Breweries / Fishtown / Openings

Dock Street Brewing Company Opens Fishtown Taproom


PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 24, 2023) – Dock Street Brewing Company, Philadelphia’s award-winning woman-owned and operated original craft brewery founded in 1985, is thrilled to announce the opening of Dock Street Fishtown, a cozy and quirky taproom and cocktail bar nestled on the ground floor of the brand new El Rosebuilding at 1229 N. Front Street. Dock Street’s second outpost is now open Tuesday through Sunday, featuring rotating drafts, dedicated taps for wine and cider, plus cocktails, mocktails, Mediterranean small plates, four-packs to go, and more.

Dock Street Fishtown boasts eight taps featuring a rotating selection of the brewery’s award-wining beers with an additional four lines for wine and cider. The current lineup includes staples such as the Dock Street Rye IPA, the Dock Street Bohemian Pilsner, and seasonals such as Dock Street Prince Myshkin and Dock Street Citrahood.

90s themed cocktail menu rounds out the bar offerings with cheekily named cocktails such as The Freshmaker, affectionately named after a popular 90s mint, and It’s a Chopper, Baby, quoting the renegade boxer Butch from Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic Pulp Fiction. All the cocktails feature local spirits, including Dock Street Spirit’s  award-winning, Made in Oaxaca Vicio Mezcal. For those abstaining, there’s a “Mocktails + Such” menu with sodas, juices and no-ABV cocktails. For visitors looking to carry out, the taproom offers a large variety of cold, freshly packaged 16oz cans and four-packs to-go.

“We want Dock Street Fishtown to be a go-to stop on every friend group and couple’s Fishtown outing,” said Renata Vesey (Certo-Ware), Creative Director at Dock Street. “We’ve been proudly flowing through neighborhood draft lines for the past two decades, and we are incredibly proud and excited to now call Front Street home.”

In addition to its bar menus, Dock Street Fishtown is serving up Mediterranean small plates, snacks, dips, and piadines – a Mediterranean spin on a Northern Italian street food sandwich staple. Highlights include the Smoked Trout Pimento Cheese Dip, Ameddigan! Honey Almond Grilled Cheese, and Dock Street Beer Glazed Roasted Nuts.  All the menu items are available for dine-in or take-out and are expertly prepped by Head Chef PJ Freemanwho has been at Dock Street for more than 13 years.

The intimate 1000 square foot taproom and cocktail bar can seat around 30 guests at custom-built cafe tables topped with naturally purple-tinged Mount Blanc marble and a spacious concrete-topped bar accented with green tiles that match the bar’s backsplash. The taproom’s design concept draws inspiration from the brand’s nautical roots, with a life aquatic-themed gallery wall showcasing sailors, surfers, water deities, and everything in between. The pendant lights above the bar hint at bubbles, and the colors of the banquette and backsplash reference a deep green seascape. A bright pink, custom-made “It’s All in Your Head” neon sign ties it all back to Dock Street’s classic aesthetic – a slogan that has been with the brewery since 1985.

Dock Street Fishtown was built by Philly-based green builders Subversive Building, owned by Sasha Certo-Ware, and thoughtfully and precisely designed by architect Mark Wieand, with interior design by Vesey. All of them, including owner and president Rosemarie Certo, are part of Dock Street’s ownership family. The expansion on Dock Street’s Executive Team is led by Director of Brewery Operations Mark Russell, Executive General Manager Jackie O’Hare, and Head Chef PJ Freeman. The result is a stunning, cozy, high-performance, and high-efficiency taproom that is filled with natural light, restored lumber, and architectural accents salvaged from Philadelphia homes and businesses, along with plenty of playful design elements.

Dock Street Fishtown’s grand opening comes on the heels of the brewing company’s 2019 move from its flagship location in a restored firehouse in West Philly, its home for 12 years, to the 10,500 square-foot production facility and taproom at 2118 Washington Avenue known as Dock Street South. The brewery’s expansion to Fishtown reflects its continued growth and success as a pioneer in the craft beer industry – dating back to 1985 when Dock Street became one of the first craft breweries in the country.

“Dock Street South is the new blueprint in terms of our brand identity going forward, but I really think Dock Street Fishtown is the ‘Rosetta Stone’ location – it really is an amalgamation of everything we’ve represented and a bit of where we’re headed, as well,” said Vesey. “It’s all here, in the quality of the beer and cocktails, in the symbolism buried within the design, and in the tightness of the concept. We’re entering a really dynamic, fruitful era in our company’s nearly four-decade history.”

Dock Street Fishtown is located at 1229 N. Front Street. Hours of operation are Tuesday-Friday, 4pm-10pm, Saturday from 12pm-close and Sunday from 4pm-close. Closed Mondays.


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