01/13/09

Eh, too louge-y

by im1dermike

I suppose early 20 something yuppies or cougars would like this place for a happy hour, but not I. I wanted to check it out because I heard it had a great beer selection. The selection was pretty good, I suppose, but everything else was sub par IMO. It's about 60 square feet and was jam packed during my visit. Too loud to talk. The food (a processed meat sandwich) was pretty bad. Lathered in a pepper-onion sauce. Our server was nice. My one and only visit.

• Pros: Good beer/wine selection
• Cons: VERY small, loud, crappy food.

07/28/08

Better Choices Cheaper

by oenoprof

A decent selection of wines although lacking compared to the more extensive lists available in the city. The lack of a proper wine preservation system keeps them secondary to the likes of Vintage and Panorama which feature cruvinet systems. If you are just getting started with wines it?s a nice place to go to be ?seen? but is not serious about its wine selection for the more experienced Oenophiles. Prepare to be jostled quite a bit by unruly guests and surly employees

• Pros: close
• Cons: sour wine

07/07/08

Great food, pretentious service

by peppermichelle

We went there Sunday night with some friends. The hostess was friendly, situated us at the bar until a table opened up and seated us promptly. The food and wine were terrific, especially the salads. The service was just terrible though. The waitress was overly pretentious, slow, intrusive and probably one of the worst I have ever experienced. We did receive our food as ordered, so there is one plus for her. She just seemed very awkward and made us all very uncomfortable. And we are friendly easy going people! I have been told they hire based on wine knowledge-well, she did not offer nor share any of this with us and she did not seem to have any experience as a wait person. Maybe they should look for skilled waiters first and hire a wine steward to chat up the wine selection. Just a thought.

• Pros: Wine selection and food
• Cons: Noisy, service

05/11/08

Sunday School is the Best

by PennDiner

Be sure to check out Tria's Sunday School for great half priced wine, cheese and beer. Tria's selections of wines and are impressive and worth checking out if you like variety. The staff is friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is fun. Sunday School has quickly become a weekly tradition.

04/30/08

Best wine bar in Philly, but too small

by ontheboundary

As far as the food and wine go, Tria is a great wine bar. Skip Vintage; Tria's wine list is far superior. The tomato and basil bruschetta is delicious; I would be happy to sit all day drinking wine and ordering plate after plate of bruschetta if doing so wouldn't break the bank. The sandwiches and salads are quite tasty as well. I particularly like the arugula with beets and goat cheese. However, Tria does have several downsides. Every time I've come for dinner at 5:30 or later, there's been a 30+ minute wait for dinner for two--and they don't take reservations, so the only way to guarantee prompt seating is to arrive before 5:00. Tria is tiny and gets quite crowded, so if you're standing or sitting at the bar, you will be jostled by other customers. Also, don't expect great service. The staff know their wine and cheese, but they are not overly attentive or friendly.

• Pros: Bruschetta, cheese, wine list
• Cons: Tiny and cramped, inattentive waitstaff

02/25/08

Great Food, Little Restaurant, Be Prepared to Wait

by ChewyWellington

Went on a rainy Friday night. Walked in the door and was told there would be a 45 minute wait. There were no seats available at the bar. There was no place really to even stand and wait. My expectations were extremely low at this point. However, soon enough two people got up form the bar and we were able to start out meal there. The wine and cheese selection is pretty nice. In terms of the "snacks" the assorted meat tray was a nice mixture of meat and seemed to be ordered by pretty much everyone in the place.

Once a table opened up, they moved us, our food and our bill pretty seemlessly. It was nice having to run the credit card only once. The salad and sandwich were nice. We split them and the server was smart enough to serve the sandwich on two plates.

The food is good, but not for a big meal. If you are in the mood for a chill place with a nice glass of wine then this is a good stop. Otherwise you might be a little disappointed.

Pricing, 2 people: 2 glasses of wine, 1 beer, assorted meats, cheese, sandwich, salad = $60.

• Pros: Wine selection, ambience
• Cons: really really really small, few tables

12/30/07

Worst run restaurant I've ever seen - WAY too small - awful business.

by samstan

The food and drink is good - not better or worse than anywhere else like this in Philly. But AVOID this place if you actually want to sit down at a table... it's really sort of a joke, the owners need a clue.

Number one rule in the restaurant business - keep the tables moving! Sure, don't blatantly rush out patrons who overstay, but control it so that others can enjoy meals instead of sitting at the bar way past the dinner hour. A good waiter / waitress has certain tactics for getting overstayers to leave, but Tria does not have policy to do this. They choose to NOT bother. IT IS A BUSINESS, ISN'T IT???.

We had a party of 5, and we were told a half hour. The restaurant is only a few tables, we sat at the bar until we were starving (not great for socializing), and the table we were waiting for had people who were completely done for nearly an hour. One guy was nursing a beer. For that, we missed the dinner, and left furious and starving.

ps - We wandered hungrily until we found the Capital Grill - luckily they were still serving, and that was an unbelievable experience. FYI

• Pros: Trendy, good drinks
• Cons: Puny, poorly managed, overall not worth the hassle you WILL get, esp. with so many other places like it

12/13/07

best find in philadelphia

by millerc1

tiny little cozy space with a great wine and cheese selection, My brother came to town and now itis his favorite spot when he is in town. They discontinued my favorite cheese and wine but the replacements were just as enjoyable. Is is a spot to go if there are a few of you but if you get a large group, there really is no space for them to stand and then the noise level detracts from the ambience. My only wish is that the batenders were a bit more friendly/personable. i don't need a full fledged conversation but all most do is serve you and that is it, never any small chat or "how are you", they get right back to chatting with eachother, and this has happened every time i have been there-total makes 11 . it is very relaxing going there and i and a few friends like to go there and unwind...

• Pros: great wine and cheese,ambience
• Cons: overcrowding,noise level

10/30/07

Poor Service and Spoiled Wine

by thaiminator

I have never had such bad service in my life, a bunch of Pretentious snobs serving stale wine, mine tasted like vinegar and my girlfriends had cork floating in it. I wish I had listened to the Craig LaBan review that had warned me of this. From now one I only go to Panorama which has a wine cruvinet, I am tired of snotty service and Vinegia wine

• Pros: empty
• Cons: overpriced, poor service, stale wine

07/07/07

Manager is a pissant

by rsingh600

Whiny, scrawny, balding, irritation of a pissant little manager tries his hardest to ruin this fantastic little Philly spot. Fantastic wine, cheese, and brews in a wonderfully calm and chill atmosphere are routinely overcast by the extremely small size and poor crowd management. This obnoxious little troll manager allows free for all entry, and then will elbow his knee-height way through the crowds as if someone else was responsible for seating the number of people allowed in when there is only room for 50 max.

NEVER EVER GO WITH A GROUP LARGER THAN 4 - and even then the manager, Chris, is a tu rd.

• Pros: Food, Wine, Cheese, Beer, Ambience
• Cons: Crowd control with small size, gnat of a manager