Crow and the Pitcher

We came here the night before the Beyonce concert for a quick dinner. The skies opened up on us as we were walking there and were completely soaked when we arrived to Crow & the Pitcher. The owners and workers greeted us with towels and ushered us to the bathroom. They then gave us FREE Crow & the Pitcher t-​shirts so we could dine comfortably. The food and drinks are great but the hospitality was even better! Many thanks to the owners and employees for being so generous last week.

I think I just come here for the Unilocal check in offer for the free drink.
Came for brunch a couple of times. This last time we sat inside on one of the tall tables. A+ for individual hooks for purses. I had the burger with bone marrow (maybe a questionable entrée choice for brunch anyway). The fries on the side were yummy and crisp. But the burger itself left something to be desired. The meat, while cooked to my liking, was missing more flavor. And where was the flavor and texture of bone marrow? Completely lost.
My partner’s French toast was yummy but again very plain. The whipped cream on the side was light and not too sweet. Worked great as an accompaniment but we could have used more.
Anyway, enjoyed the ambience and the free mimosa. Don’t forget to check in on Unilocal to unlock it!

Burger was pretty good, but it took over an hour from the time we placed our orders to when the food was finally delivered, despite the fact that our group of 6 went after the lunch rush and was eventually the only table left in the restaurant. They also ran out of several ingredients so one of our friends had to change his order twice.
The thing I enjoyed most was the deep-​fried, sweet burger bun (like a funnel cake almost). And also the free mimosa/​bloody mary for checking in! I probably wouldn’t risk dining here again though.

Went to crow and the pitcher last night. Really like the décor and style of the place. Pretty unique cocktail list. I really enjoyed the food. My date was vegan and the kitchen was able to accommodate. The ratatouille is a must try.

The menu looks delicious but, even with the addition of some George Perrier consulting, just doesn’t live up to what it promises. For instance, the escargot starter: snails in a hazelnut-​Chartreuse-​champagne butter. Per my server, supposed to be the genuine original Le Bec-​Fin recipe. I’ve had these little slithers several times, and this ain’t the original recipe. More butter than anything else, barely any flavor of garlic or liqueur, and woefully under-​salted. (Although this did let me discover that when you ask for salt, they hand you a very cute box of multiple different salt colors that you can play with.) Cocktails were similarly just light on the unique or interesting flavors. Neither of mine was bad, just not the sort of drink that raises your eyebrows on the first sip.
The one exception is what others have noted: the cheese. The cheesemonger was theatrical and amusing, the cheeses both accessible to a novice and interesting to an experienced cheese-​chomper, and the accompaniments sweet without being overpowering. If I came back, I’d do the cheese and wine option and skip the rest of the menu.

Dinner last night. Food was disappointing and dreadful. Nose level unacceptably high. Service not at all attentive. Two of us had chicken, one had the tripe (dreadful) and one had the burger. This restaurant is quite small which contributes to the unacceptably high noise level. There was no salad or fish on the menu. I have rarely been so disappointed in a meal. We had out of town guests who live at the shore where there are very few quality restaurants. We had hoped to offer them a really marvelous meal. Crow and the Pitcher has a long way to go.

I had been wanting to check out The Crow for a long while because of their wine and cheese pairings, but we ended up there on a snowy evening for dinner instead. The place was packed (seemed like a good neighborhood haunt) and was warm and welcoming on a Saturday night. My only complaint upon entering was that the whole place seemed a bit smokey. Thought it might have been something going on in the kitchen, but when I got my cocktail later in a very obviously smoked glass, maybe it was that?
We started off with some olives and fries to nibble on — the cheese sauce on the fries was perfect — not too much and not too little. I had the salade lyonnaise for my entrée (a classic that’s hard to screw up, and they didn’t), and he had the much-​touted burger which looked and smelled incredible. I took a bite of the onions, mushrooms, and bordelaise sauce, and I can tell you that it was de-​licious. We also split the ratatouille to up our vegetable intake and ended up taking most of it home for breakfast the next day (fried eggs, yum, friends,)
Overall I would put our food experience at a 3, but I’m giving them an extra star because I carelessly left my credit card there (derp), and they carefully held it for me for 24 hours until I realized that I had lost it and could retrieve it. That kind of stuff counts, mes amis. It was very much appreciated.

Came here with my girlfriend for brunch. We were starving and im a huge brunch person. Considering the location ai was excited to check out something new. Unfortunately We were very disappointed. Our waitress was very nice but she was the only employee in the entire place. She was the bartender and the waitress. It took a while for her to take our order, bring our drink and for us to get our food. Not her fault! Management fault. I ordered a sausage egg and cheese sandwich. Pretty simple. It was pretty bad! I basically got an 8oz sausage patty, with egg on top. Very bad greasy disgusting combination. I expected egg with some sausage. I dont even know what my gf ordered but it was a lot a of bread with some ham or something. She hated it. We left pretty disappointed. I hope they fix these issues or they will be another bad restaurant statistic.

Meh, we stopped in for a cocktail and although pretty the barren the folks were friendly so we decided to make brunch reservations. Throughout the course of brunch we were one of I believe three tables and it took a good long while for our food to come out. The service was not as friendly at this time of day and I swear the stink eye came our way once or twice, along with perfunctory chilled discourse, my dear if you hate your job so very much get a different one. Now I’m a fan of a big brunch plate but I’m also a fan of vegetables and my heart, it seemed as though every item was over fried with artery clogging abundance with little flavor.

Had been wanting to try this place for awhile and finally made it over the other weekend during restaurant week. We were having a terrible time finding parking in this area, so my fiancé dropped me off so we wouldn’t lose our reservation. I decided to have a cocktail while I was waiting for him and had trouble finding one on the list that sounded appealing. The waiter recommended the juice diet which I thought sounded weird. But, it was so good! Oddly refreshing.
We ordered from the restaurant week menu, and I was really disappointed that they were out of escargot because that was one of the reasons I picked the restaurant. For our first course, he had the onion soup and I had the tomato salad. They were both just okay, the salad wasn’t really much of a salad. For our entrees, he had the strip steak and I had the lancaster chicken. Both of our entrees were excellent. But, the portions were small. I really liked his steak, it had a sweeter taste to it. For dessert, I had the cheese plate and he had the apple cake. I wasn’t crazy about the one type of cheese on the plate, but his cake was really good. I feel like places are never as good during restaurant week (from my experience) so maybe that’s why I felt a little disappointed. Everything was really good, but not amazing. It was also pretty expensive, even during restaurant week. Our bill somehow came to like $ 130 pre tip for just the two $ 35 meals and two cocktails. The service was friendly, but very slow.

This was one of those times where I pre-​stalked the menu to figure out what I wanted, and then the menu was different when I got there so I had to start from scratch. This turned out to not be a bad thing.
My first impression upon walking in was that it was cozy, dimly lit, and the perfect setting for a date or a friend hang. Small but thoughtful selection of beers. And then I laid eyes on the glorious cheese cart. Unfortunately, my boyfriend is not a cheese person (I know, I know, it’s kind of a deal breaker) so this cheese cart and I will have to become acquainted another time.
We had a CBS local deal for $ 50 dollars worth of food. I ordered the burger, medium, and a side of cheese sauce for my fries. Ryan ordered the pork sandwich. We had the hot apple cake for dessert and got a slice of coffee cake to go (double dessert for the win).
The burger was SO good. It’s rare that I order a burger from a restaurant that serves other things besides burgers, but this was such a good choice. It was cooked perfectly, the bun was soft and luscious, the patty had a nice sear and slight crunch on the outside, even the mushrooms on it were good and I’m not really a mushroom gal. The fries were also delicious and I was tempted to drink the cheese sauce.
Ryan really liked his pork sammy and finished every morsel. I tried a bite and was definitely a bigger fan of my burger, but to each his own.
The hot apple cake wasn’t even warm let alone hot, but was very tasty and came with homemade whipped cream. We heated up the coffee cake the following evening– it almost tasted like cornbread coffee cake, which was both weird and delightful.
I’d definitely come back here but I hope they put the brussels sprouts and deviled eggs back on the menu ;)

Came in for brunch today and was pretty disappointed. The place wasn’t very packed, but we waited almost 10 minutes for our drink order to be taken– and then another 10 for the drinks to even arrive. The food was alright but definitely not worth the price tag, considering the service that came with it and the fact that the entire dining room was filled with smoke from the kitchen for almost the entirety of our visit.
Wish I could say something better, as I’m sure the waitress was trying her best– but I don’t think I’ll be returning.

We only had drinks here, but had such a great time and would have liked to stay longer! We were there late on a Saturday afternoon, at what seemed like an odd time before dinner, but there were several other tables/​groups there too.
Everyone working there was attentive and friendly. I dug the cozy atmosphere. Food looked great and I wanted an appetizer, but decided we better not, since we were heading to a previously scheduled dinner soon after.
Bartender Nick was amazingly welcoming. The cocktails were tasty & creative, and there were a few good beers on tap too. We even ended up meeting the owner, Michael, who was friendly and around as well. Would definitely go back and try the food /​cheese next time!

One of the best meals I have had in Philadelphia. great location off Rittenhouse Sq with a nice little area to sit outside.
Must get:
–cheese and beer pairing
–burger

I came here for a business lunch on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised (though glad) to see that it was way more quiet than most restaurants in the Rittenhouse area during lunch. In fact, there was only one other party in the entire restaurant, so we ended up with the place to ourselves for most of our meal. (Usually, this means faster service.)
However, despite the lack of customers, it strangely took a very long time for our table to get set up and for our food to arrive. When it did, our burgers and fries were very tasty, but following this meal, my stomach acted all funky for the next few days. Also, the menu presented to us earlier was much more limited than the lunch menu posted online.
There was a Unilocal check-​in deal for a free beer with the purchase of an entrée. Not very convenient for the working crowd, but if it’s still going on, it might be worth checking out. However, I’d probably recommend proceeding with caution, given my bubbly-​stomach experience after consuming this food.

Four stars for the cocktails, but only two for the food & service.
I came here for drinks and dinner and had a very mixed experience. My date and I started with cocktails, and those were very good. I had the Traveling Salemsan Problem & the Shouty American Halfwit. Each was well-​balanced, complex and original — everything I look for in a drink.
Unfortunately, dinner was a bumpier ride. We started with a few apps — the fried pickles and the frites. I normally wouldn’t lean so heavily on fried food, but C&P’s menu is limited, more oriented to bar snacks than to true appetizers, and those seemed like the best options. Fried pickles are usually a slam-​dunk: you’re taking pickles, which are already salty and vinegary, and then you’re frying them, so it should be pretty easy to attain a delicious outcome, right? Well, these were OK, but somehow not as impressive as they should be. Soft rather than crispy, and not as tangy as I’d like.
Entrees were similarly underwhelming. I had a fish special, something advertised as ‘ruby-​red trout’ which, when it appeared, seemed to be arctic char, or something similar. The menu described it as being pan-​seared, but the skin wasn’t crisped at all — it was soft, rubbery, entirely unappealing. Getting that skin crispy is Cooking 101, and it’s not that hard a technique to master — decent home chefs get it right all the time — so a notable fail on that dish.
Even worse was my date’s pasta dish, which came with all the advertised ingredients, plus a ‘little something extra’: a piece of metal! It’s lucky she didn’t cut her mouth or tongue when she bit into it. We alerted our server (an older, bespectacled fellow), who brought the dish to the kitchen for inspection, and returned to say it was a part of a steel wool cleaning pad. Nice. The manager also stopped by our table, but neither he nor the server were all that apologetic. They seemed pretty blasé about the whole thing, as if it were no big deal. At the very end of the meal, our server offered us some dessert wine, compliments of the house, but he made sure to tell us that it was ‘very expensive’, in case we weren’t sufficiently appreciative, and in doing so, fumbled the courtesy.
By the end of the meal our server had grown pretty curt, and when we had questions about items on the dessert menu, he offered up only very short replies before turning and leaving. When he brought the check, he seemed to realize this and apologized, but it was too little, too late. He was honestly one of the weakest servers I’ve had in years, and is clearly not well-​trained. Judging from other reviews, it looks like many other diners have had similar experiences here. The house management need to recognize this and either train him up or replace him, and if they can’t, they themselves should be replaced.
Given the limited menu, the spotty execution and the below-​average service, I wouldn’t come back here for dinner, at least not by choice. If I came back at all, it’d be for a quick drink at the bar, before going somewhere else & better for the main meal.

Im seeing a lot of reviews here that stay the staff here can be a bit snooty. Our experience was just the opposite. We almost wanted to give the bartender our number to hang out. I was looking for a cool bar to stop at before our dinner reservation and I saw this place does a cocktail with Kale Juice and Tequila which are two of my boys favorite things. Drinks were amazing, we also tried the deviled eggs which were great too.
Worth a stop in for sure.

The GF and I were meeting up with our newly engaged couple friends J & C. So in the spirit of all things brunch-​related, we decided to meet up at Crow and the Pitcher to catch up on all the excitement while imbibing in some Bloody’s and champagne.
Pro tip? For brunch, Crow and the Pitcher is BYO — perfect to bring some champs. Better yet? They offer a Facebook check-​in special which gifts you a free Bloody Mary with your meal. Fair warning, the restaurant is packed before 1PM, but luckily, it wasn’t that much of a wait past our reservation time.
Bloody Mary [$ 10]
The comped Bloody Mary was a great rendition — not overly spiced, but had a nice kick that was tempered by some citrus. It came topped with an olive and pickle. I believe the regular Bloody’s even come with bacon on top!
Breakfast Sandwich [$ 9]
Brioche, fennel salami, pan-​seared tomato, fried egg, caramelized onions, goat cheese, fries
The GF went with the breakfast sandwich, which was rich with the fried egg and savory with the caramelized onions and salami. The tang of the goat cheese and the acidity of the pan-​seared tomato really made it. This was all housed in a nicely toasted brioche bun. The fries were well-​seasoned and crisp.
Brunch Burger [$ 18]
Battered brioche, maple sausage, applewood smoked heritage bacon, clothbound cheddar, fried egg
I had to go with the brunch burger, which was a monster. While the cheddar wasn’t as pronounced as I wanted it to be, the sweet and savory flavors were all there. The smokiness of the crisp bacon and the well-​seasoned, juicy burger was the perfect balance to the sweetness of the maple sausage and that battered french toast brioche bun. Definitely a fork and knife burger if you’re looking to be somewhat civilized.
Crow and the Pitcher is definitely a place I’d like to stop by for dinner sometime. Based on brunch, it seems promising. From what I hear, they have Le Bec-Fin’s Christofle cheese cart as well. Service was also very good and our champagne flutes were constantly topped off.
Most importantly, congrats to J & C — may you both have a wonderful life together!

This fabulous new restaurant is great for any time of the day! I’ve been here for brunch, lunch and dinner.
The dinner service was magnificent! Had the mussels in vermouth and I’m not going to lie, when the mussels were gone, we took turns passing the bowl around to drink the broth till the bowl was entirely empty!
My entrée was a little salty but my husband’s fish was good. The bread was yummy too! All in all, the food proportions, the service, the quality of the food and the artistry you get for the price you pay… it’s just a marvelous dinning experience.
On top of that, had brunch here with my babes once and the food was again, delicious and a feast for our eyes too! This place is definitely going to be a regular choice for us!

M-​m-​m-​my cheese bad. My cheese hood. My cheese… rolls up on the former Le Bec Fin cheese cart and puts all other Philly cheese options to shame. Which is what Luda would have rapped about had he taken a visit to Crow and the Pitcher
As a Philly transplant, I’ve only heard tales of the glory days of Le Bec Fin, so when that beautiful, little cart filled with decadent Di Bruno Brothers fromage approached me, I’m pretty sure I miraculously became pregnant.
So obviously the cheesemongered Le Bec Fin cheese cart is a must order (in cheese quantities of 1, 3, 5 or 10), but don’t stop there. Other food brilliance is in store for you.
The cauliflower is a must. I felt like I was in a scene from Goldilocks and the Three Bears: The Vegetable Edition where I was lucky enough to be at a restaurant where the cauliflower was not too soggy and not too crunchy, but juuuuuuuust right. And the mascarpone topping? You’re gonna want to lick you’re plate clean.
The Cavatelli on the menu was like a caprese salad in fresh pasta form. Delicious.
The Deviled Eggs are also a winner, but be warned. Only three are served, which feels like an odd number of items on snack dish. Our group of four had to arm wrestle over who had to split one.
Other honorable mentions go out to the Asparagus, Pan-​Roasted Lancaster Chicken and the Mushrooms (which I only include because my dining companions raved about them. I, for one, think mushrooms are like gross little earth boogers).
The only dish we ordered that I wouldn’t get again: The Roast Pork Sandwich. The pork was kind of dry and it was a bit cumbersome to eat. I’d stick with getting your Roast Pork at one of Philly’s several amazing hoagie shops and save yourself a few bucks.
So on that note, stop reading, go to Crow and the Pitcher and help spread the «Word of Mouf.» It’s what Luda would want you to do.