Irish Bars in Philadelphia, Irish Pubs in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Restaurants

Dark Horse Irish Pub in Philadelphia

The Dark Horse is located in the Head House Square area, which is a part of Society Hill of Philadelphia. The beauty of this area is that the buildings are of colorful brick while the street is lined with cobblestone, giving the surrounding area a hint of romance, a redefined structure in nature, and a sense of warmth and comfort.

The Dark Horse, once known as the Dicken’s Inn, is an unique bar and restaurant. It’s much larger than what it may appear from the outside. When you first walk in, you are greeted by the Cafe Bar, which would be on your left. You then follow the wooden stairs up, which bend to the left. When reaching the top, you are then greeted with another small bar room in front of you. As you make a left, heading to the main bar, you will pass two small bar rooms on your right and a semi-large dinning area to your left, before entering the main bar of the Dark Horse. Giving you a total of 5 bar rooms in which you can have different meeting places for different occasions.

This particular bar has a lot of character because of the different bar rooms. You have a nice relaxing area to eat, drink, read, and play darts when visiting the Cafe Bar downstairs. This bar is usually the quietest and best for having conversations during the day or evening. One of the other bars has a rowing oar and old pictures of past rowers. The main bar has many types of beer signs, custom art glass, and a few large televisions.

What I love about this bar is that you can visit the different bar rooms, each having a different look and feel to them, and still be in one main area of origin. You have old wooden bars, semi dim lights at night, all giving it that Irish home feel.

The Dark Horse is sometimes known as a sports bar, because they do support their Philadelphia sports teams, with televisions throughout the bars. But the bar is definitely a place to watch soccer and rugby games whenever on, no matter the time of day.

When it comes to their food and drinks, the Dark Horse is known for their large selection of beers, having 44 taps. I have personally had their burgers, bangers and mash, and shepherd’s pie before. All of which I can say were good for my taste. My friend the other day had their Guinness Battered Fish and Chips, in which said was very good. They are also known for their cut fries, which are excellent.

Overall, there is a lot of charm to the Dark Horse. It’s warm, friendly, and gives you many different options to where you can sit back and enjoy a cold beverage in a Colonial style building. Even the prices for the meals and drinks seem to fall in line with many of the Irish Pubs in Philadelphia.