Varga Bar

I came here with some friends for brunch and we had a great experience. We had tried going other places, but everywhere we went had 1+ hour waits. Luckily, Varga opened right when we arrived at 11am so we were seated immediately. The service was very attentive and friendly!
We started with the crab fries which were delicious! Definitely recommend ordering them. I had the eggs Benedict, which had orange and truffle in the hollandise sauce. I was skeptical of the orange at first, but you couldn’t really taste it. The omelettes my friends ordered looked delicious too, I’ll be coming back here again to try some more items!

Food:
The Truffle Mac n Cheese was the BEST! Lump Crab Cheese Fries were REALLY Good too! I’m a fan of greasier/​cheesier burgers, but the Kobe Beef Sliders were still delicious.
Beer:
If you’re wondering about the 24oz. Meyerbacher Tango beer, it has a dark chocolate flavor with hints of cherry. Not my favorite, but it’s a high percentage so I left buzzed haha
Service:
Attentive, relaxed service and the food came out quickly. Very, very happy.

We came to try the crab fries but the clear winner was actually the kobe beef sliders. The fries were crisp and good. The cheese was a little too creamy and rich for my liking. But u did like the large lumps of jumbo crab meat mixed into it. Might of been better on the side to dip it in. I felt like it made the fries overly soggy. The sliders on the other hand came topped with a white sauce tomatoes, some greens, and onion rings. It’s was juicy and well seasoned. The crab fries are a must try if you haven’t though. And definitely order the kobe burger it will not disappoint.

Order anything thing that is listed on the Chalkboard and you will not be disappointed!

Love the food here but I can’t say the service is great. We had a late dinner at Varga last night around 9pm and it was decently crowded. Fortunately there wasn’t a wait for tables but it took forever to get a server and drinks.
The food definitely helped make up for the long wait for food and drinks. I had the Black Kale and Avocado salad which was delicious! Loads of avocado and grapefruit on top and the citrus dressing was the perfect level of sweetness to balance out the kale.
I also had their Kobe Beef Chili which was topped with cheese and sour cream. Super hearty and delicious with a little bit of a spicy kick to it. It came with a huge slice of buttered garlic bread which was also great!
Overall excellent food and drinks which make it worth the wait. Great neighborhood spot for dinner or late night!

Walked in for lunch on a Friday because there was a wait down the street at Cheus noodle bar. I had heard mixed reviews on this place so I was a little apprehensive. We walked in and the place was pretty empty so we were sat as a group of 5 right away. They do have a row of outdoor sidewalk seating but due to impending rain we sat inside instead. The place is pretty small and the atmosphere is laid back.
Everyone in our group got the lunch deal of a burger and a beer for $ 10 dollars (Which I admit, is a pretty great deal) and I decided to try one of their daily specials, the Buffalo Lo Mein. We also got an order of crab fries to split.
My Lo Mein was pretty good. It consisted of noodles, broccoli, and chicken in a blood orange buffalo sauce. I was skeptical of the «blood orange» aspect at first, but was actually pretty happy when my dish came and there was no orangey flavor at all. The crab fries were good, but it’s one of those dishes you have to eat right away or else everything becomes a soggy goopy mess within five minutes.
Everything seemed to be going along pretty okay until we received our bill. $ 17 for a Chicken Lo Mein?!? The only thing different from this dish and a $ 7 Lo Mein I can get in Chinatown is that they added buffalo sauce (what an upcharge!!). It’s also upsetting because the price was never written anywhere or said by our waitress when she was going over the daily specials. I found it so ridiculous that such an average restaurant can get away with such shady charging practices. If you come, I’d just stick to the regular menu items unless you’re okay with being completely robbed when it’s time to pay.

My friend who lives next door to Varga and frequents it often has been trying to get me in the door for a while now but I’ve always declined. Last week I stopped by to only snag a beer with him. The bartender seems to have a solid relationship with all the regulars that walk in the door, pouring samples of new beers for people to taste before they commit to a full 16oz draft. There are about 16 – 20 drafts with many house special cocktails.
As I saw the appetizers and meals flow out the kitchen and onto other tables my stomach began to growl. Having spent 4 years in the heart of the south I have become very fond of fried pickle spears, but they’re always hard to find. Varga had an excellent lightly battered fried pickle with a side of ranch (the key sauce to fried pickles that most places forget). The wings were also very crispy.
Today I went back for lunch only to see that they were offering $ 10 for a Kobe burger and a beer of choice. Naturally seeing the free alcohol I couldn’t decline, but I was skeptical of the burger due to the cheap price. I ordered a medium rare and prepared myself to be disappointed with a far to regular over cooked medium well. To my surprise it was cooked PERFECTLY! It was also massive and had several slices of bacon on it.
The downside is my friend ordered something off the special board that didn’t have a price listed. When the bill came they had charged my friend $ 17 for the Lo Mein. How the heck does Lo Mein cost $ 17??? I had also heard good things about the cheesy crab fries so we split it amongst the group. Sadly the cheese was too powerful and i could hardly taste the crab. I would not get these again.
5 hours have passed and I’m craving another Varga burger. I will be back.

So we live nearby. Wanted to try this place out. We sat down and got out of there as fast as we could. The wine tastes like it came from a box and while the grilled cheese was tasty it’s probably because it was covered in butter. The tomato soup was okay, nothing spectacular. What really stood out was the terrible service. No smiles, no hellos — Everyone from the waiter that sat us down to the waitress (Amanda?) that never even said hello (instead she unceremoniously dumped the menus down and walked away). Of note I also asked for a tastes of wine and she returned w a full glass and walked off before I could say anything. It was terrible and not a nice way to start the morning. Why was everyone in such a terrible mood? It wasn’t even that busy!
Next time we will stick with the stand by of tria which is just 2 blocks down the road and always has spectacular service. We actually went there after the unhappy 20min we spent at Varga…

Right when we are seated the bar area has a swarm of people and we assume it is a birthday party or flash mob. Nope. Beer chugging contest is what one person says to another. A photographer is on deck and as a winner is decided all hands go to the air. Excitement. Burgers are coming and going. Drinks are flowing. Wait staff are climbing through the crowd. 30 minutes later it’s back to business as usual as if nothing ever happened.
At my table 5 girlfriends trucked in from the NJ train station to share plates, drink a little and enjoy the open air since warm weather is within days reach.
We’re on an appetizer/​small plate extravaganza: Kobe beef sliders (a favorite), wings, gooey cheese fries, Mac and cheese (heart attack heaven), fried pickles, won-​ton thingys and the best pick – the spring rolls with ham. 3 stars for our fried food kick. Next time we come back we’re signing up for that beer chugging contest. Eye on the prize.

Good for happy hour, only okay for everything else.
I’ve been here for brunch twice, and the highlight of each brunch were the lump fries– so so so good. They don’t skimp on the sauce or the crab. Also their house made ketchup is to die for.
Otherwise, the crab omelette was so creamy that I could barely take more than one bite, and the steak and eggs were over cooked. The eggs Benedict was the best brunch item that I’ve tasted here, but it still doesn’t compare to other brunch places around center city.
Draft beers are half off during happy hour. That in addition to the lump fries make this place worth at least a quick visit. (But not for brunch)

Butternut Squash soup with Lump Crabmeat and maitake mushrooms. The soup had so much flavor.
My sister in law had the ham and cheese firing rolls. They were absolutely delicious in her words. The combination of the ham and cheese with the pickle gave it just the right tang.
The scallop special with vegetables was just devine. The scallops were cooked to perfection and the vegetables were just beautiful. There was such a great variety of vegetables cooked just to perfection.

What a bar. Great beer taps, decent menu, warm and cozy on the inside. Varga bar is a must try for any Philadelphian. Hands down their French fries and onion rings are delicious. Their happy hour begins at four, and more importantly they have a rotating cocktail menu for each month of the year. Service is rather aloof, but I still don’t have to wait too long for anything but I want from here.

This place makes the only good turkey burger I’ve ever had. The meat wasn’t dry at all, and the melted cheddar and aioli helped a lot, too. It came with fresh, lightly dressed greens, and the brioche bun was toasted and buttery.
They get two demerits — one for slow service (our waitress was sweet, though) and one for bar stools at the tables. Super weird.

Very chill spot with outdoor seating. Great place to grab some drinks and/​or appetizers. Our waitress was a little crabby but I think we came to terms during the middle of the meal.
The lump crab cheese fries were delicious but their fried pickles were heavily breaded. We couldn’t even recognize them when they came out.

My previous visit to Varga Bar was for happy hour. My most recent visit to Varga Bar was for happy hour plus dinner and totally warrants a review update.
The happy hour special is still killer. And then some, since they have it on Saturdays too. Half price craft beer drafts on a weekend? Half price craft beer drafts in general? Yes, yes, yes!
And then you throw food into the mix and you have a seriously winning combination. I had the eggplant parmesan sandwich and they took this basic concept to the next level. Firstly, it was ginormous. I’ve walked away hungry after eating eggplant parm sandwiches, but this was far from the case. There were so many ingredients that went beyond basic as well including manchego, sprouts, pickled red onions, organic greens, heirloom tomato and rosemary aioli. The marinara came in a little dish on the side. It was a little messy to eat but well worth it.
My husband had the duck confit wings. I got to try one and kind of wish we got a second order just for sharing. They were on point all around.
The only thing making this a 4 star review and not a 5 was the service. Our server was so disinterested and inattentive. He was merely going through the motions. We had to flag him down a few times and he just seemed to be dragging his feet. This is not enough to dissuade me from returning (because everything else was stellar!), I just feel it should be noted.
Hopefully my next update will include 5 star food, drink and service across the board from Varga Bar.

Truffle Mac and CHEESE!
If I had to rank all of the Mac and cheese in philly Varga would be top. This dish is cooked to perfection with a crunchy top, great shaped noodles, (we all know shape matters), super cheesy and truffle oil. Just to take it to the next level they sprinkle pieces of black truffle on top.
Truly a masterpiece.

Varga is just all-​around great. The bartenders are super friendly. The draft list is always fantastic. And now that I’ve finally tried their food (the kobe sliders), I can only say good things about that too. So, yes, Varga emanates all the positive describers.
I was here most recently Monday night for a meet-​and-​greet with Ninkasi’s founding brewer. They’re out of Eugene, Oregon, and I LOVE THEM. They also had bottles of Ninkasi’s new Ground Control. I’m not actually sure how to put into words how excited I was about both of those points (my hands shook a little upon receiving the pretty pretty space stout.), but I feel like I have to mention it here because Varga is awesome and hosts must-​attend events like that.
Definitely returning soon!

One of my favorite hangouts! Lovely corner spot, lots of windows (opened during beautiful days), and the staff loves my dog. :)
Good:
— Great beer (rotating elixirs)
— Great food (jumbo lump crab fries!)
— Happy Hour M-​Sat 4−6p (half off drafts!)
— Outdoor seating available (dog friendly)
— Nice staff (even Rich — he just acts tough — I hope!)
Eh:
— Can get very loud inside if there’s a party!
— Growler fills a touch pricey ($ 25)
Brace yourself. Beer Week is here.

I’ve been here on numerous occasions for one reason. To try and like them, I really am. But I just don’t.
They’re super close to my house, they have outdoor seating, and a decent beer list, seems to good be true right? Well it is. The service here is just horrible.
I’ll explain one experience which is similar to the rest.
I asked to try sample a beer. Being a bartending as well as a 21+ adult, I know that you are not brewing each glass of beer on your own. I watched my waitress stand next to the bar for 15 minutes before getting my sample. Finally came back which I then ordered a beer and put in a couple apps.
Again, 15 minutes on beer. Food already came from a different server/​busser. No waitress, oh but I see her. Chillin at the bar. Not even flirting with the bartender or something. Just staring off.
We were sitting outside in a section without heat lamps and noticed there were tables open with heat lamps. We moved ourselves, food and all. Waitress came back with beers (after our food has been eaten) and doesn’t even notice we moved.
Rant. Over.

Went here for a drink and had a good time. The setup of the place is pretty laid back and the wait staff is friendly and awesome.
I’ve had dinner here before and had a burger, but I wasn’t all that impressed. People had raved about the burgers but I didn’t think it is anything worth going back for. I like that they have outdoor seating and they are at a pretty good location in a nice neighborhood. Considering everyone else’s reviews I might have to go back and try something else.