Somewhat unusually with this type of hospitality project, the name for Tria Taproom drove the concept, rather than the other way around. It’s the third location in Philadelphia for the Tria brand, and this time around the focus was firmly on the twin pleasures of beer and pizza.
Mulling over the Taproom name, the Tria chaps decided to develop the idea of beer taps and draught kegs to the nth degree, completely ditching bottles and making the Taproom a by-the-glass only operation. There are no bottles to be found here — the whole range of 24 beers, two ciders, two sodas and and even the dozen wine options are poured via tap.
And what lovely taps they are, silvery beauties lined up in an impressive rank along a stretch of marble behind the varnished wooden bar (how the bartenders remember what brew comes out of which tap is presumably a feat of memory or some clever numbering system). The bar and the flooring is polished but the rest of the interior in contrast is artfully underdone, with stripped back plaster and whitewashed brick around the perimeter of an atmospherically-lit beer hall of communal benches and small tables. Pizza is the house speciality but you’ll also find other bar food favourites such as burgers and wings.
Photography, Steve Legato
