The Gaslight

Had the poorest service experience I can remember this afternoon. I came in alone with a reservation, and the restaurant was about ¾ full. My waiter was polite, but the last thing he said to me between 1:00 and 1:35pm was, «I’ll give you a minute to look at the menu.» Yes, he disappeared (not just from my table – from the whole dining room!) for 35 MINUTES, so long that I flagged down another server and just gave my order to her. When my server returned, he apologized for getting caught up with the large party at a nearby table, though he had not been helping them either.
I half expected I might get something comped given that when I asked for the check, I had been there for over an hour for an order of a fried chicken sandwich (which was the sole reason for the three star review), but no, I paid even for my cup of coffee.
I have been to the Gaslight 3 times now, and I will come back again one more time, but the lack of attention on the part of the waitstaff galls me.

Not very good! In fact, bad! Very bad!
We ordered our entrees and cornbread to come out before said entrees, yet when I’m almost done with my meal we reminded the dude about the cornbread and he admitted he forgot. He then went to put it in (so maybe we could have it as a dessert) and he forgot AGAIN and his excuse the 2^nd time was that «there is a large party and he had to tend to them». I glanced over at the large party he was referring to and they also seemed disappointed, if not distressed over the unjust automatic gratuity they were sure to incur.
No one ever asked how our food was, but to be fair if I cooked it I don’t think I’d have the courage to ask either. The only benefit of the overcooked, terribly dry and virtually unsalted frittatas we received were all the egg dish puns I was able to make (not-​a frittata) in a desperate attempt to laugh my way through one of the worst brunch creations I’ve had.
The staff insisted on bringing the cornbread even though we were done and asking for the check so we entertained them by allowing that to happen. Billed as ‘cornbread with butter & jam”, the cornbread itself was very nice and well cooked, but the jam was an unwelcome bacon & jalapeño creation. I don’t eat pork but when something is listed as «jam», with no explanation, the customer isn’t likely to surmise it has a meat product. Best of all… cornbread on the bill (no comps FOR THE WIN!)
I won’t be back unless someone gaslights me into doubting my memory and sanity.

Express (between lunch and dinner) menu features the best of Gaslight… 3 in 1 when you order GSLT Burger incl: aged cheddar on top grade 2 patty meat with house-​made pickles and seasoned fries. So you’re trying 3 items. So yummy. Straight across the corner is The Franklin Fountain.

Great place. It wasn’t inviting from the outside for months because it’s surrounded by a few dive bars. Just walk in– do it.
Two bars. The smaller one is my fav.
Old fashions on tap? Sold! They are great too! Their happy hour is a steal which includes this drink.
Corporate events? We held a happy hour here and it was great! Pricing is very good as well.
Food is tasty which is huge in my book.

This place was pretty awesome to get a drink and some dinner. My girlfriend and I went here last evening and we enjoyed our experience. We got there for Happy Hour, which has to be one of the best in the city! Three dollars on all draft and 4 dollar appetizers is pretty cool when you want to save a few pennies. We sat at the bar and our bartender was pretty awesome. She was very attentive and friendly toward us, she was just willing to chat.
The food was pretty good I would have to say. The cornbread with the bacon jam was a sweet and salty treat. Also, chicken nuggets with the BBQ sauce was great as well. My Mac N’ Cheese entrée was incredibly cheesy and I loved the cornbread dusting on it. This is probably a place I will frequent for a great happy hour down Old City.

Our recent dinner very disappointing.
The food was fine (scallops were a bit burnt) but the service did not fair as well.
We asked for no croutons and yet we received them, our water was never refilled, and our silverware was taken after the appetizer and never replaced.
Our waiter pointed out that our table was wobbly and said he would fix it and never did.

Menu is out of sight! The beet appetizer is a must have & the chicken nugget appetizer. The burger is also very good. They have a great beer list. Staff is great too.

VERY slow bar service, stingy portions, and indifferent bartenders who take their time pouring. Oh, and that’s when they don’t run out of glasses.
Pros: Nice interior, food well presented, but just not much of a warm feeling to this place.

The food was average 4 out of 10 stars.
1) $ 30 for a dozen oysters no crackers.
2) corn bread taste like it was made from a jiffy box.
3) wouldn’t honor the Unilocal check in offer during brunch hours. even though it doesn’t specify that anywhere on the offer that is for dinner only
4) menu outside was different than menu inside. The server apologized for that.
5) the gave us a ½ glass of OJ
On the plus sides The music was excellent oldies, the place was rather quiet on a Sunday during football season. The servers were friendly, attentive and the food came quickly.
Too many options in Old City to choose this place. I would pass until they get it together.

Oh, Gaslight how I want to love you… But you just fall so short! Tonight was the second try at my man crush Jason Chichonski’s Gaslight, and I don’t think we’ll be coming back.
The food is pretty good, which is a shame since we were so frustrated with the service to enjoy. This visit was for their advertised family crab night– 6 crabs, 5 sides, and 4 beers for $ 50/​couple. Pretty exciting. The first sign of food came out about 40 min after we sat. Our group of seven was told once finally starting the feast that all sides were unlimited and we should ask for more. It probably took another 30 min to get any of the requested sides. No water refills, offers for clearing crab shell plates, or new napkins until we were able to flag someone down.
Super disappointed!
Save the money and go to Ela instead for a significantly better experience.

This was my first visit to The Gaslight. The service was very attentive and friendly. The interior is more spacious than I was expecting. We were seated in a nice bay-​window type of seating. We started with a goat cheese assortment and really enjoyed it. My boyfriend loved the GSLT Burger. I got the pulled lamb sandwich. It would have been great, but it was extremely soggy and soaked through the bun. My biggest recommendation would be that the bun be a harder roll rather than the very soft one they use. We didn’t have a chance to get dessert, but the choices looked good. We plan to return for dessert sometime.

True Life: Sometimes I eat at restaurants only because they have a really cute sign out front. This was the case here, and I don’t regret judging this book by its cover at all. I had purchased a Gilt City voucher for here but accidentally let it expire, so I called ahead to see if I could still use the value that I paid for the voucher. The very nice guy on the phone ensured me that the price of the voucher would act as a gift card and be taken off our balance at the end of the meal. This left me with a good first impression before I even arrived.
The space itself is beautiful, open and modern (but also rustic) looking. While our table of 3 didn’t try any of the alcoholic happy hour specials, the cocktail list looked interesting and I will likely be back to see for myself.
Onto the food. Any place that hands out an interesting pre-​meal complimentary snack is a winner in my book, and the Gaslight’s fresh baked corn muffins with cheesey butter were actually one of my favorite parts of the whole meal. I probably could have eaten 10.
We shared:
Heirloom tomato salad with smoked burrata– this was super fresh, light, and the perfect course to start with.
Mushroom bruschetta ($ 5 during happy hour) — so delish, if not a little heavy on the oil. Wish the portion was a bit larger, but for 5 dollars I can’t complain.
Saffron spaghetti with lobster– I was shocked at the amount of lobster that came with this dish. There was also a lot of fresh parsley/​arugula on top which lended the perfect bit of freshness to this very rich plate. Would definitely order again.
Short ribs with fries– Only gripe here is that I prefer my red meat prepared pretty rare, and this was cooked a little too long for me. But the accompanying fries and sauce were delicious, and paired together made a really tasty bite.
Chocolate pot de crème– This was the only real flop of the night for me. Came with a (VERY LAVENDERY) lavender cream on top which kind of made me feel like I was eating a candle, or a dryer sheet. The presentation was pretty, though.
The portions were generous and the flavors were fantastic. The three of us left feeling comfortably full. Can’t wait to come back and get my brunch on!

I was restaurant hopping with a friend and ended up here. The food we ordered was not bad. We were mainly just snacking and drinking. Presentation of the food was pretty and eye catching. The drinks were not bad either. Service was definitely good and waitress knows about the menu and was informative. I really need to come back to try out more of the other food to be fair. But overall nothing stood out other than service.

I checked out The Gaslight for the first time last Friday night. My date and I walked in around 8pm, and we were immediately seated at a two-​person table situated right next to a shelf full of lit, hanging lanterns. The ambiance was great — it felt very crisp and clean with wood tables, white and blue accents, and plenty of lit candles and lanterns to play into the restaurant’s name. Even as The Gaslight filled up, it was still easy to have a conversation. And there was enough space between tables to easily walk around.
When our waitress came around I ordered the old-​fashioned. My date selected a draft, of which they had a decent and varied selection to choose from. My drink didn’t disappoint — it wasn’t overly special, but I had ordered a classic and they didn’t skimp on the liquor. After returning with our drinks, the waitress brought over homemade cornbread with garlic butter for us to munch on. The cornbread was sweet, and the savory butter it was served with made for a perfect pairing.
For an appetizer, we started with the chiccarones (pork rinds) which the waitress informed us were served with house-​made hot sauce. The chiccarones were just okay, they were very simply seasoned and a bit bland. The hot sauce was delicious, but I wouldn’t order this snack again. The pretzel bites I saw other tables ordering looked like a better option. For dinner we ordered the GSLT burger and pulled lamb sandwich and split them both. The burger was good, but not amazing. The pulled lamb was definitely the winning dish of the night. It was very messy to eat, but worth it. Both sandwiches were served with seasoned french fries. The fries weren’t very crispy, but I still enjoyed them. I was hoping to save room for dessert, but was too full to eat anything else.
Overall, the hostess seated us immediately, our waitress was attentive, and the food came out quickly — all worthy of points in my book. The drinks were good, but the food was just alright. The cornbread (AKA the bread basket) and lamb were our favorites. I would come back, but I would definitely select some different menu options.

Stopped in here for a drink with the bf and it was exactly what we were looking for. The venue is nice and the setup is pretty cool with two separate bar areas on either side of the dining hall.
Service was awesome from the people that greeted us at the door, to all of the bartenders, regardless of whether they were actually tending to us or not.
They had some fun drinks on the menu and enough of the classics that we were completely satisfied with our options. We’ll definitely be stopping back in hopefully soon!

This month marks the first year anniversary for The Gaslight, and I finally made it in, for brunch to try some of Top Chef alumnus Jason Cichonski’s comfort food. I wasn’t really hungry so I just got the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. No dessert, shocker!
Here are some highlights of my experience:
1/​Unfriendly hostess!!! Smiling is free, and I thought that the main job for any host/​hostess is simply to put on a smile and welcome customers with friendly greeting. She asked me two questions: A table for how many? and high top or low top table?
2/​My waiter Anthony, however, was super friendly and he recommended the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. Loved the biscuit bun and the Crispy chicken thigh. It was a good choice.
3/​I was in a panic, my phone battery was dying. Seriously, thats the worst thing can happen to anyone enjoying a lovely Saturday in the middle of winter. I wasn’t ready to head back home, so skeptically I asked if he can charge my phone, and he was happy to plug in my phone while I enjoy my dish. Not many restaurants will do that.
I may go back and hopefully when I do, the hostess will be having a better day and a huge smile on her face!
Three Unilocal

I live right around the corner so I frequent The Gaslight quite often. For a bar, I give it 4 (maybe even 5) stars, for a restaurant 3. I have yet to have a meal that has blown me away but I love the ambiance, the bartenders and staff are great and they have an awesome drink menu! It has a slightly older crowd which I think is a nice change of pace for old city.
They also make great Bloody Marys and have outdoor seating in the summer!

Early reviews seemed negative for Gaslight (recent ones don’t appear to be different). So with so many other options in the city, it took awhile for me to check Gaslight out. But we were in the area catching up with friends, so decided to check it out.
On a weekday night around 8PM, it was practically empty. There were only a few servers on staff, which didn’t give us the highest hopes for what was to come.
Gently with a Chainsaw [$ 11]
Bourbon, demerera, Angostura bitters
Despite the names that seemed to mimic that of Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (and a good majority of speakeasy-​type bars these days), the drinks we had were good. This bourbon-​based tipple had a subtle sweetness was heightened by the demerera, with the bitters providing pronounced citrus.
Storm in a Teacup [$ 12]
Pimm’s No. 1, ginger, lemon, cucumber, mint
The GF will drink anything with Pimm’s — this had nice a ginger essence and wasn’t overly sweet.
Possibly with Dynamite [$ 12]
Rye, Aperol, Punt E Mes, chocolate bitters
I also had this take on the Manhattan, which was smooth and had dark chocolate undertones.
Truffle Tremor Burger Special [$ 17]
Veal bacon, Truffle Tremor goat cheese
The kitchen had a special burger that night, which featured Truffle Tremor, which I love. Who doesn’t enjoy tangy goat cheese blended with Italian black truffles? The burger itself was juicy, though came closer to medium and not the requested medium rare. The few slabs of veal bacon were fine, but not particularly interesting. The sesame-​seeded bun was the right vessel for the burger, housing all of the innards well. The accompanying fries were well-​seasoned.
Hand Pulled Pasta [$ 17]
Blue crab, sweet corn, pancetta, tomato
The GF went with the hand-​pulled pasta as we were curious about the strength of the Chef’s pasta game. There was good chew from the noodles, which were well-​seasoned with the sweet corn and the acidity of the tomato to balance out the bits of pancetta. But where was the blue crab? The essence might have been in some of the brothy sauce, but there were no bits of crab to be found.
My experience at Gaslight was muted, though there were some decent bites. But as a whole, it’s definitely not Top Chef worthy — even at an elevated pub level. It’s good to hear that Gaslight is overhauling their menu and Chef Cichonski is moving forward with renewed focus. Because based on my visit a few months back, there are better options in Philly for pub fare.

Fully embracing the fall season, I’ve turned into a gourd fiend. On the hunt for good pumpkin and squash dishes, my husband and I ended up in Gaslight.
Just looking for a snack, we debated between splitting their pumpkin pasta or each getting the butternut squash soup and splitting an appetizer. The pumpkin pasta is typically served with a root beer braised pork shoulder, however happened to be served vegetarian the night of our visit. That solidified our decision to the soup and hummus platter.
Their butternut squash soup is a must-​have for any fellow gourd fiends out there. What makes it different from any other butternut squash soup? It’s prepared with caramelized banana. That sounds like an odd combo but it works really well. I’d have to say it was the most unique butternut squash soup I’ve ever had and up there amongst the best. My only complaint was that the soup could have been served a little warmer.
I can’t neglect to mention the hummus dish. The hummus was oil based but super creamy as well. It came with their home cooked pita chips that were crispy and perfectly salted. It was definitely on the more gourmet end of hummus and was absolutely fantastic. The hummus and chips came out in separate dishes, and each dish was set within a serving board. It was a nice presentation.
Our visit was during happy our so we took advantage of the $ 5 hummus and the $ 2 off draft specials. Not all drafts, but most of them were included. As far as happy hour deals go– I’ve seen better. The atmosphere warranted the ever so slight premium. Gaslight didn’t give off a douchey vibe like so many other Old City establishments.
Our server was also great. They weren’t crowded so she was really able to take her time and provide us with attention. She spoke very highly of the soup and even included her own narrative of how she eats it with grilled chicken. I’m always happy to hear when a server gives a menu item a personal stamp of approval. She was overall a friendly person and accommodated our pre-​theater scheduling.
Expect a review update from me very soon as I will be returning for their pumpkin pasta and another round of the soup! They have a three-​course $ 30 tasting menu that includes both the soup and pasta as options, as well as your choice of dessert. That’s a no-​brainer if I’ve ever seen one!

We visited Gaslight for a Sunday brunch. While they couldn’t handle the size of our group and had to seat us at the bar, we didn’t exactly give them any notice.
I found their cocktails to be quite amazing. And at $ 8 each for brunch, a pretty solid deal. Between all of us, we managed to try’em all — top ranking goes to Cucumber Charlie followed by Chavo del Ocho.
As for brunch… well, I’ve never been a huge brunch fan so it may have factored into this rating. I ordered the eggs benny — shaved ham, fried onions, hollandaise & breakfast potatoes. It had plenty of ham and having it shaved really helped when cutting up the eggs to eat bite by bite. However, the hollandaise sauce was nondescript. It was light, but almost at the expense of flavor.
We all had a good time and decent meal. I’d go back, but wouldn’t make The Gaslight a top brunch destination.