"Food/drink lists will soon surpass racial issues and McNabb/Reid as the most controversial and debated topics in Philadelphia." - Rascal B. Schuylkillian

In the spirit of Philadelphia Magazine's Burger Bracket, B and I went to Standard Tap for dinner two Fridays ago.  The ambiance is cool, and reminds me of the Anthropologie catalogue - antique-looking with a stone-hearth fire place and dark walls with white trim and crown molding.  That being said, the service was pretty bad, the we-don't-use-paper-menus-only-chalk-boards schtick is a little irritating to me, and the disco ball they have hanging upstairs seems pretty random and out of place.

For dinner B ordered the burger with everything:

It was nicely cooked and really tasty.  The only real complaint I can mount about this entire plate of food is the pickles - they had such a severe garlic taste that I literally choked after taking a bite.

I ordered the mussels and sausage with a side of fries:

The fries were wonderful, thin and nicely salted, but the mussels were all butter and extremely mealy.  I would definitely avoid them.

For those of you keeping track, Pub & Kitchen ultimately beat out Standard Tap in Round 2 of the Burger Bowl.  Log on and vote for the final round!  Its Village Whiskey v. P&K - definitely worth a taste test :)