Sarah's Place: A new old bar in Brewerytown
Sarah's Place is pretty much the way it used to be as Sara's Place - long bar, TVs - though much cleaner. Even the old vinyl floor remains. Now, it's technically Sarah's Place - the "h" an homage to the wife of an investor.
Brewerytown has been a neighborhood in transition for the last several years, with new development drawing new residents and businesses.
Crime & Punishment, a brewery and brew pub, is targeting late 2014 at 2711 W. Girard Ave.
Brian Dwyer, one of the brains behind the Fishtown/Kensington hit Pizza Brain, has a deal at 2843 W. Girard Ave. But it's shrouded in mystery.
"There's a second thing coming from the minds behind Pizza Brain," Dwyer told me. "And it most certainly involves pizza, and it most certainly won't be called Pizza Brain." He says it "most likely will come to fruition in the earth year 2015."
Also on the avenue, you have Rybrew.
One side-effect of this renaissance has been the shutdown of nuisance bars. And, for that matter, most all of the bars.
MM Partners, the developers behind much of the fixing-up, went and bought a corner bar:
Sara's Place, on 29th Street at Flora Street, just above Girard.
But MM's Jacob Roller and Aaron Smith say they resisted the urge to rip everything out and rebuild. It's pretty much the way it used to be - long bar, TVs, turntable provided by Steve Ferrell of vinyl specialist Brewerytown Beats across the street - though it's much cleaner. "We've gotten rid of the nonsense," Smith says.
Even the old, uneven vinyl floor remains. It's technically Sarah's Place - the "h" an homage to the wife of an investor. Steve Powers designed a "bar" sign for the facade.
Bottled and canned beers are the way to go - among them: $4 Kenzinger, $3 High Life, $3 Bud bottles, $3 cans of Colt 45, $2.50 Rolling Rock ponies.
Hours are 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
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