Smokey Joe's — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Their burgers are fantastic, but the business practice is sketch. First when we (group of 3) were seated, we were immediately asked for a credit card. That was fine, but odd for being seated at a table, however we didn’t think too much of it. When we ordered a white wine (sav blanc) or rose, we were brought red wines, again a bit odd but we also were like, “okay, I guess this is what we are having with dinner, after all it’s more of a beer place, maybe they don’t have wine?” Still , before jumping to a red after people order a white or rose, maybe ask?

Our server never really appeared and another woman ended up helping us throughout. Only one of us was able to get water when asked, and again, it wasn’t our server. One of the meals (out of three) didn’t come until almost 20 minutes after the others. Honestly, all of this was weird, but we were kind of like, okay.

What became sketch is when the bill arrived. We began adding a 20% tip (despite no service) and then realized, a 21% gratuity (yes, we did the math - it was actually slightly more than 21%) was already added, so we were about to pay a 20% tip on a bill that already included a 20%+ tip. Our server showed up to grab the receipt almost immediately to almost stop us from realizing this (the only time besides when we ordered and the last meal was delivered that he showed up). That seemed sketch, but at that point, I was still giving the benefit of the doubt and was just like, it’s a bar, what do I expect?

We had all seen that gratuity was automatically added to tables of six or more, but nothing about a group of three. A sign was posted on the way OUT of the door that stated all credit card transactions have an automatic 20% gratuity added. First, we never had the option of anything besides a credit card. Second, this sign was only on the way OUT of the building. Third, we didn’t get service or the drinks that we actually ordered. Fourth, the gratuity was more than 20%. Finally, we would have tipped 20% anyway, but it was the sketch of all of this, the never seeing our server or getting service from him, and the getting a completely different order than asked!

My partner used to go here pretty regularly, but now we just feel gross about the whole thing, like super scammy gross. Again, I absolutely love the burgers, this was just all so...

Well, it's been almost forty years since the last time I stepped into Smokey Joe's. A few things have indeed changed, as you would imagine. Gone are the wretched odors of stale beer, the men's restroom, and of course the smoke. Also absent are the less than prolific carvings on the walls, seating booth frames, and anything else made of wood that were fair game to the scribes who graced the Pennstitution with their prosaic and sometimes poetic pearls intended to be posted in perpetuity.

A mixed crowd of students, faculty, and University staff; locals from the bohemian hoods of Baltimore and Cedar Avenues and the low to mid 40's, holding court on the main floor, made for a fun evening my last recent visit. A little nostalgic melancholy made the occurance to me of the notable absence of neo-behives and mullets of the 1980s and of course their counterparts of the 1960's, for better or worse. You'll forgive my digression as I need to tell you of the very friendly and efficient service of the front of the house staff for everything from watching my shopping bags as I visited the restroom to delivering what are still the best wings in the world (I chose the medium hot Buffalo style offered alongside a dry rubbed style) and French fries delivered hot, crisp, but not overly fried as to harness alot of grease. The welcome odor of each having lured me into the joint in the first place definitely a change of pace for the better for the community and this fraternity boy now in his late fifties gracing you with this geeze fest. Conclusion: Go! Go for the nostalgic Spirit but stay for what remains to sustain this establishment: good food and spirits, along with outstanding service and the still graffiti addled men's room off the second floor. Not everything has to change for a great...

Visited this place the first time yesterday, Thursday 7/20. I have to mention that my boyfriend and I are both foreigners and we have an international (non-american) credit card. On Thursdays they have an event “Thursdays sink or swim” which means that you pay 7 dollars to get in and then you can drink certain drinks for 1 dollar. When I was asking a bartender with a beard and a tie what this event is about and telling him in advance that there can be problems with our international credit card but we have cash to pay for food/drinks, he got really annoyed, acted like he was in a hurry and did not answer most of our questions (including what time the event starts, so we ended up getting two beers for 7 dollars 5 minutes before 10PM). I thought that maybe it’s because English is our second language and us/he didn’t understand, so we let it go. We ended up drinking 3 drinks - other very nice bartender with white shirt served us. The other bartender who got annoyed with us before kept ignoring us. When one of our friends who we met before wanted to buy us drinks, the same bartender refused and told her that we are too intoxicated. Then he went and served one person 5-6 drinks at the same time. We were the only people there sitting quietly in a bar watching others, everything was fine, we did not disturb anyone and neither of us felt “intoxicated”. It was just very uncomfortable and insulting. The bar looks nice though and the live music was fun - really enjoyed that. The whole experience with the bartender and “being intoxicated” was just offensive and during our time in Philly we will not visit...