Brendan (Spanky) Hartranft and Leigh Maida - the couple who last year opened the Memphis Taproom, in Port Richmond, to a big buzz - wondered about the same thing, especially since their home lies in that vast turf south of Spruce Street.
"I kind of wanted a chill place where I could get a decent beer, a decent bite to eat, just down the block," Maida said. "There are lots of places like that in the city, but not in West Philly."
Now there's one: The partners opened Local 44, at 44th and Spruce streets, on New Year's Day. Those who remember the place as Kelliann's won't recognize it any more. Stripped down and rebuilt, everything inside was either painted or trashed.
"There's not a surface in here that we haven't painstakingly thought through, right down to the distress marks on the bench," Maida said. "I hate it when everything looks so shiny and new that you're afraid to put down a glass or coffee mug."
The spectacular 20-tap beer lineup is Hartranft's baby. I won't drop names because the kegs are kicking so quickly. (OK, here's one that'll be gone by the time you read this: Cantillon Lou Pepe, '06 vintage, from Belgium.) Expect to find all the locals, plus cult American crafts (Bear Republic, Russian River) and imports (De Ranke, Conniston). There's only one bottle in stock: Orval - Hartranft's favorite. No BudMillerCoors, no PBR, and not just because that's not craft beer.
"We do not want this to become a college bar," said Maida, noting the off-campus housing in the area. "We're a neighborhood joint. When Penn kids are in a bar, they consume the atmosphere around them, and it becomes all about them. I don't want the neighborhood people to come in and say, 'Oh wait, college bar,' and never come back in."
