Village Whiskey

Garces’ polished-wood whiskey-and-burger joint is a welcome departure from his normal fare, but with normal Garces prices.

Every time you ring a bell, an angel gets its wings, and Jose Garces gets another restaurant. Village Whisky, his fifth in Philadelphia, takes a step away from the small-plates model that dominates his other restaurants. Instead, Village Whiskey focuses on one food: burgers. Sure, there are other menu items –- appetizers, pickles, even a lobster roll. But Garces made it clear who is in charge when he named one of his burgers –- a $24 affair topped with foie gras -- "King."

When it comes to the bar, though, whiskey is the monarch, as you'd expect from the name. Village Whiskey’s bar boasts dozens of whiskeys, many difficult to otherwise find in the state. And whiskey is included liberally in the bar’s cocktails, including the Commodore, a delightful combination of bourbon, lime, orange bitters, sugar and mezcal. Not a whiskey lover? There’s also a selection of beers, wines and non-whiskey cocktails, including Philadelphia Fish House Punch, an old-style rum drink now available at every bar in the city that staffs "mixologists" instead of bartenders.

Of course, this is a Garces restaurant, so there are two things to expect: high prices and difficulty getting a table. We waited for half-an-hour on a Wednesday night, and the space was so crowded that we couldn’t even find a spot to saddle up to the bar to wait. The table we did get was awkwardly sized, and at six feet tall, my companion could not find a way to comfortably fit his legs under our table. That said, Village Whiskey is beautiful, with a long, wood bar and outdoor seating on Sansom Street in the summer.

The best thing we ordered was the first thing we received: the herbed cherry tomato pickles, zingy, served with an olive tapenade, bread and ricotta. At $4, they were easily the best value on the menu. Other than the King, the burgers are also relatively reasonably priced for a Garces joint, $9 for the standard Village Burger and $8 for the veggie. The veggie burger was not my favorite in the city, but had a good patty with a strong taste of coriander. The Village Burger was also good, but was delivered rarer than requested.

We also ordered the duck fat fries with Sly Fox cheese sauce, which were underwhelming: neither the fries or the cheese sauce really jumped with flavor. The best part was actually the house-made ketchup, which made a much a better dressing for the fries than the cheese sauce did.

Dessert was the strawberry shortcake. It was a strange sweet to offer in the fall, but the fruit was fresh, coupled with mint leaves and orange flavor. The dessert's dry-to-moist ratio was off, though, and while it was good enough, I wouldn't order it again.

Overall, Village Whiskey is a good place to grab a burger and sip a whiskey, and it’s a great place for when you might be looking to grab a bar snack and a cocktail. I just can't promise that you’ll find space at that long, gleaming bar.