like I said, I was one of the haters for a very long time. Now that I’ve changed my tune, though, I am the happiest bumble bee in the flower patch.

I came out to Roosevelt’s for happy hour a few weeks ago on a Friday night. It was 5 – 7 $ 10 and with that cover you could get drinks for a penny.
Not a bad deal, except the bartenders are pretty slow and inattentive, which I guess is to be expected during a happy hour like this. Except, the bar wasn’t even crowded. If you’re going to charge for a happy hour and the only purpose of said happy hour is to have drinks for a penny, make them more widely available.
Aside from that, I decided to get a beer that wasn’t on special after happy hour because I needed to get the taste of light beer out of my mouth. I noticed they had Palm and was pretty excited, until I ended up paying almost what I paid for my entire happy hour for it.
I can’t speak for the food, as I did not eat anything here. But, bar-​wise, the service was slow for the amount of people at the bar and it was fairly difficult to get a drink unless you moved around and got right to where the bartender was standing.

Tried the Roosevelt. Found it to be a good dive bar.

A few of my fearless Dodgeball team members and I decided to still hit up a bar after our game. One stipulation was that it had to be on the way to the trolley. Low and behold, we stumbled across Roosevelts, which we ended up spending an hour and half at. I had always passed by Roosevelts, so this was a perfect time to swing by and check it out.
The ambiance is pretty low key, as they had a few big screen TV, a juke box and a friendly bar tender. I went with Troegs and their bacon cheddar burger (I know not healthy at all, but boy oh boy was it delicious). Their nachos were also pretty good too.
The bill was definitely within reason, and I definitely plan to hit up this pub again… especially as I enjoy being able to talk at a bar, and the place wasn’t packed on a Wednesday night.

I have been steering clear of Roosevelt’s for quite some time because the clientele (gruntled grad students) didn’t really seem to fit my scene. It is, however, 2 mere blocks away so I finally caved.
I love Roosevelt. It is absolutely no drama, and anything goes. I couldn’t ask for a better neighborhood pub. I can take a board game in, I can banter with the bartenders, or just catch up with an old friend. If you’re looking for a conversation and not a major scene, Roosevelt is the spot.
Atmosphere:
I find their formica covered tables endearing. I appreciate the banquet hall-​esque chairs in the back. The bathrooms are clean. The lighting is superb.
Prices can’t be beat.
Rah Rah Roosevelts!

Totally dead on a weekend night. I know some classmates come here for flip cup but didn’t see any of that going on. It’s like a sports bar for locals? Not certain but we went after dinner and they were offering a deal for unlimited buffet (not good at all). There are lots of tables in the back for dining but can’t imagine the other items on the menu being any good. The bartender was nice but this place was so dead that we didn’t enjoy our night there and moved on closer to Rittenhouse after some beers.

DMX was playing when we went in, The Arcade Fire was playing when we left.
Weird.
We stopped in for a drink before seeing The Low Anthem at the First Unitarian (read: weepy folk music, not really a ‘bro’ band) because it was close. We sat at the bar and watched the cool guys in plaid button downs and straw fedoras drink and yell with their female counterparts until we felt we were fashionably late enough to go to the show.
We get to the church, and who do we see in line in front of us? The guys from the bar!
Roosevelt’s confuses me, but the buffalo chicken sandwich was pretty good.

My friends and I bounce around emails for weeknight drinking venues regularly and almost every time someone brings up Roosevelt’s. It usually takes about 30 seconds before a string of harsh replies come out against the very thought of going back to that place.
I’m not sure I’m just too old (f!) to enjoy this type of place any more, but after my last time there I can comfortably say that I never want to go back. They ran out of every beer on special, then glassware, then non-​special beers… on a Thursday night. I couldn’t understand it… I would imagine the one thing dive bars (or really any bar for that matter) keep in stock is cheap beer.
It is amusing to see college kids running around in outfits that are way too nice for a place of that caliber, though.

3.5 stars.
This place is a weird amalgam of a corner bar and a sit down restaurant. I went here one night to break up my long trek from West Philly back to the 15^th st station. I got my beer promptly and the server placed my order for a burger and a salad. The salad was big and had some very nice and fresh vegetables in it. At 9 bucks for a garden salad, it was however a tad on the expensive side. The burger was decent and cooked to within my tolerance level.
The vibe was weird in this place. When I went there was a motley crew consisting of some to cool for school guy with a tailored plaid shirt and sunglasses, some shady hipster/​metal looking guys, and a middle aged guy who hadn’t gotten the memo about MC Hammer pants being out of style and sporting an Eagles bandanna. Other times I’ve walked past this place and it looked like a 20-​something hangout for the post-​college and/​or business/​law school crowd.
I think i’d go back again just to get a beer on a non-​Quizzo, weekday night.

Roosevelt’s has a deal on Fridays where you pay $ 8 and are supposedly treated to as many beers as you can drink from 5 – 7.
This is, admittedly, a good deal. You should know before you go, though, that if you’re sitting down, you can only get the special until 6:45. A conversation with the owner revealed that you are still free to go up to the bar yourself and order more for the final fifteen minutes.
Our waitress, however, was clearly not aware of this policy and told us that we were not allowed to go to the bar. The owner had clearly told her to stop serving tables at 6:45 as a matter of policy and then, confronted with a customer who was unhappy with the inconsistency, tried to create a post hoc rationalization that would serve to maintain the truth of the advertised special.
Most infuriatingly, the owner refused to acknowledge that there was any disconnect between advertising a special from 5 – 7 that only runs from 5 – 6:45 and blamed any confusion on the waitress.
I think it’s unacceptable for a manager to blame those who are simply carrying out his directions for his own incompetence. Moreover, his discussion of the problem reeked of misogyny and disrespect toward his staff and my female friend.
I won’t be supporting this establishment again.

I am very pleased with RP because it was completely different than what I expected. I thought with «penny» drinks on a Friday it would definately be a frat house but it wasn’t. Very laid back and cool. Not really anyplace to sit by 6 but I think if I sat down and downed as many drinks as I did, it wouldn’t…nay couldn’t end very pretty.
Also very impressed by the diverse crowd. Sometimes I find in this city of «diversity» that there tend to be the same types of people at each happy hour. Here that wasn’t the case, so pleasantly pleased.
All in all I give it 4 stars but the fact that I couldn’t rest my dogs prevented the full boat.