Teri’s Bar

This place is dope… my beer was cold and the bartender with a beard gave me nice HJ ;)

I had been to this place a few times back when it was Teri’s Deli, a far cry from what it is today. The food was fucking awesome and the staff was friendly. I’ve heard some rumors regarding what happened in terms of management and ownership transfer, but I can’t say exactly. When I found it turned to a bar, I was sad to lose my favorite undiscovered breakfast spot, but glad to have a cool new bar selling tater tots. Cut to 2 or so years later, I come back to the neighborhood to find Teri’s has gone directly to hell. What. the. Fuck. Happened??? It’s a breeding ground for crust punks and hardcore underachieving alcoholic 30-​something man children. And probably stds. I’ve heard rumors that they still sell food, but if you’ve seen that bathroom (I gag thinking of it) and you eat there, you’re out of your mind. Since I live up the street, I’ve been here a few times as the last stop on my way home, but I can never get myself to stay long. The crowd gets way too loud and obnoxious on the outside and the inside is too dirty to stay in. Perhaps I’m just feeling salty because I have a few good memories with this place before whoever owns it let it get in such bad condition, or maybe I just really wish they would get it together. I suspect there will be more than one rebirth in this place’s future.

Teri’s was alright… but now no happy hour and still serving tiny drinks in plastic cups?
GFY Teri’s.

There are literally hundreds of better shit bars to spend your money at in this town.
It’s not even cheap.

Located smack-​dab in the heart of the Italian Market, Teri’s is a popular spot for South Philly locals to hang out, drink, and catch the occasional live music performance; that is, if no one is playing at Connie’s Ric Rac next door. My first time at Teri’s was when my theater group hosted a benefit luau for an upcoming production. We had a couple surf rock bands perform, but the space, in my opinion was a bit small for the size of the crowd we ended up having, much less our merchandise table and some additional vendors, so a number of people hung out in clusters outside. Sound quality was pretty decent, and I was happy to be able to nurse a can of Strongbow for most of the evening, so I’d return for another show!

Fun environment with good friends, good prices, and TUESDAY NIGHT QUIZZO! Finally! Something to do on Tuesdays at 9PM!

DON’T:
come with high expectations
expect to find a clean bathroom
order fancy drinks
be rude to the bartenders
be afraid to walk though the people standing out front
DO:
stand outside and chain smoke
play with the foosball table
order whiskey specials
tip the bartenders a lot
try your best not to get in a bar fight
teri’s is not the same bar that it was a few years ago,
it’s strictly a bar not a restaurant.

This place gets a extra star for trying to do live music. But after seeing the restroom, who would ever eat here? The only upside to my experience is that I was able to carry my beer out onto the sidewalk, thus spending less time actually inside of this establishment.

Used to hold a monthly event here. Bartender lady was very uncool. Complained about our live music and falsely accused attendees of stealing beer from behind the bar she was responsible for attending. I will never do business with this place again.

Ohh man, Teri’s is so cool!
Its cool in this sort of crust-​punk, late-​night, drinking on the side walk, this-​bike-​is-​a-​pipebomb, eastbay Oakland aesthetic. Not to mention apparently they also have a decent brunch scene going on. Which is difficult to imagine because, 1) I’ve never been there in the day time and 2) at night the divey-​dive bar scene is so entrenched it’s hard to imagine the bar lined with pasteled polo’s and maxidress clad Jewish-​Italian-​American Princesses from Jersey (lets be honest, this is still S. Philly).
That not withstanding, the spot is good. Prices are fair considering the reputation which proceeds it. Also, besides the plethora of bike punks, there is a nice mix of industry people, local Mexican boys, and the homeless. Very Philadelphia.

I walked in for breakfast and the waiters were sitting in the booths… with their feet ON the tables. Not my thing.
I couldn’t sit the booths anyway, the oddly low and long shelves caused me to crouch over the table. Maybe I’m too tall? Still… not comfortable.
I’m sure it would make a great dive bar, but, for breakfast? No thank you.

I’ve been here twice an love, love love it. The food is amazing and the servers rule. I haven’t been there for a night event yet but I’m curious how it fills up bc it’s so small.
Everything on the menu is good.
It’s such an unassuming place you’d have no idea. A hidden gem.

I haven’t had their food as the kitchen closed before I got hungry (assuming around midnight because it was 12:15-ish or so when I asked), but, I was pleased with my first visit. $ 4 Citywides (and they’re PBR tallboys; not 12 oz cans). Great bartender and atmosphere.
Just be a little careful with the bathrooms; the lock was broken.

Whether you like or hate hipsters (I tend to be 70%-30%), you do have to admit that most know how to make an awesome bar. And when it comes down to it Teri’s is a hipster bar done right.
Bar wise Teri’s has all of its dynamics in the right place. Happy hour goes from 6 – 8 and features an ample amount of specials. 5 drafts beers rotate semi frequently, and it fully stocked with an ample amount of bottles and cans. But the booze flows freely and they deliver some good cocktails that have a soda fountain twist.
When it comes down to it Teri’s shines the best when it comes to food. your veghead friends will love the veggie griller sandwich or vegan tuna salad; and the fact that they can load it up with spinich, mushrooms, vegan cheddar or mozzerella, and then some. meanwhile meat lovers can chow down on a meatball parm, angus burger, rockstar cheesesteak, and then some (and fully load it with extra bacon to boot!). their weekend brunch features an impressive amount of omelet and panckae offerings to go with your bottomless coffee. And a big bonus goes to the incredible fries and tater tots.
Teri’s Entertainment ranges from quizzo, to dance parties that features DJs like Boradzilla spinning on the ones and twos. And they even mange to fit in the occasional concert.

They have a late happy hour here, so it’s the perfect place to head to after the Devil’s Den happy hour ends. They have $ 1 off cans and other drink specials. The tater tots here are AWESOME! I got the cowgirl tots with vegan beef and pepper jack cheese. It was a HUGE heaping plateful of them that were more than enough for 3 people. They are just sooo delicious and perfectly crispy. I can’t wait to go back for more tots!

How much can one place suck? Well, I’ll tell you. Let me first say that if you live in Philadelphia because Williamsburg isn’t an option and you ride a $ 700 fixie covered in stickers so it doesn’t look like a $ 700 fixie and you wear a rediculous beard complimented only by your moustache tattoo on the inside of your index finger and you drink Lion’s Head because you think it’s ironic when in reality it is because you spent all of your money on your $ 700 fixie instead of paying PECO which you haven’t done in three months because you think its a revolution even though the rest of us are paying your bills in higher rates but you don’t care because you spent three days at Occupy Philly… you’re going to love this place.
I went to Teri’s to see a friend’s band play. Why is this place a music venue? It is small. It is narrow. There is no space for people, for a band, for anything. The acoustics were absolutely awful. A band that is good will sound like a rabid cat orgy in this place.
The real kicker was that on this evening, despite the fact that there were two bartenders and it wasn’t even remotely crowded (though 50 people make this place packed) the bartender still managed to charge my card for someone elses’ tab AND give my card to someone else. Cancelling your card at 1am sucks. The only thing remotely close to an apology that this raven-​haired goddess of fauxhemian-​ness offered was to tell me that our tabs were almost the same amount.
They may have a menu worthy of a second chance, but in this town, with so many other options, I’m not giving them one.

When the line for Sabrina’s is way too long, there’s no need to worry– or wait. There are plenty of other breakfast options in the Italian Market neighborhood! Fitzwater Café is definitely my most favorite, but last Sunday morning I was itching to try somewhere new. I whipped out my Unilocal App which directed me towards Teri’s, which is located just past Washington on 9^th.
I couldn’t stop staring after we sat down in our booth. The beer bottle décor (cute and kitschy), the clientele (which ranged from super hip to super elderly), the DJ spinning oldies hits in the back corner (11am on a Sunday, people!), it was all too much. I couldn’t even stop looking at the menu. $ 3 for a breakfast sandwich? Toto, we’re definitely on the other side of Washington now.
Our server was friendly and the food came out quick– but I have to admit I wished my eggs tasted like they do at Sabrina’s. My goat cheese and mushroom omelet was STUFFED with goat cheese (dare I say, too much?) and the mushrooms were marinated in some kind of balsamic vinaigrette, which I wish I had known before I ordered it. The homefries were greasy without any crunch (I love the crunch, I NEED the crunch).The pre-​buttered toast tasted kinda like refrigerator.
It’s not that I wouldn’t ever go back– I would. But next time I think i’ll just suffer the line a few blocks North…

I’ve never managed to get up early enough on the weekend to try the good diner breakfast that pals have told me of. Usually end up wandering to Teri’s in the Italian Market during non-​busy, after-​brunch hours when there are sometimes less than a handful of other souls.
I feel very Jarmuschy at Teri’s during these times. So sitting at the counter of a dark diner and drinking reminds me of something outta a Jim Jarmusch film? I’m not gonna delve too far into this rambling to make you try to understand that, especially since there’s a good chance that statement may make very little sense. I just blurt these things out. That’s what I do now. I feel Jarmuschy there, and that’s the way it is.
Another thing I do is say, «Nah, nah, I’m alright,» when my rollin buddy suggests that we spilt tater tots. He then orders them anyway cause he’s knows that I’m fulla not-​willpower and I will certainly be getting down with some chilli and cheese smothered tater tots. They’re filthy good. I recall a very tasty grilled cheese at some point too.
Another thing, I do appreciate Teri’s can-​can happy hour. $ 2 dollar cans. $ 2 cans have altered many of my plans… and so then we end up stayin much later as the place gets super packed and we talk about if we are liking the music or not. We keep goin back.

Tater Tots
Came here late on a Saturday night with a couple other famished Unilocalers, still half in the bag from the beer fest at the E-​Factory. We were at Varga and we got the call to come down to Teri’s. It’s not far from my house so I agreed.
Two orders of tots later…
Wow, those things are amazing. We can skip the beer I drank, it was good, but standard Philadelphia selection (we are spoiled). The décor looks like a diner although a group of silly girls and their jersey shore crew started an impromptu dance floor in front of the bathroom. Classy.
All I’m saying is, those tots rocked my socks. I’m craving them right now.

I had some time to kill while my car was being inspected down the street so I decided to try and find a place to eat. I walked past this place many times in the past without even noticing that it was there. My fiancé and I stopped in not expecting much.
We were blown away! This place has a ton of vegan and vegetarian items. They have cheesesteaks (beef or chicken style seitan), seitan sloppy joes and even vegan tuna salad. I am so excited!
All-​in-​all, we got two mixed drinks, a vegan cheesesteak on a sesame seed roll and a huge!!! order of tater tots for $ 15.
Everything here, including the beers (which are of a wide variety for beer snobs like me), is cheap.
Give this place a try… you won’t be disappointed. The food and drink are great and the prices are just right!