New Deck Tavern

If you're like me, and you're traveling to the big city and not sure where to eat. How about you give this place a try? It will remind you of the Irish Pub you know and love so much back home. The food here is delicious and reasonably priced. The beer here is pretty good, too. If you go around Groundhog Day, you may be lucky enough to get a free Samuel Adams cold snap beer. I recommend giving this beer a taste if it's in season.

Had a fantastic time at University City, and came here twice! Excellent food, great drinks, and certainly good prices! Everyone was friendly, and we had a great time! Will be back next trip!

Fantastic Irish Pub. Always try and come here when we're in the city. Authentic pub feel inside. Fish n chips is fantastic. Today our server wasn't great though. She barely spoke to us and did the bare minimum but everything else was great!

New Deck Tavern is the place to go if you are just visiting or here to stay! Whether you are in the city for a doctors appointment or to see the sites this place has a great atmosphere with amazing food and drinks!

mmmmmm🔥🔥we came here for the express purpose of trying a true philly cheesesteak. also tried the mozzarella sticks, which were delicious. would def recommend if you’re nearby, service was pretty quick! the inside of the restaurant is very quant lol😛😛 i want more mozzarella sticks now

Best pub in university city! Highly recommend. Great variety of draft beers, as well as outstanding food.

For a cozy fun experience with great food and drinks, you have to make a stop here. We discovered it for a weekend tournament and went back 3 times. Great meal with the family in the sunny restaurant area and fun bar to unwind. Philly cheesesteak, fish n chips and winter sangria brought us back for seconds. Sharon and Brian could not have been better hosts! If I lived there I would be a regular, can't wait for next year!

If you want a friendly pub experience in University City then this is a place to go. Outdoor, indoor and bar seating with televisions inside to watch sports. Several nights a week there will be live music. The service is consistent and friendly. Food is much better than you’d imagine with a good bit of variety. Expect your meal to come out fast! Extensive beer selection too. Overall a great place for a lunch or dinner.

I liked the ambiance quite a bit more than the food. Probably a 3.5 due to the food, but that feels too low. Beer selection was decent, but the wrap I had was pretty mediocre. It's a cool Irish-themed spot and was a nice visit for lunch in terms of service and vibe, but my fries were soggy and didn't hit like I'd want them to. Still worth a visit for a beer or two.

Honestly the food is good nothing super fancy. This place is such good vibes. Got the Brussels and curry fries which were unique and would get again. Buffalo chicken salad and honey crisp chicken salads were filling. The bread pudding was to die for. This is a great lace to watch a game. They have live music on Friday and Saturday. Also have trivia and other specials other nights. They do not take reservations.

Decent Food OK service and good drinks. Popped in late Friday night for a snack after a local show I attended. The Ruben was good. I ordered the quesadilla and steak fries. Fries were undercooked and soggy. I bit into one and you can still taste raw potatoes. Bar tender claimed that's how they serve them and if I want a crisper fry, the shoe string is the one I want. Well, know that they serve soggy steak fries. The shoestring fries were tasty. Had a Margarita that wasn't that tasty and a Moscow mule, which was ok. Overall decent spot with and Irish pub vibes.

Service! Atmosphere! Food! I had the shepards pie and it was perfect. Hubby had the Philly and I tasted it and it was delicious

The bar was friendly and fully stocked. I had two mixed drinks and they were delicious. I ordered their special (Irish chicken curry) and it was mediocre at best. I tried adding salt/pepper to enhance the flavor but it didn't help. The meal wasn't great. I went there on a Friday night so there was a live band playing. They were pretty loud and played rock covers. It was hard to talk to people nearby me because of the music.

This place is cool! The ambiance is old tavern style, living up to its name. I got the Voodoo beer with the crispy chicken sandwich. The sandwich was incredibly good. So crispy but moist and tender too. The fries are skinny with no batter; I personally don't like batter on fries so I was very happy about that. Service was good and server was accessible when needed. The wait time was short for seating and food served. There are cool decorations throughout which make it interesting in addition to tvs spread around.

Friendly staff and good food. Nice location within easy walking distance of U Penn. Atmosphere was noisy so not great for conversation. Took away one star only because it took a long time to get service initially and then it felt like we were being rushed out at the end.

This restaurant had a cute outdoor dining area. The food was good too I liked the salmon salad. Friendly service. Overall cute spot.

Came here yesterday with my buddy. Bartender was super nice and attentive. We will definitely come back.

New Deck is a place for everyone. College bar - Great dinner with girlfriends, while listening to live music - Perfect pre-Palestra or concert meal - Awesome place to eat with little kids - No matter the occasion, food is delish, beverages are on point, and the vibe is welcoming and fun! While I always l love the New Deck, the other night, I was in there with a few families, and the wait staff was incredibly accommodating with such a large group. The manager, whose name I can't remember, but she is a cute blonde around 40'ish is always super welcoming went above and beyond to make sure they found a table for us and we were all settled. It is why we keep coming back!

My family loves the New Deck. Whenever we are in the city, it's our go to spot. The food is delicious, but the service is even better. The waitstaff is attentive and the management is so in tune with their guests. Can't say enough about Erin. She always has a warm smile and welcoming energy. Highly recommend!

I've been going to New Deck since college and it still hasn't changed much in the last 13 years! They still have bar food at a super cheap price. The cheesesteak egg rolls were delicious but they tasted kind of sweet. The city wides are kind of overpriced (8 bucks compared to the usual 5?!). The chicken burger tasted pretty average. I liked the chicken quesadillas (they were pretty decent). The waitress got our food out real quick.

Look, you know what you're going to get with New Deck. No one is coming here for a culinary tour de force. We're coming here to have some drinks in a loud, friendly environment, and let's be honest, the convenient location helps a ton as well. The best part about New Deck is the vibe--it's a college bar and thus boisterous, social, and on the cheaper side (although definitely not a dive bar). Service can be hit or miss, especially if it's busy, but again, you aren't really coming here for top notch service or dining. It's always a fun time here--definitely a place for groups. Trivia on Tuesdays is fun (8-10PM, so a bit on the late side for me, but it's a good time). The karaoke nights in Thursdays are also great (NOT high budget at all, but great to scream sing songs with your friends in a chill environment). With food, you must keep it simple. The fries and the nachos are both huge in portion, perfect to munch on as you catch up with friends. You must skip the pizza. It is an affront to all pizzas (see my posted picture if you don't agree). The cocktails are all fairly standard, I like the wide arrays of citywide modifications for economy's sake. My go to is the shot of tequila and a white claw for nine bucks, but mileage can definitely vary on that. I like that the crowd isn't super young--even on weekend nights, there are plenty of the 30s 40s crowd until 10 or so, although the majority of people are college age or graduate students.

My friend and I had gone there and gotten the loaded baked potato soup. It was super filling and delicious it was pretty cheap as well so that was awesome. The server was great and helpful he was super nice and it was his first day which was surprising because he knew exactly what he was doing. The tavern was super cool it was like a classic Irish bar it was a nice ambiance.

We went here for dinner last night before our drive back home to NY. First off all, the decor and atmosphere of the place is very welcoming, homey and pleasant. It's gorgeous inside with all the brick and it just has a very authentic Irish tavern feel (which is what it is). The food was excellent. The pretzels and cheesesteak egg rolls were delicious. The French onion soup was perfect. The Philly cheesesteaks were good, not the best I've ever had but I enjoyed them regardless. The service was very friendly. Our waitress was very accommodating and there was a gentleman behind the bar who also helped out and he was extremely pleasant. We had two small children with us who fully enjoyed their burgers & fries. They had yummy desserts as well (which got eaten too fast for a picture). I'd definitely come back here on another trip.

New deck is like the Irish pub version of "Cheers": where everybody knows your name and you feel like you're at home! I went to the college whose campus is where new deck resides. While I don't live in the Philadelphia area anymore, I always make it a point to stop at new deck when I'm back in Philadelphia. The staff and atmosphere are so welcoming and the food is always delicious. Kudos to the management because you know that all of this is a testament to creating a positive environment that trickles down to the customers. Can't wait for my next visit to my hometown bar.

Bar food is not something this place gets right. The curry fries, even in the photos, look so appetizing. Take one bite and you will be sorely disappointed. Everything was just extremely bland. Though it is a nice place to have drinks (you can be by the bar where it's louder and you're ready to get rowdy, or you can sit by the tables and talk amongst friends), it's just not worth spending money on the food.

Good vibe.. great food and staff I have been coming here for years and recommend it to all my friends

Poor service. Our food arrived before our drinks. I ordered the chili which was $8 on the menu and was charged $10 on the bill. When inquires the waitress said I ordered a bowl and that there was nothing she could do to change it. She flat out lied as there is no option for a cup vs a bowl. Very very disappointed.

I came here on a whim with a few coworkers last minute. We came during a lunch rush hour and we're seated quickly. It didn't take us long to browse the lunch menu and before we could wave the waiter over he had come to us. I ordered cheesesteak egg rolls, a house salad and split an order of fries with one of my colleagues. Everything was fairly good. Everyone mostly finished their food and no one had any complaints. The bill was reasonable also. Nothing special to write home about but I definitely think this place is worth trying.

We had a really enjoyable time here playing trivia on Wednesday night. Food was good and prices were reasonable. But when they hit me with a 20% automatic gratuity on a party of three, that earned them one star review for shady business practices. I may go back; I may not; but I will remember this nonsense.

After running some errands in University City, we stopped in for a late lunch. We both got salads. They were delicious, service was fast and friendly, price was reasonable. I'm sure this is a regular haunt for many, but for us coming up from Delaware we were very grateful to have found this place. The atmosphere was calm but happy, and we would have stayed longer but had to be getting home.

Stopped here while out with some girlfriends for light bites and drinks. I've heard about this place through college friends but have never been. I loved it! My friend and I got the orange mule and our other friend got a blue moon. Delicious and not overpriced drinks! The french onion soup was to die for. One of the best I've had in awhile! We got two Brigid pizzas which were delicious. Had onions and some hot and honey sauce. Great flavor. Side of fries (skinny fries are my favorite!) I'm sad I haven't been here before but I will definitely be back! We sat outside because the weather was gorgeous and it was perfect!

I went here a while back and I had a great time. The drinks and food were both very nice and enjoyable. The staff is super kind and polite. The ambiance is very chill and nice.

I popped in for some lunch after a conference at Penn. The beer was cold, the service was good, and the cheesesteak and fries were very tasty!

I go to New Deck Tavern for happy hours with my coworkers and it just the best after work spot! It provides a great environment that allows conversation to happen! I've shared many drinks with my coworkers here that we've gotten closer. We ordered 2 of their giant Moscow mule for each table at a happy hour and had a competition of which table can finish first! Their food is okay. You have to know what to order. I always get their awesome cheese fries. It's delicious and everyone can indulge in them. I also grab a pizza too. Their pizza isn't the best but it's good to order when there's many people there. I wish more items were on happy hour deals. The only food for happy hour is their chicken tendies and quesadillas. They're all right, but I don't tend to gravitate towards them. But definitely don't miss out on the awesome cheese fries!

The philly cheese steak is flavorless l. Do not get it! I got it under the guide of the waitress, and they wouldn't let me exchange after the fact. If you want flavorless food, this is the place for you.

Fun atmosphere and great food - a perfect Irish pub to meet up with friends. Had a beer and delicious lunch!

Great spot to visit if you are in the area of Penn, Drexel, CHOP or HUP. My dad had a recent surgery at HUP and we were surprised how little there was for food in the area. This is about a 10 minute walk and gives all the vibes of a good Irish / English pub from years ago. The staff and bartenders are friendly and the place always appears busy. On our first visit we shared the Brussel sprout special and Buffalo shrimp (forgot to picture as I was preoccupied). On our second visit we shared the quesadilla and chicken fingers. The Brussels were AMAZING! They were cooked with bacon, scallions, shallots and hot honey. They were perfect mix of sweet, salty, and spicy! The Buffalo shrimp were so so. The quesadilla was flavorful and the meat inside was tender. The chicken fingers were...chicken fingers! Great wine prices at happy hour. I will definitely go back to this spot!

New Deck Tavern is a casual, well priced pub-style eatery. The interior is exactly how you would picture an old-style British pub, with dark wood and dim lights. The atmosphere, food, and service are all pretty much what you would imagine. The menu offers your standard bar fare options. We shared the Sizzling Fajita Entree, which was good and ordered a few drinks. The place was full for a Friday evening.

I have no idea why their fish and chips were soggy but they felt and looked like they were left outside overnight on a day of the muggy Philly summer of 2022. You can clearly see the moisture on the box in my picture, the fries in particular were drenched. Obviously, food does not taste good when it's soggy, and that aside, 2 pieces of fish and a smattering of fries wouldn't justify the price I paid anyway. Edit - Not just soggy, they were soaking wet. I'll admit some things don't translate well to takeout but still this was strange. The other pics on Yelp look fine and fresh, and the place was very crowded when I went, so I think I'll have a better experience if I ever make it in person again.

Great diverse menu, wonderful service and really good food. We shared a chicken sandwich and salad. Both were yummy. We will be back.

Not packing lunch leaves me at places like this when it's too dismal and rainy and cold to make the trek to SweetGreen, my go-to. I didn't love nor hate it...it just was. I would probably still visit back though IMHO, especially for happy hour and especially with friends and especially if I'm just absolutely craving fried food and cold pints. Reminds me a LOT like Black Sheep: super homey and comfortable and Irish, with cute legit Irish bartenders to boot. Sat at the bar and got a classic (and also my favorite): fish and chips. It came out in less than like five minutes through the adorable mini swinging door where the back of the bar meets the kitchen, two massive pieces of golden fried fish atop a family size portion of crunchy french fries, and two plastic cups of tartar sauce and coleslaw, respectively. The welcoming dig-in presentation is where the appeal stopped short, though. I will say the fries were cut thin enough and fried just long enough to be pretty perfect. But the fish was mostly breading, and very oily. Tartar sauce was great, though. Also - side note - while the bar stools were adorably embroidered, they hurt my ass almost immediately, and so trying to get comfortable on them was damn near impossible. Certainly better places in the city to get a good fish and chips platter (St. Stephen's Green, etc.), but something about this place is beckoning me to return. Perhaps I will.

It's been awhile since we were back at new deck. I think it has something to do with them being in between baby blues and white dog. All three are good places to dine as they offer different menus. Tonight was a nasty raining night with flooded streets. But that didn't keep us from going out. A little wet when we arrived as we had to park three blocks away. One thing I dislike about going into Phila for dinner is finding parking. The place was 1/2 full or 1/2 empty depends or which side your on. A friendly hostess showed us to a nice table in a good location. A very pleasant server took care of us. Bringing water to start and offering the Irish beer selection. I'm not a fan of the Irish beers preferring the Belgians do I. However tonight is was the dark Smithwicks Irish ale. For dinner we started with the decks classic chili. It was very good. Then onto the bangers and mash and the California club. We enjoyed both dishes.

If I could give no star for the piss poor service my colleagues and I received from waitress Emily, I would. When Emily arrived at our table, she slammed a water bottle and plastic cups on the table and walked away. She did not give a greeting or introduced herself to the party. When she returned I, being a veteran, inquired about the possibility of a veterans discount. She appeared unsure if veterans were honored on the very day of recognition. (No problem not all businesses do so) our party order our food and the food arrived. I later asked for a soda and she blatantly walked passed out table Emily left our table, and served the other customers at the next table. There I witnessed Emily greet the customers and asked for their order before placing the bottled water and cups onto the table. Big difference than what our party experienced. So not once did she return to check on how we were doing with lunch after it arrived. I had to stop her in mid stride to ask for a soda. Instead of returning I noticed she pass our table and ask the party behind and in front of out table if they were ok. In fact, I observed Emily take a drink to the party in front of our table. Again, I had to stop Emily in mid stride and ask for a soda again. When she returned she slammed the drink in a small glass on the table and stormed off. I got up caught up to her and gave her the drink back. By that time the rest of the party at the table noticed Emily's attitude. There could be so many reasons we got this type of service from Emily yet I will not go into them as we were paying customers who just wanted to have lunch. The experience was piss poor and I never experienced service like that from this restaurant before. It's been a long time since I dined there and after New Deck representative it will be my last. Emily was a reflection of who New Deck Tavern bring on to provide disservice to select customers... and to think I serve my country for people like that.... GOD BLESS America!

It's a dependable option to grab dinner in the University City area. Particularly within Samson row. Won't reminisce about this place during my Erin Express days. Now, it's just a good option for bar-style food. Friendly Service. The mozzarella sticks, the buffalo shrimp, and the awesome cheese fries sans the bacon crumbles are must-have starters for me. They have a really tasty French onion soup. As for salads: I have tried the Caesar salad here, as well as the Grilled Salmon salad. Both delicious. Entrees: Fish and Chips or Blackened Salmon! They also have a pretty solid Veggie Burger.

Good local watering hole but it's a super bad look to have employees in uniform sitting at the bar and saving seats so paying customers can't sit down with their full party.

After a game at the Palestra which has all the charm and charisma of a WWI recruiting station, the Old English ambiance and augmented bar menu of the New Deck Tavern was a terrific complement to the wayback spirit of the day. Everything was fresh and eagerly consumed and the iced tea (one of my personal litmus tests) was exceptional, without the metallic taste of liquid that has been sitting in metal decanters for a week as is the case at your average NJ diner or really bad chain restaurant. The only issue was the service... slooowww... but okay, we're in no rush, but how about some silverware and condiments as you frisbee the plates to the table and bolt like you're being chased by a process server. No worries, I'll get them myself and still return because I dig the place and love a challenge.

Had lunch here today for the first time in about 15 years around 11.45am as it was just getting busy. Service was polite but slow. I waited 15-20 minutes for a small Caesar salad that was likely premade and in the chiller beforehand. Had a chicken cheesesteak and that was pretty good but that was partly due to the Sarcone's roll (or something very much like one) on which it was served; it's hard to mess up a cheesesteak in the Philly area, of course. Fries were frozen and had a light crispy coat on them; they were ok. New Deck thrives out of tradition and the evergreen need collegiate/academic communities have for easy places for a pint and a burger. It certainly is nothing remarkable nor a particularly great value for what one gets on any number of items.

The one star is for service. The food (fish and chips) was so bland that I wondered if the only reason this place has been in business for so many years is its location. The chef has checked out and no one noticed. I could have ordered a plate of cardboard and wouldn't have discerned the difference.

How clean could this place possibly be when they were trying to kick us out before it was even 2:00 am and then when we were outside talking the employees all left immediately after?!?! I'm going to be honest, it really grossed me out because they can not possibly be cleaning the bar!!! It had a decent crowd when we walked in around 10:30 on a Saturday. We sat at a table by the window. It took a little bit of time to get a drink. I don't even remember what I had so it wasn't memorable. The crowd thinned our pretty quickly. The bathrooms are downstairs. They were clean enough. It's a long and narrow bar. Very dark. Not particularly welcoming. The decor had sort of an Irish pub feel. I wouldn't return unless I had to and I wouldn't recommend it. Jon Taffer would probably be appealed by the cleanliness...or lack thereof. Pass!!! The snarky comment from management didn't help your cause. I wrote plenty of good reviews today (3/27/20). I'm sorry that your establishment wasn't worthy of one but I'm not going to pretend like it was better than it was just because of a global crisis. Good luck to you, Erin!

The food at New Deck is alright. The burgers are usually a little overdone, but the fries are really good. The appetizers are also pretty good. As far as drinks go, their selection is good and reasonably priced. Happy hour is a wider selection than a lot of the local places. The wait staff here are all extremely nice and the food always comes out quickly. It's perfect when you're looking for a reasonably priced meal on not much time.

I really enjoyed this place. We were looking for a pub/sports bar type of place and we found New Deck Tavern. I really liked the vibe there, there were a lot of people and it was just a happy environment. Me and my friend both got the wings and they were great! The portion was much bigger than expected which was a pleasant surprise. We also shared the Awesome Cheese Fries. The fries were alright since the cheese had already gotten dry and rubbery by the time the server brought it out. Overall it was a nice experience :)

Food is excellent, service was terrible (slow and mildly racist). When we arrived, our waiter ignored us for 10minutes before asking for drinks. We had to stand and make him take our order too, since we didn't know when he would come back. When my food came, the Shepard's Pie, I did not get any utensils. I got up to ask another waitress for utensils, and she brought them to the only other Asian patrons in the restaurant - who, by the way, were done eating. Our original waiter said she just mixed up the tables, but I had never told her my table and simple context clues would have told her that. She just assumed they were me based on race, despite me being different build and look then that patron. This is racist. Food itself was delicious. Hearty and warm, and comforting.

What I would imagine from Irish pub serving food. Came in with a friend in the afternoon, and the place was almost completely empty for lunch. Atmosphere: All wooden inside. Generally quiet, but this was due to the fact nobody was inside. Food came out quite quickly, maybe 15-20 minutes wait. Friendly service. Food: Thought it was generally average, though the portion sizes are very large. Tried the Bangers and Mash (mashed potatoes, Irish sausage, sweet peas, onion gravy). I personally wish there were more sausage (came with 4 small sausage links) and a huge heaping of mashed potato and gravy. I was not a huge fan of the gravy - a bit too solidified for me, and not very flavorful (a bit bland). Peas didn't really add much to the meal either. The meal was decent due to the portion of mashed potatoes, but this also seemed like a meal I could easily make myself. The mashed potatoes were creamy, but I've also had creamier and more flavorful (e.g., garlic-flavored) mashed potatoes. These seemed pretty standard. Overall: 3/5, probably wouldn't go back, unless I needed a quiet place in the afternoon for lunch. The food options just weren't incredibly appealing to me, sadly.

Came here for happy hour, ordered nachos, a pizza (off the normal menu) and the chicken tenders (not pictured). Those three were plenty for our party of 4. We were happy with the food but service was a bit slow - not the food, but it would take a few minutes to find a waiter to take additional orders or get the bill. The servers were great though, seems they do get busy around that time.

Great Irish bar with friendly atmosphere. Guinness on tap of course and light menu options are tasty.

Went to this Irish Pub after a couple of hours studying with a bud and it was kinda disappointing. I ordered the hot and honey wings with the cripsy onion burger since their wings were skinnier than a run way model. **Disclaimer** Hyperbole in the house. Check my food pic but their bone was literally exposed at the main part of the wing. The flavor was a nice honey glazed with a little spicy/hot kick. It was different from the traditional take of Buffalo wings. The burger was average too. It was a little dry so grab the bottle of Heinz Ketchup as second string back up. In terms of service, the server wasn't too attentive with my friend and I. He forgot to give us napkins and left our glasses to be parch and half empty. It must have been a live band night because it was really hard to talk with someone less than three feet away from you. Overall, the spot is ok. Go for their happy hour specials after normal business hours. I don't think I'll be a regular.

Not sure why this place is called new deck, because I didn't see any new decks while there. Puns aside, shared the chicken quesadilla and salmon burger and would definitely say they were nothing new. The chicken quesadilla was underwhelming and was hoping for more in terms of flavor and texture, but was mostly just chicken, would have liked something else like lettuce or some sauce to add more flavor. The salmon burger was actually really good and had a good strong array of flavors. Not bad, but wouldn't build a new deck for it.