McGillin's Olde Ale House — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Door security - very unreasonable and unfriendly.

Whilst in Philadelphia, I attempted to visit McGillin's Olde Ale House, with my disabled son who is in his mid-twenties. I walked past the doorman without any issues, but my son was stopped and asked for ID, which he did not have. For safety and security on any holiday, we do not walk about with our passports. We had been in other bars for food, in Philadelphia, without any problems, so I tried to reason with this guy. I explained that my son and I, were only interested in food, adding that my son does not drink alcohol and never has. I offered to show digital images of our UK passports, but this was immediately refused? I even produced my UK Government ID employment card, to provide authenticity and honesty to the situation. This guy simply was not interested and kept mumbling about 'the law'. Anyway looking inside the place, it was quite dark and dingy, so this unreasonable person probably done us a favour! Afterwards, I had a look at the state laws and 'carding' by licenced premises is generally not required and patrons are not obliged to have ID on licenced premises. Although such premises do have to ensure that they are not violating any laws, so I can understand a licensee wishing to be upholding any laws. Nevertheless, I still believe any educated and reasonable person could carefully assess each situation, with credible information being provided. Unfortunately, this did not happen on our visit. So with my mid-twenties son being refused admission, this doorman must have, in his view, deemed him as a minor? Again looking at state laws and In that scenario, he should have been permitted admission with his parent who provided ID? Overall, I do feel the USA has a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the western world with the interpretation of these so called laws. It's actually quite laughable when you have a guy with no personality, acting like a super hero and supposedly abiding by the law. (The same guy is pictured in another negative review). Obviously this guy has serious issues and a real attitude problem. He definitely should not be employed in a public facing role. Meanwhile all over the streets of Philadelphia, people are zombies, out of their minds on illegal drugs and nobody, including police, gives any of this a second thought! So much for...

My husband and I went here because it seemed reasonably priced, and guess what, it was! The Tex Mex fries were probably the only thing that could have been better, (they were missing salt, there wasn’t even enough to bring out the flavor. I salted them but you know how it is once the oil has dried, just doesn’t do the trick) but the big burger, chili & vegetable rice soup were all 10/10.

The service is interesting. Our server was very quick when we requested something, but this must be the kind of joint where you just flag her down if you want something else. We sat for about 20 minutes after we finished our appetizer and she walked by our table without even a second look. I thought maybe she was busy but when I asked if we could order she said yes and was great. So, if you’re in a hurry or just really hungry, don’t wait for them. You have to let them know.

As a warning though: I’ve seen two reviews about this place that say they’re homophobic. One of them says they even refused to let a trans woman in the women’s bathroom. I wasn’t there and this is just what someone wrote so idk if it’s true, but it’s hard to imagine someone just making that up, and it wasn’t like there was one, there were two so, if you’re someone who might be discriminated against based on sex or sexual orientation, you might want to do more research or ask around to members of the LGBTQ...

We normally really enjoy this restaurant and have been coming for years, but today it was a whole new atmosphere. Our family walked in and were met with a flashlight in our eyes. A six year old in our party was holding a lemonade, and before she even walked into the restaurant the bouncer forcefully pulled the lemonade out of her hands even when she was trying to finish it before coming inside so the girl started crying. The atmosphere is usually amazing, with the beautiful christmas decorations and fun christmas music. And this time even with the same nice decorations, but the atmosphere was spoiled by the flashlights the bouncers were shining every other second as people walked in. This countered the usual cozy, old feeling atmosphere, something the restaurant usually prides itself on, by making the place feel like a night club. For reference, this was 3pm, and our group was all dressed respectfully and clean. We decided to stay because it has been tradition for years to come to this spot during christmas time and have always enjoyed it. When we were about to be seated, we were taken upstairs, half of our party had left and the mood as a whole had soured. So, we ended up leaving as well and enjoyed dinner elsewhere. If you are looking for a traditional ale house, do not go to McGillin's unless your vision of one is...