The Ugly American

This was honestly my most favorite burger place on earth. The burgers were amazing and the fries! what pulled it all together was the dip they had for the French fries. I really wish I remember what the guy told me was in it so I could make it! I was so upset when this place closed, it was my friend and I best place to go right after work or on any day basically. If anyone knows what the fry dip was please tell me!

This is where I had my first solo exhibition in here United States, so I have a personal affection besides persona opinion about this restaurant.
According to my friends who loves beer, their full bar has a great selection.
The interior is beautiful.
Name is cool.

I have been patronizing The Ugly American with my coworkers for Happy Hours or whenever we just want to grab a few drinks after work. The bartenders are cool and always take care of us. Though we don’t make it apart of the agenda, if we somehow end up here on a Thursday night Quizzo is a great way to spend the evening.
The burgers here are good, the nachos are good, and the wings are straight fire. Some of the best wings in the city are made at the Ugly American.
Do yourself a favor. Grab yourself a seat at the bar, order yourself a craft beer, and an order of wings… and you will be hooked. I love the trendy bars like Twisted Tails, but the Ugly American is straight bar and I love it.

For the moment we’ll forget that I spent the night up suffering from indigestion. This is not the fault of the kitchen at the Ugly American. I went for Thursday night Quizzo. I had already eaten dinner so I just ordered a Nachos with Chili on the side as my table rent. I asked for the chili on the side because one of my companions is a vegetarian. The Nachos arrived with the chili integrated on the plate. I commented on this to the server and they offered us a second vegetarian nachos on the house. Both were fantastic and very different from any other plate of nachos I’d experienced before. The cheese was real and not whiz. There was some sort of sweet sauce mixed in and it was topped with julienned radishes which I thought really added to the final product. I definitely want to return and sample some of the beers and other kitchen offerings.

This place is wonderful. Simple. Delicious. Great crowd. Always a cheery mood.

I love so much about this place!!!
The burgers are «insert awesome word here»!!!
They had a very interesting sauce that I liked.
The waiter was very impressive, he took all four of our orders without writing them down. I always try to tip a little more for that. He was very nice and polite.
I would recommend this place to my friends if you wanna have a good night out for food and beverages.

My friend just moved to this area so we decided to cruise the bars which ended up really parking at one because of the sudden lightning storm and torrential downpour. Overall impression of this place was almost like meeting a D list celebrity. You have a «Oh cool! You were Data in The Goonies!» but then after that you don’t really have much to talk about.
The draft list wasn’t super impressive but most of the beers on tap were pretty inexpensive so it was a good place to hang out for and grab a few at a good cost. The boy ordered a can of beer called Porkslap and spent many minutes making jokes about it, but zero minutes reviewing the taste. Although we ordered some food worth reiterating here in a review. On another random note: the bar tender and waiter were genuinely nice– that always warms my heart.

Nothing really wrong with this place, but nothing really right with it either. For me it’s third best in the neighborhood behind the Industry and For Pete’s Sake but not by much.
Yeah, there’s some weird artwork here and the crowd can be sketchy but it’s really all I’d expect considering the location. Pulled pork is solid, beer selection isn’t overly large, and there’s a couple TV to watch sports. Standard stuff.

I must preface this review by mentioning I only go to Ugly American on Quizzo nights (thursday), which probably alters the experience a bit.
I honestly would never have found Ugly American if my Quizzo team hadn’t started playing here. It’s not in my normal neighborhood, and in a fairly residential area.
I generally just have a drink during our weekly visits, and I have no complaints about the drink selection here. There’s a good beer list featuring some rotating seasonal drafts and a pretty impressive collection of bottles for such an unknown bar. I have eaten here a couple times, and the food is decent. My teammates swear by the macaroni salad, but I can’t vouch for it myself. The veggie sandwich is surprisingly good.
My biggest gripe is the service. I know we go on the busiest night of the week, which will lend itself to less attention from the waitstaff, but sometimes it borders on ridiculous. There seems to only ever be one server working. If you’re a bar that knows you are twice as busy on a certain night than any other night, wouldn’t you schedule your staff accordingly? The servers are friendly, but always frazzled and typically forget we’re there. Not sure what the experience is on other nights of the week.
All in all, it’s a decent spot for a good beer.
Bonus: It’s always easy to find street parking in this neighborhood!

Unilocal’s phrase for a 2-​star review is «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I was here for Quizzo (Johnny Goodtimes) — the Quizzo was the best part. Sorry, also the beer. One is provided by a man in a plaid jacket, and the other just comes out of a spigot. The only part that involved the restaurant itself — the food, was pretty bad. Here’s the breakdown:
— The oven was broken, so a lot of the menu was unavailable. OK, that’s not the reason for the 2-star…but stil.
— The Pita Pizza with Chicken was a tasteless pita with 100% out-​of-​a-​can sauce, out-​of-​a-​bag grated cheese (and very little of it), and cardboard disguised cleverly as chicken. I was starving and didn’t finish it — it managed to simply arrest my appetite.
— My friends ordered hamburgers, and described them as «hockey pucks» and «hard meatballs». I didn’t try them.
— Another friend got nachos and simply said «they suck». Sorry for the lack of constructive criticism — that’s all I could get out of him.
This is my first ever negative review. The service was OK, not great. The atmosphere was good. But man, that food was terrible. The beer, Quizzo, and atmosphere kept this place from getting a 1-​star, and the food had absolutely no redeeming qualities, keeping it from getting a 3-​star. Would I ever return? Only for beer and quizzo — I’ll go on a full stomach.

How do you ruin nachos? By putting no cheese on them… and adding raw radishes. Radishes and black olives and a sprinkle of cheese and that was all. How strange is that? Meanwhile the menu says «Refried beans, pickled jalapeños, red chili sour cream, honey poblano sauce». Nope. Not even close. Server didn’t tell us they were missing items either. It was the weirdest plate of nachos I’ve ever had. Honestly just plain chips and cheese would make me happy.
Was excited that they had grilled mahi mahi fish tacos. Too many places fry the fish and then that’s all you taste. Maybe this one should have been fried to cover up the fishy flavor and bad smell! Gross.
Good for drinks. Bad for food. Even nachos…

Out of all the restaurants in Philly, I’ve probably been to The Ugly American the most (15+ times?). It’s really due to convenience; it’s one of the few restaurants very near to our house in the Pennsport area, and we often end up taking our family and friends here. It’s also a good place to stop by for dinner before catching a movie at Riverview around the corner.
Apart from wishing that their menu was a bit more extensive (due to, er, going there way too much and having tried everything I like at least three times), I really have nothing but good things to say about Ugly American. I worry a little bit about them surviving since the place is never busy, even on a weekend night, but I really hope they do. The service is always great, and while there is a limited drink selection, the drinks are good and they have a full service bar. I have frequently ordered the mussels, burger, and chicken ceasar salad, and they are always delicious. Prices here are very reasonable too. I guess I’m a little bit biased because I do feel some neighborhood loyalty to The Ugly American, but I highly recommend it to others who are looking for a nice meal out at an affordable price.

I’ve been to this place several time and my favorit menu item to order is the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, the beer selection is great. My girlfriend loves the Grilled Steak and Blue Salad.
The only complaint I have is with the Roast Beef on Weck sandwich. The description is the following: «Caramelized onions, fresh horseradish, au jus.» That’s it — another reviewer also had a problem with this sandwich in that the «au jus» sauce tasted funny I believe they described it as a fishy taste.
When I asked why the Au Jus sauce was a cloudy almost whitish color and tasted kind of like vinegar or sourbread dough I was told they use a vegetable stock and actually mix the horseradish sauce into the vegetable stock to make the au jus sauce. It just doesn’t work together and should really just be taken off the menu or changed into a traditional roast beef au jus sauce sandwich.
In fact this sandwich was so offensive to me that I wish others would try it, send it back and we could start a petition to have it removed from the menu as everything else on the menu I have tried is much better. Sometimes simpler is better! Whomever thought to come up with this au jus sauce conconction should be fired immediately.
If not for this sauce I would have given this place 4 stars!

lol, OK, the name threw me off track. And, I heard of there garbage plate, your supposed to eat it?! Yeah, turns out it’s: Two beef patties, macaroni salad, fries– raw onions, mustard pan sauce $ 12! Tempting… but I wasn’t in the mood.
I did try there Huevos Rancheros, not bad, presentation was nice, would I order it again, probably not. But I will check them out again and see what else they have to offer. Maybe the garbage plate? I just don’t know.
Oh, service was phenomenal! Very accommodating to an ever changing large group with numbers being added by the minute.

The Ugly American is a great bar/​restaurant in Pennsport. My husband and I went for dinner when it first opened years ago and we both thought it was a little to hoity-​toity for our taste. (We had these mushroom meatballs that were soft and tasteless.)
Now it seems to have come into it’s own and relaxed a bit. You can go in for Happy Hour and have really good and BIG $ 0.50 wings. (Then they say «fiery» they MEAN IT. But in a good way.)
It’s a comfy place with good bartenders and waitstaff.

I’ve been here twice so far, and have had the same two dishes both times (the hummus plate and mussels red –seriously, this is like all boyfriend and I eat anymore), as well as the same drink (Pear Woodchuck ftw!). Both times we came in on a Sunday afternoon and sat at the bar and chatted with the awesome bartender. Boyfriend and I like routines.
The first time, as we were nearing the bottom of our mussels, I got greedy and decided to pry open a big guy that hadn’t opened all the way. Bad move. Marinara sauce (which is so tasty, by the way) shot all over my white sweater. I was feeling all shamed and tomato-​ey, when the seriously awesome bartender placed a glass of seltzer in front of me along with a wad of napkins. Not only did he recommend a bunch of great beers for boyfriend and constantly make sure our glasses were full, he saved my ridiculously overpriced sweater from total tomato ruin.
The only downside to this place is that it is too far away from me and requires a visit here to be paired with a trip down to Target/​IKEA. (but really, when is that ever a bad thing?)

The «only American beer on tap» idea employed here is a great concept, but poorly executed when there are only 8 taps and only 2 of those are ever subject to change.
Otherwise the food is pretty good, and the daily specials are worthwhile, but there is something a bit woeful about the place, unfortunately. A big shame, because the thing Pennsport needs more than anything to cross the line into hip ‘hood is a bigger selection of cool bars & restaurants. But despite its valiant efforts, Ugly American remains under-​patronized and in danger of closing, I fear.

Unfortunately, this place goes often unheard of and usually forgotten.
I certainly wish it wasn’t that way. It’s a bit off the beaten path. There’s really nothing else in the area aside from the United Artist Riverview about a block away.
The Ugly American features a classy, yet comfortable environment. On the few evenings that I’ve been, the restaurant is relatively empty.
Of the dishes I’ve tried and have seen others order — the food is generally good. The draft and bottle selection will also definitely satisfy the discerning beer drinker.
There’s a few TVs around the bar area which is separate from a long narrow seating area — which is pretty good in my opinion.
Nothing exceedingly remarkable about the place, I just consider it a good and solid establishment and somewhat of a gem in the neighborhood.
One item of note: I don’t believe any other place in Philly will even come close to serving a Garbage Plate. Born in Rochester, NY the Garbage Plate has many variations but typically consists of two cheeseburger patties with mustard atop, fries and mac salad with mustard and onions. Think of it as an unbreaded version of a grease truck fat sandwich. The variations are also quite endless.
The Ugly American features an entrée of the same name with higher quality ingredients at a consumable portion, but it’s decidedly less messier and far diverged from its namesake. In my opinion, it’s like a gourmet version.
I’d highly suggest checking this place out.

I came here tonight for dinner and to check out the quizzo scene. It was a bit quiet, but I never knock a place for not being loud and crowded. In fact, I prefer it.
While the quizzo wasn’t so much fun, which could be attributed to the fact that I wasn’t drinking, it was empty, the quiz master, or the fact that I didn’t know much. Or all of the above. However, as far as quiz masters go, Johnny Good Times isn’t as amusing as Irish John.
For dinner, I had Mexican tortilla soup, and the roasted vegetable sandwich. The soup looked better than it tasted, though it didn’t taste bad, just not great. The roasted vegetable sandwich was awesome though… and keep in mind, I’m not a vegetarian.
I’d come back here for a meal and drinks, definitely.
P. S. My quizzo team name was «The Situation»

Tried this place for a drink initially and Jim the bartender is really cool, as most of the staff seem to be here.
Just got back to try out the food finally and had a great meal with some friends. We shared what we ordered and everything was great.
After reading some reviews here, ( Unilocal works!), we ordered the Fried Ravioli (Braised beef & ricotta filling, marinara, shaved cheese). It was a tiny bit salty but in the best way. We all loved it and were glad we shared two orders of it.
Most of what we ordered were specials, which were great. One exception was the Fish Tacos (Grilled mahi-​mahi, soft corn tortillas,
honey poblano sauce, fresh lime and cilantro). These were really good and fresh.
Though we were all full by the end, we decided to share a dessert since they all looked tempting as hell. We decided on the Coconut custard pie with choc g’nache crust and it was super.
Dont know what our server’s name is but she was perfect too.
Yeah, Im heading back there.