Independence Beer Garden — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Popped in here yesterday, a hot Saturday early afternoon. We arrived around 1:30-2pm I'd say and it was pretty crowded but we were quickly seated and there was no wait. Little disappointed that the guys checking IDs were just tossing the little squares of the wrist bands on the ground instead of having a bin nearby to toss them in...

Seating is done by the hostess stand - there's no standing around, ordering from the bar, or seating yourself. All tables are marked out so each party can have 6 feet of space between the next party, even if the table is shared. Menus are contactless via a scanner at your table that you use with your phone. I really liked the setup! This place always used to be super crowded and it was nice to not have to hunt for a spot.

We ordered a first round of drinks and some light snacks - between two people we shared the cauliflower tacos and the fried pickles. Fried pickles claimed to be spicy but it was just paprika so they weren't "hot" spicy (which was good for me). The cauliflower tacos were surprisingly good! We aren't vegan, just wanted some vegetables in our life on the hot day instead of going with everything breaded, fried, and cheesed. The drinks were good - there was a wiiiide selection and you could definitely find something you liked on the menu.

When the first round was delivered, we asked if we could get water and were told that someone would be around. No one ever came. Some tables with large groups had pitchers of water but it wasn't clear how they got them. There was a $4 can of water on the menu but I didn't want to pay for water. On a hot day, it should probably just be delivered with alcohol. They used to have self-serve coolers but I guess they took those away to avoid people crowding around them and/or all the touching.

When we ordered our second round (the Federal Donuts/Conshy Brewing Company mashup Fednuts and a Sam Adams Summer Ale), we wrote in the comments to please also send over some water and put a lime in the beer. While we waited for those drinks, someone came around to clear trash (we didn't realize a can was right behind us, woops - but also, the can was for trash and recycling? Oh no!) and asked if we wanted water - finally! When we got our drinks, there was no lime in the beer. So it's unclear if the person we were originally promised just finally came around or if trying to use the comments section worked. Generally, just unclear how to get some courtesy H2O.

Overall, a much better experience than I've had in the past with the crowds and of course drinks were great. Docked a star for the trash situation with the wristbands and possibly not recycling cans and the water problem. I'd still come back though (and maybe just be the person that asks for water at the bar if it's not coming to me) and would recommend...

Went here for a couple of drinks last weekend with my parents who were visiting from out of town. I've been to this place many times in the past and have not had any bad experiences. After my most recent experience last Saturday night, I felt it ruined my impression of this place completely and I will not be returning. My parents and I sat down at the picnic tables on the left side because it seemed to be far less crowded than the area by the main bar. About 10 minutes into sitting down, we realized why there were no other customers in the immediate area. There were dozens of mice crawling in between the planters, vines, and trees. We sat for another round hoping that they would eventually scurry away once they saw us. We immediately told the waitress and informed her of the issue, she was very apologetic and told us she would let her manager know. After the mice eventually started getting bold enough to come closer to our feet, we were forced to get up from our table and leave. We went over to the manager and informed her of the issue and her response was "Oh well, we're outside in Philadelphia. There's nothing we can do." After a less than desirable response, we sat over in the more crowded area by the main bar in the table service only section. Our new waiter came over and asked if we had wanted anything else to drink, but we had just ordered another round and didn't need anything at the moment. His response to us telling him we were okay for now was "You need to go over to the self service area then" (meanwhile there were plenty of empty tables in his section). We informed him of the mice problem we encountered on the other side of the bar to which he replied "Well I'm just trying to make money so if you're sitting here you need to order." I've never been treated so poorly by the waitstaff, not to mention so disgusted by the conditions at this bar. I'm sure if the department of health heard about this issue, they would be more inclined to handle our complaints directly. The fact that people actually order food from this place is concerning and I thought people should know and therefore think twice before visiting this place. I was embarrassed that the place I had previously raved about to my parents turned out...

First impression was great...what’s better than sitting outside on a summer night amongst lights, trees, and games enjoying a beer... Then several of us noticed a couple small mice in the corner near some plants. Then we noticed more...and more...as we sat there we realized there were numerous mice crawling under the tables etc...We notified our server who responded appropriately and said she’d address the situation with her manager. She was very apologetic but her ability to fix the situation was limited. After a few more minutes we decided to cash out to move to another part of the area to sit to have our drinks. Before we left a member of our party spoke to the manager who basically responded “It’s summer in Philadelphia...what do you expect.” She never once came over to view the situation personally or to apologize...she could not be bothered. So we moved to a different table which looked less appealing to the mice and the waiter came over to take our order. We informed him that we had just purchased drinks and moved due to mice..He then informed us we couldn’t sit in that area, that we need to relocate to “self service” since we weren’t ordering drinks. Again, we indicated that we just wanted to sit in a mouse free location to have our drinks. He finally relented, but never came back to check on us. For a guy who “just wants to make some money” he certainly couldn’t be bothered to wait on us to order more drinks. In summary, this place needs a good cleaning and management and staff need to learn basic customer service. I don’t think the department of health would tolerate visible mice activity in an eating establishment...