Restaurant Review: Flip and Bailey's Bar and Grill

Restaurant:

Address: 900 Conestoga Rd., Rosemont, PA 19010
Rating: (out of 5 stars): ★★★1/2
Style: Neighborhood bar and restaurant
Food: American classics and standard pub fare
Atmosphere: Lively and ideal for watching the game
Parking: Lot
Service: Very friendly
Price Range: Moderate
Unique Features: Game room, free wi-fi and frequent lunch bonus card (buy five lunches get one free.

I had been feeling under the weather and after a full day to rest and mend my weary body all I wanted was a nice juicy cheeseburger and fries (easily one of my top five meals of all time). I headed tofor lunch and couldn’t wait to try their burger.

The moment you set foot in Flip and Bailey’s you know you’ve arrived at a neighborhood bar. I could hear about half a dozen conversations going on with topics ranging from the Phillies to Fight Club to being a biology teaching assistant. People talk loudly here because there is no pretension: everyone is at ease and most people were all smiles.

The menu was already at the table and as I perused the offerings, I ordered an iced tea which arrived with impressive speed. Though there are some more sexy sounding burgers with ingredients like fried onion crisps, blue cheese, and bacon I stuck with my go-to, medium rare cheeseburger with Swiss cheese.

My burger arrived perfectly cooked. The patty was quite juicy and I appreciated the thick slice of tomato and the piece of Romaine lettuce that had been trimmed with a knife to fit on the burger. If you’ve read my reviews before you know that I never take a bite until my tomato is sprinkled with salt and pepper and my burger is perfectly assembled. The thin slices of red onion and side of pickle slices all added contrasting flavors and acidic bites to the satisfying burger. The bun was light and pillowy and a step up from the mass-produced Styrofoam buns that show up all too often.

The French fries were so crisp on the outside I could hear every bite. I suspect that they were coated in some kind of starch as some were stuck together. This is a small price to pay for such delicious fries. These fries were good enough to enjoy on their own but only got better with some ketchup.

I washed it all down with some iced tea which though refreshing wasn’t my favorite. There was a funny aftertaste which I couldn’t put my finger on.

I ordered a Cobb salad to go and it arrived with a generous portion of grilled white chicken breast, plenty of ripe avocado, bacon and crisp looking greens. My only complaint was the dark grey ring around the egg yolks on the salad. I know that they are not harmful in any way but it’s always disconcerting for me to see that. The balsamic vinaigrette was broken but still tasty.

The service is very friendly and though it was my first time here, I felt very welcome and was treated just as well as the other guests. The best neighborhood spots make everyone feel like a regular and Flip and Bailey’s fits the bill. This establishment is very much a local operation and I smiled when I saw signs for $2 bottles of Rolling Rock. This bar and grill offers American classics prepared with a little more care than other places and it shows. It’s nice to see that the menu is not an afterthought, this is a true bar AND grill, not a bar then a grill.