Libertee Grounds, combining local beer and mini-golf, is teed up to open in North Philly
Three young guys have set up a creative kitchen in an apartment building in Francisville. The beer list is sourced within 40 miles, including Workhorse, Free Will, Ambler, and Triple Bottom.
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You have your ax-throwing bars and your ping-pong bars and your bowling bars.
Three entrepreneurs have teed up a mini-golf-theme bar paired with hyperlocal craft beers, which opens (for takeout food and drinks, anyway) on Thursday, Jan. 14, in North Philadelphia.
Libertee Grounds — at The Civic, the apartment building occupying the old St. Joseph’s Hospital at 16th Street and Girard Avenue on the edge of the Francisville neighborhood — is a joint project by longtime friends Sanil Shah, Kanay Patel, and Pri Rambhia, all 27. They were inspired by a vacation to Seattle, where they checked out Flatstick Pub, a similar concept.
On the ground floor, it’s a vast, industrial-look room with a long bar (32 beer taps, TVs, picnic-table seating, and three Philly-theme murals by Paul Carpenter and one by Natalie Flor Negrón. Head to the basement to the nine-hole golf course, which is expected to open in several weeks. They’ll allow parties of four people for reserved time slots.
They were a quarter of the way through construction when the coronavirus shutdowns began. Shah, who previously owned the Mexican Post in Wilmington, has the restaurant background. Drexel-educated Rambhia’s background is in finance, while Patel, who went to the University of Maryland with Shah, owns Dunkin’ Donuts shops.
They’ll start by tuning up the bar and kitchen with online ordering. Initially, seven or eight beers — all sourced within 40 miles — will be offered from breweries such as Workhorse, Free Will, Ambler, Triple Bottom, and Levante.
Opening menu is tight and creative, including split-bean fritters; hand-cut-fries; a lamb-kheema cheesesteak featuring masala-rubbed lamb and rib eye; chickpea sloppy Joe; kimchi mac and cheese bites; and a kung pao hot chicken sandwich on grilled brioche.
Besides the beers, they will offer four bagged cocktails made with local spirits, including New Liberty Kinsey bourbon, Boardroom gin, and Three Bitches vodka.
Initial hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday.