I hate to admit it but The Dog was a little reluctant to visit Byrne's Tavern for a couple of reasons. By our own admission, the P-town crew attempts to stay away from the neighborhood/corner  bars.  These bars are great if your a local, but they are often no-frills and serve up the pints with a head of local gossip. 

The other issue is the neighborhood. Byrne's Tavern is in a section of Philly called Port Richmond. This part of the city has seen better days. But with Byrne's Tavern close proximity to I-95, their private parking lot and a welcome sign in the form of a  3 story high shamrock, the knock on the neighborhood doesn't become an issue. 

When you roll up to Byrne's Tavern, the first thing that you'll notice is that they've got a fenced-in parking lot with an attendant. There are even a few hidden cameras that keep an eye on the exterior.   

Byrne's has two entrances: the side entrance will put you in  the dining room and the corner entrance puts you right in the middle of the bar. The dining room has about a dozen or so tables set up. On the Friday night that I visited, the entire dining room was full with young and old alike. Food is your typical pub variety: wings, chicken fingers, fries, burgers, etc. Next to the dining room is the bar area. 

For such a large building, I was expecting the bar to be a lot bigger. They have a few tall bar tables scattered about. The bar can support  about a dozen or so liquorati. Being a working class neighborhood, Byrne's taps reflect the standard domestics (it hurts to see Coor's Light served up at a nice place like this). But there is one good surprise on tap: Guinness. Sure 90% of bars nowadays serve up the pride of the emerald isle, but the pour here is exceptional. It rivals the pour of The Plough and the Stars for God's sake! And it downright laughs at the Guinness pour that Jillian's serves up. 

As for decor, Byrne's interior has the look of a pub, a place meant to be a watering hole for the working people. They've even dedicated a sizable chunk of bar-wall to the local unions. We're talking plaques and license plates from the bricklayers, glazers, pile-drivers (are they wrestlers?), linemen, boilermakers, teamsters, roofers, plumbers, carpenters, pipe fitters and, well, you get the picture. If it's a local union, they're represented. You won't miss a Sixer's or Flyer's game either,  with the pair of TV's they've got mounted over the bar. 

As for the crowd that hangs their hat (or bonnet) at Byrne's, it's mixed. There were people in their 20's side-by-side with people in their 50's & 60's. The couple of honey babies that were in their 20's were sweeeet but did appear to be warming up here before heading downtown. If Byrne's is on your way en route to Center City, it really would be a good place to warm up. Parking is free, the beer is cheaper then downtown (pints of Guinness were about $4/pint) and the crowd is laid back. 

At the Byrne's Tavern, they've only got 2 rules (actually 2 signs over the bar):

1. "Be Good or Be Gone."

&

2. "No Shoes. No Kilt, No Service."

What else is there to say?

As you're zooming down Southbound I-95, you may have noticed this sign before the Allegheny Exit on your lower right.