Foodery

I have the convenience and pleasure of literally living next to the Foodery. This is a great place for me to visit when its 9pm and I am craving popcorn really badly but I have no butter. Unfortunately, for a pack of butter, you will be set back $ 5.50. I have to agree with the other reviewers about the prices; they are too high! I once bought a 6 pack of Victory lager here and it set me back around $ 22. I begrudgingly paid it, knowing I could get the same thing at Wegmans for ½ the price. I would have given more stars if the Foodery at least advertised what everything cost, but that is how they get you. I was running short on time recently and popped in here for a coffee. $ 1.50 for a large and while the «bold» tasted more like «mild», it was not awful. Again, this is a good place to go if I need something in a pinch.
Disclaimer: I wish the owners would enforce the «no loitering» policy more. If you visit the Foodery past 10 pm, try to keep it down outside. A bunch of people hangout and smoke right by their door, which happens to be in very close proximity to my window. This lady needs her beauty rest!

Many people have been saying this place is overpriced. I disagree! It’s difficult to find ANY store that sells craft beer and regular beer in downtown Philadelphia. For this reason all of the beer is slightly more expensive than you could find elsewhere. But I don’t think paying $ 7.50 for a six pack of Budweiser or Coors 16 ounce talls is extravagant — especially considering how few options you have within walking distance in this neighborhood.

Excellent bottled beer selection. However, the prices are outrageous and it’s ridiculous that the store can’t be bothered to put any price labels on anything, so it’s always a surprise when you get to the register. A lot of beers are $ 4 – 6 per single 12oz bottle, and not even the super-​rare ones. It’d be one thing if the prices were high and labeled. But they are high and not labeled, so I choose to shop somewhere where I can actually let the price help inform what i’m buying.

Small store in downtown near the historic district, Foodery is a very cramped convenience store that happens to be stocked with 90% beer and maybe 10% food, soda, and custom sandwiches. Everything essentially is for sale as a single and there are no price tags, which can get quite annoying. But, you do get what you pay for and that is quite an outstanding selection such as Hair of the Dog, FiftyFifty Eclipse, Cigar City, Lost Abbey, odd Belgian stuff. I usually stop in here each trip to Philly and spend around $ 40-​$ 50 on weird stuff I can’t find anywhere else. You can go up to the counter and ask for a price check on anything you want, though that can be a little annoying. Don’t come in here with a large group because only 4 – 5 people can fit in this place before it gets too cramped. There isn’t someone on staff to answer beer questions, just ask the cashier essentially for anything. I usually get a nice response. Also, they have quite a bit of glassware for sale. Sandwiches in the back are apparently yummy, but I’ve never gotten one.

— extensive selection of beers (no wine, no liquor)
— stuff from china, japan, iceland (???), and more
— because of this, and the fact that you can buy single one-​serving bottles at a time, it is (as expected) overpriced
— expect a «make your own six pack» to run between $ 20 to $ 30 dollars
— but overall, you can get stuff here in single bottles that you cant find anywhere else — rodenbach flemish reds, allagash saison, lotsa good stuff!

Let me say I’m not a beer drinker so I have no idea about the the prices. I heard about this place on one of the bus tours, and my friend wanted to check it out.
The day we went (July 18^th) there was a beer tasting with complementary snacks for each beer. I wasn’t expecting to like anything but I’m always up for a try. To my shock I found one I liked, the Belgian Independence Day. The guy running the tasting (I wish I could remember his name) was very friendly, patient, and knowledgeable.
It was an extremely hot day and some people lingered (I’m guilty) and some just seemed to like the snacks, but you never felt rushed to move along. Yes, it was a very small place, but if you’re looking for variety you’ve found the place.

For beer, this place is not cheap. You’re paying for variety, a knowledgeable staff, and the freedom to mix and match any 6 beers to get a 10% discount. And by any 6 beers, they mean it, you could seriously grab a $ 100 monster bottle of Chimay and pair it with 5 cans of miller light and you’re good to go.
We grabbed a 6 pack and it came out to ~$ 25 because of some ~$ 6 bottles that we wanted to try. The average 6 pack here would probably cost closer to $ 15-​$ 18. Definitely not cheap but like I said, you’re paying for variety and knowledge.
They’ll let you know in advance if a specific beer is above around $ 4 – 5 before you get rung up so there aren’t any huge surprises at the register.
If you’re looking for a some cheap beer for a house party, this probably isn’t the spot for you. If you’re searching for some local, imported, and craft style beers, there’s a good chance you’ll find them here.

great beer selection at reasonable prices. the staff is knowledgable about their products and there is always something new to try !

FOOD POISONING FROM SOUP.
My husband went in one night to purchase some of their homemade soup. The employee working there, VOLUNTARILY and unprompted, offered my husband a few dollars off because it was almost the «sell by» date on the soup. At the same time the employee told my husband that he often takes the soups that don’t sell home with him, and that they are good even a week after the «sell by» date.
As soon as my husband came home with the soups, we heated them up and the smell was awful– we knew something had to be wrong. My husband ended up taking a bite of meat from the soup and he said it had definitely spoiled. We were immediately worried. We then noticed that the supposed «sell by» date, which was written by hand in black marker, had clearly been changed from «5÷1» to «5÷7» on BOTH the packages of soup. My husband immediately went back to the Foodery – this is about 10 minutes after he had purchased the soups – to warn them that the soups were spoiled and they needed to pull them off the shelf. They didn’t even question him or hesitate for a second to refund him (which he was not asking for at that point) – almost as if they knew themselves that the soup was old – they weren’t surprised at all.
By the next day my husband’s stomach was churning; he vomited all afternoon and evening and couldn’t keep any food down for another day. He is still feeling weak after missing 2 full days of work– that’s a lot of money we have lost because of the Foodery’s dishonesty. I wish I had taken a picture of the soups’ packaging to prove that they had tampered with the writing of the original «sell by» date. We will not support this business anymore and we hope that others will use caution when shopping there.

The warm mozzarella was solid. Great beer selection and atmosphere. Sandwiches are huge can get two meals out of it.

Cute little place with a nice variety of beers. We didn’t eat here but it didn’t look too crowded when we got here on a Sunday around 12:30pm. Beers are more expensive here compared to Whole Foods, but still cheaper than the bars. And, for all the Big Gruesome fans, they’ve got it here!!!

A crowded little bodega where one can choose from a variety of snack foods and beers. One of the workers there was really helpful and recommended things out to us, depending on whether we wanted something sweeter, hoppier, wheatier, etc. He even let us sample a brew and also gave us some snack samples to munch on as we completed our transactions.
We saw a bunch of beers we’ve never seen back home in NYC. Prices are kind of high here, as other Unilocalers had mentioned, but this is a specialty food/​beverage store, so what would you really expect, anyway?

A quick trip in the shop and right out…
But I was able to see that there was a really great selection of beer/​cider/​ale. Really impressive.
AND the snacks were on the higher end. A deli case of sausages, cheeses and such prove to be fairly impressive. If you’re looking to put together a charcuterie board and pair it with a nice selection of beer, well this is the place to go.
I think it’s important to note that the staff is also really helpful and knows their beer.
I’m taking off one star because the gentleman who we (a girlfriend and I) asked for assistance was a little condescending. Pretty sure it wasn’t intentional. But it was still annoying. But all and all a really great shop with great options for everyone!

I thought I would post one more review for 2014. We were visiting Philly for New Years Eve and stayed near the Foodery. My friends had a few too many to drink early on and went back to their rooms and fell asleep. I was bored and it’s too crowded to go out by myself so I looked up The Foodery on Unilocal as a local place to get beer or wine.
It turned out they don’t have wine or liquor (I’m from Maryland so the laws are different) but they have everything else.
It’s a great place for microbrews if you haven’t figured that out yet. No wine or liquor, just beer. Lots of good beer. They have multiple brands of Duvell, Dale’s and Dogfish as well as tons of others.
They have a deli, nuts and chips. Also some sundries such as soap and essentials.
What I really like and why I gave them 5 stars is I got a complimentary Duvell glass with my purchase! It was perfect since I staying in a hotel room and needed a nice glass to drink my expensive beer! Thanks!

You can always count on the Foodery to have an amazing beer and cider collection ready to save the day! They have beers/​ciders from all over the world so you can come out of there creating a very international beer pack. The prices can be kind of steep sometimes, so I only come here once in a while. The drinks here are worth it and you definitely do get what you pay for… quality drinks! They are open pretty late too which is always a big plus.

Great selection of beers. Very attentive and helpful staff. The price per beer (even when purchased as a six/​twelve pack) is a little expensive, but I guess that can be chalked up to PA liquor laws and the inability to purchase ⁶⁄₁₂ packs at distributors. Plus, you can’t beat the convenience of their location of you live in Washington Square West.

My girlfriend lives a few buildings down the street, and as a frequent consumer of the liquid ambrosia that is «the beers,» I have to say this is a great destination. Convenient as all get-​out.
I’m continually impressed by the formidable selection, the wide array of snacks, and the friendliness of the folks that work here. It’s a veritable no-​brainer for a simple, country-​fried rube such as myself.
That being said, the reviews about the prices here are true, and they could be a bit more transparent about how much they are charging for these beer-​ha-​has. Furthermore, many, MANY of the beers I’ve purchased recently have been expired, which is very disappointing, considering the price point. Why are you selling flat, expired beers to your loyal customers? Why not do a mystery box, «grab bag» sort of thing, where you put all of the expired beers in a cooler and sell them for $ 12 a six-​pack? Seems like a good option to me; I love a bargain, and quite frankly, would be more than happy to swoop in on a Wednesday night for some sultry suds when I’m on a tight budget.
Needs improvement? Definitely. But I love the beers, and I will be back again.

This Foodery rocks! Everyone who works here is well informed and enthusiastic about the beer they carry. Lots of rare beers come through here, so be nice to the employees, and they might just hook you up with some brew that only a select few get to try.
Great for late night snacks, and they carry Mexican coke too, my fave!

The selection of beers here is great, but they are overpriced by a lot (for example, not just by the standard markup for the convenience of buying 1 bottle rather than a 6-​pack).

This Foodery is a little more limited in terms of selection compared to the Foodery at Northern Liberties due to their limited store space, but they pack or at least try to pack as much of a punch into the shop as they can.
Although the store front is almost hallf the size of Nor Libs’, the Washington Square location seems to get all the same seasonal/​rare imports that the other Fooderies get as well. (case in point: I bought a four-​pack of Goose Isand Bourbon County Stout here, as well as the last bottle of Bourbon County Coffee Stout)
Don’t buy food here as the groceries/​food is a front for laundering beer (Due to, I’m assuming, the oh-​so-​strange Philadelphia alcohol laws). If you’re looking for good beer and are too lazy/​scared to take the Market-​Frankford line to Girard, then the Washington Square Foodery is for you.