It's an old dive bar with a nice vibe. The people are very friendly and chatty. The bartender was very helpful in breaking the ice for you.

Always a good time coming to Old City to visit Brownies Pub! Great bartenders with good conversation and many laughs! I love coming by on a late evening to have a beer, hear some music and socialize! Noise is expected in a bar such as this one, always meeting some great folks along the way passing through Old City! Cheers! read more

I don't have anything terrible to say about Bronwies. Bartenders were friendly despite it being busy, and drinks were not astronomically expensive for the city. It's a homey pub and I don't have anything bad to say about the ambiance either. The only reason I'm making this review is to say I wish I had been informed/ I wish there had been very obvious signage behind the bar informing patrons that when paying with card they initially take 50 dollars out of your account. It's been three days since my visit and the 50 dollar pending charge is still there in my account. I'm not criticizing the policy as I'm sure there is some good reason for it, I just wish I had been informed because I would have payed cash so that I wasn't losing 50 dollars for an indefinite amount of time. read more

Used to be my go to dive bar three years ago - You can smoke here, there aren't any real set prices (the bartenders just make them up and they pour generous hard liquor drinks if you are a regular), they have a juke box, pool table upstairs, dart board. Unforunately, the pandemic and times are changing this old staple - you can now no longer smoke here which they blamed on the pandemic however the bartender on Saturday informed me the establishment is seeing how "things" go with the no smoking and the updated bar. Which means to me they are panning to the new wave of customers and changing their dive bar waves (seeing if this generates more money $$$). I didn't have it in me to dock them more then 1 star but what I have learned in my life at the age of 38 is know who you are, know your values, don't force anything. To me it looks like this old time dive bar is changing and I do not like the changes being made. I will miss you Brownies. Good luck with your future business and customers, you will always have a spot in my heart. P.S You can still smoke at Paddy's pub which I immediately went to afterwards. read more

Very comfy dive bar, great to stop in when you're in old city. Drink prices are good and the vibe always relaxed or fun depending on the night. Bartender is great. Currently does not allow smoking inside. Pool table upstairs if you want to play, and darts downstairs. read more

A great Neighborhood Place with good musicians that come play Duos trios and full bands. Local folks who love to get together and have a good time. read more

Brownies Pub - brownies pub - Pubs Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Weirdos and dirty. People rub up against you and others pan handle. Only went in there because the plough and the stars had no seats at the bar and brownies was the only other place with a Guinness sign. Mistake. read more

For a Saturday night out, the Throwback dancing music was on point! Drinks weren't too weak either! read more

I've been going here for longer than I want to admit. Through waves of changes and still ... it is a place to have a beer and a cocktail. read more

What a great spot to have a drink and play pool. Fran the bartender is an absolute saint!

Wheee, on a beer bar hop in Olde Town Philly, we stopped into Brownies Pub and we lucky enough to trade spots at the bar with a couple that was leaving. The place was packed and full of energy. On a Presidental beer kick, I decided to order the George Washington Ale by the local Yards Brewing Company produced from the first President's official beer recipe. Mmmm, taste of history. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/zspnOaAN4jpseR3X7YtX5Q?select=h3UGofDy4olMJVVGwU9_-Q He ordered the Penn's Pale Ale, from Pennsylvania Brewing Co. Another great local beer and pretty light and refreshing. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/zspnOaAN4jpseR3X7YtX5Q?select=xMNi6i0OqCoy2WktUfz_rg Then to finish us off for the night, we split a Yakima Glory from Victory Brewing Company. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/zspnOaAN4jpseR3X7YtX5Q?select=KGVgWtMlxCW8UuxY7zFvmw Very smooth and packs a pretty strong taste. The only downside was that my hair ended up smelling like an ashtray after being inside this smoke friendly bar for only a couple beers. Otherwise we had a great night out, thanks to the good beer and good times at Brownies. read more

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Love it here, but with pool costing $2 per game, I'd hope the table/cues would be better quality

Always chill and always a good time. Great people pop in and out. Wonderful ownership with amazing bartenders who care about the clientele, atmosphere and drinks they serve. You come often enough and aren't a major prick you could just make an extended family. read more

This is a fantastic place for happy hour. Half price drinks!! It's cash only, so bring some ones. It is a smoking establishment, so don't be surprised. I got a great draft beer for a mere two bucks! That's hard to find these days. And the bartender was nice and attentive. I highly recommend you stopping here 4-6 on weekdays! read more

Brownies Pub - This place has a great happy hour, 4-6 half price draft beer. Mine was a mere $2.25. Beware tho, it is a smoking allowed establishment. - Pubs Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It's a divey, dark pub with a good array of beers and a pool table in the back. I like it for a quick stop-in, on the way here or there, when I'm in the neighborhood. Mirrors on the ceiling. I didn't inquire about any, "pink champagne on ice," though, as quoting Eagles songs would make me wanna slit me own troat. read more

Brownies Pub - Mirrors on the ceiling... - Pubs Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The ambiance of this pub was what we were looking for, however, the bartender was rude. Before asking us anything, the Bar tender asked for IDs. It felt that as younger patrons, our presence was irritating to the bartender and we were talked down to even though we were polite and respectful. Meanwhile, the older patrons were treated with the hospitality we were expecting. when my friend went and asked for a specific type of beer, the bartender sarcastically said "where do you see that beer!!??". While he still went on to recommend other beers, we did not feel welcome here. read more

Nice dive bar with a city feel. Friendly bar tender. Cheap drinks, they ONLY take cash so come prepared·atm available inside if need be· Pool tables and bathrooms upstairs. Great vibe. Local and relaxed. Inexpensive Great location (other bars in close proximity) Chilled crowd Pool tables ATM inside smoking read more

We were visiting from out of town and found this spot! Cash only, smoking bar. Chill crowd, decent prices, & good bartender. Exactly what we wanted & we're looking for! Also has a pool table upstairs. read more

This place is THE place to truly feel Philly as a beer drinker! The place is full of memories and mementos of those who wore the Blue and more. The owner is a beautiful sweet Lady who cooks the specials made here. The bartenders are all PHILLY and have stories that'll provide much a laugh! Aunt Frannie is my favorite...he's got the miles on him and the scars to prove it too. Good times are sure to be had here and you ain't waiting for the next beer too long! It's smoky....its undignified and unapologetic as it should be because IT'S BROWNIES! A must go....and I guarantee you'll find a cold brew and a good story here! read more

Gotta love the dive bar scene! This was the second stop of our fateful Old City bar crawl and it was a pile of fun. There's not too much space downstairs and smoking is permitted, so keep those things in mind if you're with a big group. The bartenders were friendly though--they even gave our group a bunch of yummy cookies that were leftover from a party earlier. The upstairs is great. Complete with a jukebox and pool table, it's guaranteed to be a riot. Our group was the only one who discovered the second floor, so we had it all to ourselves. Much fun! My biggest complaint is the price. For a dive bar, they sure know how to rob you dry. Our round of vodka shots was comparable to what you might expect in Rittenhouse Square. Not cool. But if you stick with beer, it's not too terrible. All in all, I suggest coming here if you're already tipsy. It's pretty rough around the edges, but who doesn't love a classic Irish Pub? read more

If you like to smoke and drink in Old City, then go here. If you don't, then no reason to come. Beer is reasonably priced and they always have the Phillies on TV so its not bad if you don't have anywhere else to be. read more

I enjoyed Brownies. It's a little dive in the middle of old city, know what it is and you'll be fine. There isn't much to it, this is a shot and beer place. There isn't much room at the bar, when I went upstairs to the bathroom, there wasn't anyone upstairs. They have darts in the back and billiards upstairs. I'm not sure about the prices, because it wasn't my round at that bar. This is a smoking bar, and I am not a smoker, but it did not smell tooooo much of cigarettes. read more

Brownie's is more of a local's bar than anything else. There are two floors. On the first floor is the bar, and up the stairs are the bathrooms and a room with a pool table and dart board. There is a juke box on each floor, and there is Tuesday night karaoke. Brownie's offers food on the daily, up until around six or so. They have the usual bar foods-cheese steaks, burgers, wings, and some random sandos. They do have breakfast sandwiches starting at 11am. Happy hour is from 4-6 Monday through Friday. This place allows smoking, so keep that in mind when entering. read more

First of all, I am a local of Old City, I live around here and have been to Brownies a number of times and it has always been ok. But Ladies I want to warn you to stay far away based on my last experience which was tonight. I brought my friend there for her birthday- bad mistake- a guy who is a ' regular' hit my friend over her head because he was mad she put on his hat he left on the bar - he yelled and said bitch that's my property- she apologized and he continued to yell and say awful things- the bartender stood up for him and said you bitches have to leave. The bartender was not very nice and made us leave and we didn't do anything wrong . I felt like we were kicked out because we were women and I feel like we were were just being disrespected. I am beyond upset. I will never go there again and I will tell all my friends and anyone to stay away! read more

I stumbled upon Brownie's while waiting for my wife to get a tattoo next door. This is an interesting place as the crowd is mixed of hipsters, yuppies and tourists. The barteneder with all the ink during the day (sorry I forgot your name) is really cool and very attentive. They have a good variety of beer (Schmidt's pounders to Yards) and booze and I never get the beer snob attitutde that many bars in this city have. If you are a smoker you are in luck because you can still smoke here. The menu is you normal bar selction however the food is very good. The pork roll and cheese on a kaiser roll with a cold Schmidt's is awesome. My only downside is TV's, I am not a fan of TV's in small bars. They have sattelite radio which is often tuned to old new wave. read more

Take a step back in time when the bar were design to be a neighborhood gathering place. Some might call this place hip, but it's not trying to be hip or cool. It's bar and does what a bar does best. It allows people to drink and socialize. There is nothing wrong with Brownies, don't expect the latest trend with food and don't expect your cocktail to be made with hand crafted mixers and cost $20. The beer will be cold, the food will be tasty, your bar mate will talk to you and your bartender will have a story. Enjoy Philly and enjoy Brownies. read more

I had a friend in from out of town who has a relationship with Irish pubs similar to a mosquito's relationship with bright lights. She's always drawn in but the result isn't always great. She saw the sign on 2nd and in we went. It's pretty smoky and we all smelled gross when we left, so you should know that upfront. The bartender criticized her jukebox choices and was impatient and unfriendly. Well whiskey was $6, which seemed kind of steep for such a dirty dive bar. Except for its location, there's no reason to choose this place over anywhere else. I probably won't go back. read more

Not your typical run of the mill dive bars! Close but not quite! From the publicly shared cups of pretzel bites that I would never touch because let's be real... I have no idea where public hands have been to the jukebox, pool table, and darts... can't ask for more classic dive. Prices are super cheap and they get the job done! Did I mention you can smoke in this bar? Pretty rare here in the city. They do have a decent filter action system for non- smokers. My go to spot for a city special or just a good ole Jameson! read more

Brownies is definitely oasis-like in the soul-melting collection of meat-markets that comprises Old City. It's unpretentious, reasonably priced and the barstaff are down-to-earth. I even saw some dude perform a magic trick when I was last there. He had this girl pick a card out of the deck, burned a napkin, rubbed the ash on his forearm and as if by (you got it) magic, the number and suit appeared on his arm. Some other dude tried to explain to me how it's done but I'm still impressed. The beer selection isn't fabulous, but there are one or two things to have on draft. The whiskey is a-flowin, though, and there is a dartboard in the backroom. It's a good time if you are in the company of friends, or even if you just like magic tricks. read more

The service was good but It is very difficult as a non smoker to adjust to places that still allow smoking. I know it has to do with amount of food a place sell but I would not return because I dont like the smoking aspect. otherwise I would consider it a cozy cool hang out and it would be 3.5- 4 stars. My lungs rate it 2.5 stars read more

Brownies Pub - Stoudt oktoberfest - Pubs Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

One of the few places I know of still allowing smoking at the bar, brownies was a little TOO divey for my tastes. This was the first step on a bar crawl, so we didn't stay long, but the smoke coupled with the narrow layout and and getting pushed a but by people trying to get between the bar and the tables made me happy to crawl on. If you're trying to avoid 2nd hand smoke, stay away. Plenty of other non smoking joints on the block read more

This place is a great old-time divey pub, and has always one of my Old City go-tos. Apparently they have recently decided to go a different direction with the hot/tatted female bartender, which (on principle) I approve of. However, when said hot/tatted bartender is so utterly unfriendly you and your wife feel decidedly unwelcome, that's a different story. Pretty sure i won't be back. read more

Nice spot for a quiet beer and a smoke. Regulars are cool. Bartenders are good. There's a pool table upstairs. Cash only.

The place was gross, a total dive bar. If you are in to a dive bar then def go here! The bouncer was a TOTAL asshole to us (group of 8) telling us to get out and he grabbed our beer from us. We were not acting up or anything so we were surprised to get treated that way. It was last call and we were aware but as shitty and a dive place this bar was, we shouldn't have gotten treated in such a crappy way. Needless to say don't even bother going here because there are SO MANY other dive bars to go to. read more

The third of what seems like an all liquid reviews. Thanks to the weather, I was going to get to sleep in 3 hours longer. We ventured out into the once in a generation snow storm. 20". Most of the city was shut down and cabs were non-existant. So jacketless yet again. We trudged through the knee high snow. In the shadow of Independence Hall, we walked to old city. We bolted into this place. It's a nice little pub. there were hearty soles. Some in the back playing dart on a real dart board. There was a good selection of beer. The bartender was a cool dude. The jukebox was getting well used and dancing eventually broke out. So it proved a good place to be in this snowy of nights. I did buy a hoodie for health reasons and it looks cool. side story.. In this city of brotherly love, the kind where arguments and fights happen in a family, a drunk fight breaks out across the street. The bouncers go out to break it up. Yet on this snowy of nights. The only thing a punch did for a man was to cause him to fall. So we in the bar got treated to what looked like Three Stooges. Sadly, in the bar a gal whose brother was outside goes into a panic attack like I've never scene. An ambulance had to be called. I hope she's all right. I was amazed giving the driving conditions how quick and ambulence showed up. read more

Great people, good prices, good ventilation & they allow smoking! Heh, some people might not like looking at people smoking, but there's probably less flu germs floating around in a place like this with the extra ventilation than in a banned bar! read more

Walked in with 3 friends and were told that there was no menu. The bartender was incredibly rude and told us to go to the place next door if we wanted a meal. Worst 2 minutes of my life. read more

I love this little semi-dive bar! Super friendly staff, and locals, strong drinks, and they allow smoking - The music was really great, and not so loud that you're unable to have a conversation. We really enjoyed it there, so much so that 'one drink' became three or four! read more

This place is awful. I thought when I walked in and there seemed to be locals as oppose to tourist that this place was a winner. I was wrong. For a self proclaimed Irish bar, the bartender didn't know how to pour a proper Guinness which incidentally tasted a bit off. The bartender plopped the beers down and couldn't wait to get back to the conversation he was having with Mr. Marlboro at the other end of the bar. Then when my companion wanted to order another round, he gave this look of exasperation as if we were bothering him. If you want rude service, this is your place. If you want to go to a place that has great beer and they actually know something about service, go anyplace else. read more

Brownies offers cheap beer when certain pro games are being televised. That's the only draw I could identify, though. The staff members seemed kind of stand-offish and the place is a bit of a dump. read more