Address: 123 Chestnut Street
Pricing: $10-$20 per person (On a budget? Go for brunch.)
Phone: (215) 733-0300
How To Get There:
SEPTA: Take the El to 2nd & Market, exit and walk south on 2nd Street. Restaurant is on your left just before Chestnut Street.
PATCO (NJ): Take PATCO west to 8th & Market. Exit at Chestnut Street and head east (left) on Chestnut. Walk six blocks and make a left onto 2nd Street. Restaurant immediately on right.
By car: From 1-95 North, turn right on 2nd Street. Parking on left close to Chestnut Street. From 1-95 South, I-695 and Ben Franklin Bridge--turn right off of Market onto 2nd Street. Parking on left close to Chestnut Street.
Parking:2nd Street next to store front (see photo)
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The Plough & The Stars
Feb 18, 2010
The Plough & The Stars is an authentic Irish restaurant with Irish and Celtic-inspired design and décor. The team behind The Plough makes a clear effort to welcome diners from multiple demographics. On Sunday mornings, you’ll find families and senior citizens enjoying an Irish breakfast. During special events, The Plough & The Stars caters to a young after-work crowd, including those who work at the city’s remaining alternative newspapers and publishing companies.
While the mood changes with the day and the occasion, the Plough experience is relatively consistent. The interior features an expansive, fully-stocked bar, intimate tables and booth seating, mostly in warm and natural tones. Like several restaurants in Old City, The Plough & The Stars is in a renovated, repurposed building. It does have a second floor, but it isn’t cramped—there’s an open space above the first floor seating area while the second floor features a balcony.
The Plough offers additional amenities such as OpenTable reservation capabilities (you can manage your reservation online), children’s selections and free wireless Internet access. Special events (such as sports events or the presidential inauguration party hosted there in 2009) sometimes feature real time news coverage on the expansive high-definition televisions in the space.
The menu at The Plough & The Stars features Irish pub food and some cuisine selections that venture into the “New Celtic” category. The Sunday bunch menu offerings include fish and chips, a dish hardly presented as standard. The breading on the generous-sized portion of cod fish tastes as golden as it looks—there’s certainly a honey quality to it. Served with ketchup and tartar sauce, the fries are adequately seasoned as well (and not salty).
The appetizers at The Plough are also generous. Share them as appetizers or consider enjoying them as standalone meals.
Sunday is the best day to enjoy The Plough & The Stars. In addition to the locally-famed brunch (which runs until 3:30), the restaurant hosts a session starting at five. Musicians congregate at The Plough with their instruments and play and learn songs from each other. They’ll be happy to chat with you about Irish music or ethnic instruments such as the uilleann pipes and the bhodran.
- by Tara M. Clapper, Philadelphia Reporter for HelloMetro
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Tara M. ClapperTara M. Clapper is a full-time freelance writer residing just outside of Philadelphia. Tara enjoys exploring traditional and historical locations in the city as well as quirky and innovative restaurants and attractions. Tara utilizes her background in academic, service-based and traditional publishing to create insider-perspective articles. Her topics of interest include travel, weddings, Irish American culture, and geek subculture.
