Chickie’s and Pete’s in Drexel Hill, Pa., is the closest way to get your crab fries without going into the City of Brotherly Love. Serving as one of the more well-known sports bars in the area, I was slightly unimpressed with my experience as a customer.
My party and I were seated immediately after arriving and after a minute or two after sitting down, our waitress had arrived asking us if we were ready for drinks.
I ordered a drink called the 19th Hole, which consisted of ABSOLUT Citron and Wild Tea mixed with freshly brewed iced tea and lemonade. Although the drink was priced at $9, it lasted me my entire meal and was genuinely satisfying. I also noted that I wasn’t carded for my drink, despite being the youngest of my party.
The group split an appetizer of onion rings and that was a decent way to get things started. The tray was offered with a variety of dipping sauces and I found myself most content with the barbecue sauce.
After appetizers, I decided to keep it simple and ordered a BBQ Burger, which was decent for the price paid. It was surprising that fries weren’t included in any burger meal, but I didn’t question it.
We decided to call it at that and skip dessert. The bill total was a bit more than normal for a party of four, but my drink probably didn’t help the cause.
There were many things to take in about the bar as a whole. The bar had no insulation making it very loud as sounds from the televisions and other tables’ conversations bounced across the room. On the other hand, the numerous televisions with a variety of sports games on made it easy to keep up with the big games of the day.
The silverware wasn’t the cleanest, but you could expect that with a restaurant having to do a lot of turnaround in all aspects. The bathrooms weren’t the tidiest either, but that was also expected of a bar atmosphere.
One thing that was nice about the bar was the proximity to Cabrini. Since a lot of students are a fan of Chickie’s crab fries, the Drexel Hill location is the closest to campus without heading into the city. If you take a quick drive south on the Blue Route and about 10 minutes through the local area, the drive is only about 20 minutes in total.
From seating, to food and even the bill, the overall feel was fast-paced and a bit rushed. It is not uncommon for a sports bar to have to seat and serve a lot of people, but I still would expect a customer to enjoy their experience and be able to take their time.
Ultimately, I would recommend Chickie’s and Pete’s, Drexel Hill, to a friend, but I would recommend it more if you were going to sit at the bar. Although the dining experience wasn’t the greatest, I’d still say it is up to standards of other competitors in the area.
@dluner13
