| Brittingham's is probably one of the most popular Irish pubs in the Philadelphia area. The Irish music, the Irish drink and the Irish crowd (at least mostly Irish roots) appeals to both young and old pub crawlers alike.
The layout of Brittingham's is quite simple: a quaint dining area and 2 bar areas (one small and one large). The entrance places you in the small bar area. This is a cozy area with 4 booths, 12 bar stools, and enough bric-a-brac crowding the walls and ceiling to make a TGI Friday's manager
jealous. Surprisingly there are only a few brews on tap here. Rest assured the basic Irish brews are covered.
The small bar area empties into the larger bar area. The large bar area is where all of the live music happens. This room, with it's high vaulted ceiling, is a great place to see a live act, there isn't one bad seat in the house. That is unless a popular act is playing and you're standing,
then it depends upon how tall you are.
There are two things about this room that don't appeal to me: the folding tables and the lack of access to the dart boards. Sure the Brittingham's staff places nice tablecloths over the folding tables, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, they're only appropriate when being used on a
temporary basis. Also, one fun thing to do when drinking some good Irish brews is to tell stories and throw darts. Brittingham's has 4 dart boards mounted around the room, but there is no easy access to them, you'd have to throw them over the tables. The dartboards are such a tease - as it stands
now, they're strictly there for decoration.
Brittingham's is a place where some nights the crowd is mostly 20 to 30 year olds and other nights the crowd is dominated by 40somethings out for a night on the town with their significant other. For instance, I was at Brittingham's one time and there was a band called Causeway playing
and the clientele was primarily 20somethings. Recently I visited the establishment and the band playing was 2 gentlemen, one playing guitar and the other playing a banjo, and the crowd was primarily late 30 and 40 year olds. Regardless of your age, the common denominator at Brittingham's is the
Irish music and a frothy Guinness poured right.
In the end, if you haven't gone to Brittingham's, give it a try. And hey, two doors down is the General Lafayette, so if you're in the mood for a mini-pub crawl out in the middle of the 'burbs, this isn't bad place to start.
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