A brauhaus revival in the greater Northeast

Germans have contributed a lot to the Philadelphia area, like the fishermen who gave Fishtown its name before stocking the area with the very same tiny houses the ironic wolf t-shirt would later be invented in. They also brought over plenty of German food and beer, which you can now get at Hop Angel Brauhaus.

Just up from the Fox Chase station, HAB's the third brauhaus to set up shop in the 100+ year-old building, offering an interior full of heavy wooden seating, Teutonic carvings on columns left over from the joint's previous iterations, and remnants of the original wood paneling, amidst which to enjoy a Deutschland-dish menu so authentic, it's got three copies of Hasselhoff's "Looking For Freedom". Apps include the Vesperplatte, a plate of ham, sausage, salami, and cheese; baked littleneck clams called Gebackene Herz Muscheln; a shrimp cocktail dubbed Garnelen Cocktail au Eisl; and Räucherlachs mit Honig, or smoked salmon and honey dill, not to be confused with Honey I Shrunk the Kids' Dill, the sequel in which Rick Moranis totally ruins everyone's sandwiches. Big dishes mix in more misplaced vowels via entrees like Bayerische Schweinshaxe (Bavarian pork shank in a dark beer sauce); Zwiebel Rostbraten, a seared sirloin served w/ a pan sauce and crispy onions; and a veal cutlet and wild mushroom hunter sauce known as Jager Schnitzel, a dish traditionally enjoyed by pledges, and David Hasselhoff.

Putting the brau in brauhaus is a bevy of tapped Bavarian-style suds, including Brooklyner Weisse, Flying Fish's OktoberFish, and Manayunk ALTercation, also another name for that video of Fishtown types oh-so-brutally slapping each other in LA.