Libertee Grounds: Local beer and miniature golf, together in North Philly

Philadelphia has a Ping Pong bar, bars with bowling alleys, and a handful of ax-throwing bars.

Three entrepreneurs are twinning hyperlocal beers and a nine-hole indoor miniature golf course in a project called Libertee Grounds at The Civic, the apartment building that occupies the old St. Joseph’s Hospital at 16th Street and Girard Avenue on the edge of the Francisville neighborhood.

Longtime friends Sanil Shah, Kanay Patel, and Priyank Rambhia, all 26, were inspired by Seattle’s Flatstick Pub.

They want the space, on the ground floor with the golf in the basement, to live and breathe Philadelphia. They’ve commissioned murals from local artists and plan to put up 32 rotating taps of beers sourced from breweries within 40 miles, as well as limited liquor, wines, ciders, and seltzers, accompanied by a full menu.

Shah, who caddied at Penn Oaks near West Chester as a kid, says they were about a quarter of the way through construction when the coronavirus shut things down.

They’re now aiming at an early fall opening. But first, they’re getting word out by way of a pop-up fundraiser with Farmer’s Keep in Center City. Profits will go to Fuel the Fight Philly, which sends meals to hospital workers and other front-line health workers.

Farmer’s Keep (10 S. 20th St.) will put together five-serving BBQ boxes (pulled pork, sweet potatoes, broccoli slaw, and garden salad, priced at $35) with six-packs of beers.

Orders are being taken until 3 p.m. May 6 and contactless pickup will be offered from Farmer’s Keep on May 9. Orders include a gift certificate for a round of golf when Libertee Grounds opens.