Update 6/10/2025: I genuinely want Tortured Souls & Evolution to succeed. That said, I still struggle to find a compelling reason to return—partly for the food & certainly not for the beer. This is Evolution, but it’s not Evolution Grille. There’s a clear difference, and it shows.
The beer: See my detailed thoughts below—nothing’s changed.
The place has a cool vibe no doubt. But that’s where it ends. Each element—food, beer, ambiance—feels like a convenience tax on the others, rather than a true draw on its own. I'm not bringing the family here for dinner. I'm not bringing craft beer afficionados here for the beer. What to do?
Original Review (no change): At the core of any brewery’s success is the quality of its beer. Tortured Souls, however, seems to have missed that memo. The beer is, by and large, uninspired, poorly executed, & overpriced. While successful craft breweries hone traditional styles and build creative, balanced experiments, Tortured Souls takes a different route: novelty over quality. It’s as if they think every flavor idea that popped into someone’s head after reading Home Brewing for Dummies deserves to hit the tap list.
Peanut butter beer. Mango beer. Banana beer. Cherry beer. Coffee beer. Add a dash of “What were they thinking?” & voila — your tap list is now a Pinterest board gone rogue. Rather than refine core styles, they go full Frankenstein, hoping weirdness will mask mediocrity. These concoctions may appeal to blue-haired ladies with lip rings seeking an Instagram moment, but they certainly won’t impress anyone who actually enjoys beer. Even their “normal” offerings — IPAs, stouts — lack body, balance, and depth. Watered-down with awkward finishes, they’re more punishment than pint. Dank Delirium and Endless Void are drinkable, but only because the bar is buried somewhere underground.
Now let’s talk price. You might think weird experiments would come cheap. You’d be wrong. Tortured Souls charges premium prices for beer that’s barely gas station quality. In a world where you can get outstanding craft beer for the same money or less, it’s almost impressive that they have the confidence to charge what they do.
Instead of playing Mad Libs with beer flavors, they could… oh, I don’t know… brew something good? Or — here’s a revolutionary thought — bring in reputable Pennsylvania beers like Penn, Grist House, Old Thunder, Dancing Gnome, Braddock, I could go on…
But then they’d have to admit they’re not the experts. And that’s clearly not an option. See, the owners don’t want to win — they just want to be right. This feels less like a passion project and more like a quirky side hustle born out of a midlife crisis. There’s no skin in the game. It’s as if they read about the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 and took it as a personal challenge: “Let’s ruin beer by adding fruit syrup, weak malt, extract, and then dry-hop it into oblivion.”
As for the food — Tortured Souls sublets their kitchen.
Now Evolution, a once-popular BYOB spot, is taking over. Sounds promising on paper — real restaurant, actual food — but it raises a few questions. Like: will Evolution’s diners want to wash down their meal with beer that tastes like an overripe banana melted in a hop vat? A strong kitchen can be an asset, but if the beer scares people off, what’s the point?
And how will dine-in guests react when their duck confit is served to the sound of screeching cover bands and trivia hosts yelling about 1990s sitcoms? Evolution might have standards. Tortured Souls, on the other hand, seems to have Spotify playlists louder than their quality control. It seems a conflict between the two restaurants is almost inevitable.
And lastly, the pressing questions: Will Evolution serve a fried egg on a brioche burger? Will it be $22 because it’s locally massaged, grass-fed beef? Will the menu be handwritten in chalk, or hidden behind a glitchy QR code? Will we get our order status via text message like it’s a passport application?
Because you know — we do everything different here.
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