| Tangier resides directly across Lombard Street from Graduate Hospital in downtown Philadelphia. This Moroccan themed corner bar is fairly small: 4 booths, a back area with tables & chairs and the
bar.
The wooden bar is nothing special, and nor does it try to be. It's about as elaborate as any other countertop you'd see at the corner bar in your neck of the woods. We were hoping that with a name like Tangier, the decor might exploit it's African namesake, but
no luck here. Well, to be truthful, there is a 1/4 size plaster camel in the front window, but it's in pretty bad shape (Neck looks like it's been severed and then glued back on.)Tangier also a fish tank - no, unfortunately nothing exotic here. I was hoping to see Piranha, this is
an African bar isn't it?
Flowing from the beer taps are: Yards, Guinness, Flying Fish, Amstel Lite, Pilsner Urquell, Woody's Apple Cider and Bass...****
We temporarily interrupt this bar review, to bring you this intrusion... Hello all, Nutty here. I'm writing into the Dog's Palm while Elbo and he enjoy their stogies. I was playing a game on his Palm and he yells at me to stop jerking off and get to work! Shit.
I am here in the Tangier relaxing with my Pilsner Urquell. So what's the deal with the Tangier? Ok, it looks a bit like a seedy African bar you would see in a James Bond movie, but no matter what you do to the façade, or the interior, it's still a Philly bar
with your average Joe's sporting the clothes with the Philly team of the season.
It's a good place to drink. There is no eye-candy here so you gotta bring your own.
A lot of Bob on the sound system. Don't even be thick enough to ask "Bob who?" There is only one BOB!" - End of Nutty interruption.****
Yeah, to add to the confusion, a bar with an African name is playing Jamaican music on the sound system, go figure? The crowd is a healthy mix of a few 20somethings and few 50somethings. The mix appeared to either have stumbled in from the hospital across the street or the surrounding
neighborhood. So it's a crapshoot if you're looking to meet an aspiring artist or aspiring doctor. Aw, hell, this all part of the African adventure and allure of Tangier.
Well anyway, the countertop on our booth was sticky as hell and patrons of yesteryear (or yesterday) had etched their names into the wood - very tacky! The wood needed to be refinished and a fresh coat of polyurethane applied in generous amounts. The orange walls
and orange & green stools added to the magic that is Tangier. The years have not been kind to this establishment.
But hey, this place permits cigar smoking, so I say smoke 'em if you've got 'em. The drink prices are reasonable and there's no dress code. Sure, Tangier is nothing to write home about, but if you're in the mood for just throwing a few back and not having anyone
bother you, this might be the corner bar for you.
- The preceding review was formulated by the combined experiences of The Dog and the Nutty Irishman. |
