Guppy's II

Summary: This is a pub. Let's leave it at that. I wouldn't come here again expecting gastropub food. Try their burgers - they are good. The service is also good. Even though they screwed up (read-on), I would give them another shot and visit with different expectations.

Atmosphere:
- Came here on a summer Friday night with one other person.
- The atmosphere is lively. There's no acoustics in here so all of people and music bounce around the large room.
- This is the place to come with a big group, but not on a date. The noise qualifies it to be family-friendly....but it is a bar.

Beer:
- They serve local PA brews.
- To try many of the beers, ask for a flight!

Food:
- The food was disappointing. We were excited to find a place that touts itself as a locally sourced craft beer pub in Norristown...read again...in Norristown, but the dog didn't live up to the bark.
- We ordered the salmon tacos, chicken fingers, homemade papparedell and the Big Gup burger. Where to start?
- The salmon tacos came out on plain soft tortillas with some arugula, slivers of green peppers and a bland white sauce. It was a bland dish. I asked the waitress for sweet corn and/or red onions to liven up the dish. They didn't have either.
- The chicken fingers came with milky honey mustard. Good if you enjoy less pungent mustards.
- The papparedell was gooey and mushy - this was sent back.
- The Big Gup burger was actually really good. It came out cooked how I asked and I enjoyed it. The second burger we received as a replacement for the pasta, was also quite good.
- Overall, we were very disappointed with the expectations set by the marketing...everything is local including some of the produce and the beer. A lot of their produce is sourced from Maple Acres Farm in Norristown/Lafayette Hill area. When we were speaking with who I think was the front of the house manager he tried to explain to us that the avocados used for their guacamole was from Maple Acres farm. PENNSYLVANIA DOES NOT GROW AVOCADOS. This left us with the impression that this place is trying really hard to be that "local-farm-to-table-everything" place when in reality it should be "we-pride-ourselves-in-obtaining-xx%-of-our-food-­locally". This left us with the impression that they use this "locally sourced" bandaid as their spiel for everything....even if it may not be true.

Service:
- Our waitress was attentive, helpful and knowledgeable.
- Impressed by the front of the house manager's persistence in changing our experience even after we already decided we have enough.
- Once the front of the house manager realized our experience wasn't going well, he stepped in immediately. While we were not impressed with him blatantly lying to us about the source of produce, we were impressed with his relentlessness at trying to make it up to us...by communicating the problems with the chef, bringing out something else, comping the pasta and comping our dessert. Which by the way, was a really delicious cake from Sysco...surprised for such a LOCAL-LOCAL-LOCAL place they didn't make their own with the flour made from the produce at Maple Acres Farm *wink*.

Ad-hoc:
- There is parking in the plaza.

Been to this guppys twice. What a great spot. Great mix of very healthy, tasty treats, reasonably priced and proportioned. Friendly owner and staff. A must visit for anyone in the are looking for something new and different.

Nick d.

"Excellent burgers. Nice appetizers and beer selection. Other food good as well.
the meal was tasty.
But don't try using a Guppy's gift card. Won't accept it.
Being turned down to use of the gift card in front of your friends is a little embarrassing