A Fork & Barrel Update: Closed, Indeed

Posted by Victor Fiorillo on April 19th, 2011

UPDATE (4/28): For an update on this story, including information on a new lawsuit filed, go here.

Earlier this morning, Foobooz relayed a rumor that Fork & Barrel, the esteemed East Falls beer bar, was closing. Unfortunately for the residents of Northwestern Philadelphia, the rumor is true.

From co-owner Matt Swartz:

It’s been a great year at Fork & Barrel in East Falls, but we made a
business decision to close since The Farmers’ Cabinet has so many of the
same elements. We hope that our Fork & Barrel customers will continue
to visit us in the city. We’ve also decided to close Tap and Table in
Emmaus and bring the concept to Philadelphia in the coming months. The
new restaurant will also have an Old World atmosphere, a menu based on
fresh-ingredients including fondue, mussels, flatbreads, sandwiches and
entrees and will feature American and European craft beers. We’ve had
incredible opening success at The Farmers’ Cabinet and look forward to
our next venture in the city. The Bookstore, our 1920s speakeasy, in
Bethlehem will remain open.

Based on what they’ve done with the Farmer’s Cabinet, I look forward to seeing a Tap and Table in Philadelphia, assuming they can make that happen. And good news for the Lehigh Valley: their first and only “speakeasy” remains.

An Update to the Update: Yesterday afternoon, Mark Sherman — the East Falls developer who owns the Fork & Barrel bricks — got in touch with Foobooz, contending that the F&B owners left suddenly and without warning or, as Sherman put it, “tearing out in the middle of the night.” He says he intends to take legal action. Swartz has not responded to an interview request. Guess we’ll let you guys sort it out in court.

Related Tags: Closing, East-Falls, Farmers' Cabinet, Fork & Barrel

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

GrowlerKing

$$$$$$$$$
Tonyjlive

The Bookstore is the chronic if you ever visit Bethlehem. I look forward to checking out the new spot.
Emmit Fitz-Hume

Does anything in East Falls survive???
Glad the only consistently crowded pub (Pour House) was closed to make room for a niche restaurant (Fork and Barrell) which – although a great place – could never expect to survive in a dead town like East Falls.
This town is never going to improve
Bullrun

Great year? They opened in frickin’ October. I’m sure this is all landlord Mark Sherman’s fault, since he already drove out the real Franco AND Pour House, but, still, the place was doing well enough, why come in to a neighborhood, spend months fitting the place out, and jet right out again six months later.
Mike

East Falls is a tricky place. It’s kind of tricky to get to, without being much of a destination. Most of the city’s destination neighborhoods have proximity to center city. Manayunk is the exception, but Manayunk draws people from the Main Line. East Falls is a lot further from center city than even Port Richmond. It’s a place where Philly’s lack of serious urban transit really takes it’s toll, if there was a subway up there instead of hourly trains and buses, it would probably develop.
brianbrews

Tap & Table in Point Breeze! Cheap rent, tons of character.
Bullrun

I disagree with these comments, you have five restaurant/bars of varying distinction right by this one intersection that regularly stay open and even on occasion achieve some quality, when the landlord – who made sure he cornered the market on the usable space – isn’t pricing them out.
- Jobless in the valley
  
  How can anyone even post good things about these comments. They rented trucks and emptied their buildings when their restaurants were closed. They damaged things and left dozens unemployed, not to mention garbage spilling out of their dumpsters polluting our earth! What are their loyal employees left to do in a jobless economy. It’s shameful and unethical and I will support nothing that they do!
tapemployee

The above comments by Matt Swartz are all bullshit. I worked for him for almost a year, the guy is completely unorganized and simply can not run a business. The fork and barrel wasn’t closed as a business decision, it failed. The tap and table was a self sustaining, successful business that did not deserve to be shut down. Unfortunately Matt Swartz ignored the responsibility of running the Tap and table. Employee paychecks bounced regularly, the power was shut off due to lack of payment, and ultimately the rent was unpaid. The landlord of the Tap and Table had enough, and began to pressure Swartz. Swartz came and emptied out the building on an off day. He brought his goons, closed the blinds, and emptied the restaurant like a coward. It won’t take long for his bullshit decision making to catch up with him and close the new philadelphia spot. Truly is sad.
nate

the “business decision” they speak of is non existent, they owed months of rent at both restaurants not to mention the obscene amount of money they owe to all the purveyors. The land lord shut down tap and table, no business decision involved.
Tim

The new place downtown, Farmer’s Cabinet, won’t last long at $9.90 for an 11 oz beer. Unbelievably overpriced booz, that could explain why half of the people in the place were watching the Dixieland band instead of spending money. I give the new place less than a year with the ridiculous pricing.
EFresident

Sounds like bad business, they were crowded regularly in East Falls, and the neighborhood could support that type of business. We need PROFESSIONAL business people though!!
Lee

Matt shwartz is the biggest coward and worst person I have ever met, I worked at tap and he just emptied it out without telling anyone, only leaving behind tens of thousands in debt and jobless employees. It’s sad because tap and table made good profit but matt shwartz just pocketed all the money and paid
No body, he’s a thief and a scumbag, do not support him
Roach

Matt Shwartz is 100% a coward and a scumbag. Thanks for leaving us jobless without any notice at all. You are a real piece of shit. Shwartz let the Tap & Table run for days with no oil in the middle of winter because he chose not to pay the bill. Making his employees work in the 15 degree tempature for days. How clean do you think all the dishes were washing them in freezing cold water. And the garbage, because he didn’t care to have our garbage removed it layed in piles in the parking lot for weeks, collecting flys, roddents, and varios other animals. I cant wait untill you guys lose your stack of lawsuits against you!
Jay

Enough, guy(s). You made your point.
Snake

These stories were pathetic if true. These restaurants had become the darlings of most local food critics and I was looking forward to trying them.
Reality

Extreme foodies have a hard time understanding restaurants are a business. You can make about 40% of your menu something special for foodies but the remainder has to feed the masses to pay the bills. Ansill was great but same problem, too extreme. Swallow the shitty comments from the foodies who are upset you serve a normal hamburger and you will stay in business long after these folks are gone. If you want to serve bone marrow infused pork belly with thousand year egg marinated in horse piss you will be reading rave local food critic reviews while the landlord padlocks your door. Grow up.
- http://twitter.com/cdags cdags
  
  Bravo. Well said, sir/ma’am.
Roach

These stories are VERY pathetic and VERY true. I worked there and saw it with my own eyes, which were nearly burned with hot wax because they also stopped buying us dripless candles in the chandeliers above us, for behind the bar. Lucky for me it missed my eyes and only driped all over the rest of my head, and face while working just this past Saterday night.
patrick

As a friend of some of the employees, i will go and say i hope i never meet this pathetic exuse of an owner, and will do anything you guys need. I am down for a good old fashion boycot.
Snake

@ Reality.

Very good points. Irish Pub will outlive 25 Adsums.
gorillabandit

To “Jay”…the point will be made when he is out of business. What are you, his lawyer? Anyone who even half heartedly defends him either still works for him or is ignorant of the situation. If you don’t like what you are hearing/reading then read something else.
Reality

It’s about striking the right balance Snake. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride to please the populace so you can be successful. Garces seems to understand this as his menus have crowd pleasers in addition to the extremes.
Jay

To Gorilla:
I know asking you guy(s) to stop was kinda fruitless but we get it, you feel slighted. You probably have a right to be. I defer to insiders though who also say there isn’t any good way to close a restaurant for fear that staff will steal and break stuff. The problem is no one can be trusted. If he is/was that horrible, aren’t you better off not working for him? Are there no other hospitality jobs available? And what’s your end goal of the attacks on this website?

Swartz isn’t involved with the site, these comments will be seen by very few customers and frankly, if the review from Laban in a couple months is good, people who are reading this and turned off by what he’s doing will still go to the restaurant. If you want to drive him out of business, drive down here and picket his place… evidently you’ve now got some free time on your hands. Good luck with it and sorry about losing your job, but like I tell people who break up with bad boyfriends/girlfriends, you evidently will be better off without it.
Rae

All of the above stories are true, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As a former employee I have seen things that would shock you about Matt S. But anyway, I think the most disturbing part of this is his response to the questioning employees..”losers like you will always be jealous of successful people like me” really??? Please please please do not give this man a penny of your money!! I will tell anyone who will listen because this is a moral issue!!
Paul

I’m Paul and I’ll be opening in east fall soon. I’m creating a place where neighbors can gather with friends over good food and beer at reasonable prices. I’m in the restaurant bar business for 13 years and the deli business for twenty years before that. From what I see I will love east falls. The social and economic diversity long standing residence, churches and sense of community are just a few of the things that make this neighborhood great. If you want to find out about me check out McKinley Tavern in Abington or stop by and say hi wile I work on the place. I’m looking forward to opening in what I see as one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in Philly. Hope to see you soon Paul
- M.
  
  Sounds great! Where are you opening in the old Pour House/F&B spot, or somewhere else?
http://funkkit.tumblr.com chuckles

Dude needed to get over himself and stop charging tax ON TOP OF the prices for beers he had listed on the wall anyhow. We dont need that pretentious BS at Ridge and Midvale. Good Riddance. Anyone local in the neighborhood should check out Falls Taproom (old Buckets or what have you). Nothing super fancy but a solid quasi gastro menu and they are trying hard to have good draught. Really no different than a P.O.P.E. or grotesquely redone Khyber.

my .02
Pussytail Hunter

Bullrun,

When you lay down with dogs….
Elanya

@paul…right across from Dobson Mills?
Seriously???

Are you people for real? As one of Swartz’s/Scheller’s employees (who has worked at all of his places) I can honestly tell all of you that you are all truely pathetic. For starters these people have taken huge risks to bring their ideas and concepts into the Valley (and did it very successfully by the way). Never saw any of you “so called valuable employees” doing anything to coming up with any great ideas to contribute to the business. If you live such a “moral” life how could you find it in your soul to collect a paycheck from such an “immoral” person? Every hang out after work and have a few beers “on the house” or did you do the moral thing and go straight home? Ever go to a staff Christmas party at a great spot in Philadelphia and eat and drink all you want at no charge? Yes, Swartz (not Shwarz by the way) is a difficult man, but then again how many of you have ever run your own business? Could any of you? Doubtful…..since instead of searching for a new job you are sitting here being entertained by the garbage on this website. Sounds to me like you all are a bunch of employees that are pissed off that the Money Train you all were riding on just kicked you off. Oh and by the way, if you were such great employees why didn’t he offer you a job somewhere else????
Meh-

This guy sounds like he screwed everybody over – maybe not intentionally but just with his poor financial controls. Many inspired restauranteurs have no clue how to run a business. Sounds like this guy may have known the end was near for a while and was lashing out at employees.
Elk

Wah wah wah. If you work in the restaurant business, why does any of this surprise you? And if you are customer and had a bad experience, Philadelphia is oversaturated with beer bars and gastropubs. Speak with your dollar and shut the fuck up about the rest.
Elanya

I LOVED THE PLACE! It will be sadly missed.
Buffalo

Boo Hoo,,, welcome to the real world people!! If you believe that you are the first industry people to have this happen to them then you are ignorant. There are thousands of people that loose their jobs everyday. Guess you didn’t have a problem with this guy before he closed his business (which by the way we live in a free country and he has every right to do). Sounds to me like if you would have been as enthusiastic about doing your jobs as you are about hating this guy maybe you wouldn’t be jobless right now. Ever think that as a business owner has every right to make decisions to support his own family and for his future? It’s a cut throat world out there and not everyone makes it. It’s called survival of the fittest. Besides I doubt any of us will be talking about this in two weeks, unless we are all truely pathetic!! Get over yourselves, grow a set, and MOVE ON!!
P

The problem does not have to do with the morals of the Matt’s at all, or who they are as human beings. The problem is that they haven’t bothered to care about fork and barrel for months and have seemingly ignored the following it had gained. Sure the place might of spawned from their creativity, but the quality employees there have held the place together with very little help from its owners. I do believe it was a business decision, and I also feel that it was a bad one. To close a place like fork and barrel just as it was really beginning to pick up steam and become a well known spot in a neighborhood that is slowly up and coming I believe is a mistake. Fork and Barrel was definitely not a failure and I feel if the Matt’s paid a little more attention to the place they would of realized that. They might not think it and feel it now, but in the long term closing down F&B and Tap and Table, (two places that had become self-sustaining even with owner negligence) will hurt them financially. One thing that is not fair though is to blame the employees as the cause of this, they worked their asses off every day and are the reason these places have grown to what they were with room to grow that will never be seen. It is sad, but it is life. Oh well, it’s a loss for everybody and it’s a shame.
Bill

I just got back from the “Evil Twin” Event at The Farmer’s Cabinet. WOW! Awesome time, awesome beers. Who cares if they shut down their other places? People close businesses everyday. I’m sure if these places were so self sustaining like these people are saying they would have never been closed.
P

Oh these people put on a good event with good beer, that must mean what they did was logical and were right and all the people who have worked for them are wrong in their assessments. Yeah Bill your logic is superb. Your ignorant black and white form of logic clearly shows you know nothing of what you are talking about. Enjoy the bright lights and shiny objects of your blissful living where the people who just served you good beer and food must be right and good people…
- Bill
  
  P,
  Sounds like you are making a blanket assumption that everyone who worked for them was a model employee. No business owner closes a profitable, worthwhile business. I will enjoy the bright lights and shiny objects that come with big city living while you are left to you gossip, pity parties, and “Internet muscles” up in Emmaus or wherever you are
A side note

I’m told that the only reason the Speakeasy is still around is that it’s not affiliated with Schwartz/Scheller anymore. Why else would they choose to leave open one random place when they’ve already successfully transferred those elements to the Philly location? I know a lot of people who have been screwed over by this move and will certainly not be putting more money in their pockets by returning to Farmer’s Cabinet, but I think more research is needed before I add the Speakeasy to my boycott.

Does anyone have more information on this?
nate

and to anon,

why are you hiding behind some anonymous name? You will continue to work for him because you actually have no other place to go! so i believe it is you who is the loser.
- Anon
  
  I don’t work nor have ever worked for any of these places. I’ve been a patron at T&T and the Bookstore and have watched you personally take advantage and liberties at T&T. I’m posting as “Anon” because I already know how Childish and immature you are and would prefer not to be akin to whatever stupidity you are up to
Ginslinger

In the time I’ve worked for the Matts, I’ve learned about the fine line between buckling down and sacrificing yourself for the good of a struggling business and being shafted by ungrateful bosses who only care about getting more. Paycheck bounced? You may have to wait weeks to be reimbursed, undeserved consequences be damned. Purveyor refusing to deliver essential goods due to lack of payment? Too bad, because the Matts have newer, shinier businesses to worry about. But what’s this? A last minute request to spend a few days or weeks working at said newer, shinier business (screwing over your co-workers) and covering for the incompetent management and staffing problems? There’s an offer you can’t refuse.

The Matts have great ideas for restaurants coupled with an utter inability to follow through in any capacity. However Farmer’s Cabinet looks right now, I will be extremely surprised if it still exists a year from now.
nate

when i have countless checks bouncing every week, i will gladly drink as much free beer as i want. thanks buddy!
Steve La Monica

I can’t say I’m surprised. In addition to the high rent that I know the landlord charges in that area, the prices were outrageous especially for the food, which I personally found mediocre at best($25 + for 3 rubbery scallops). Not to mention the fact that I felt the staff was rude and inattentive (waited for nearly 20 minutes to be waited on AT THE BAR. This place was way too pretentious even for a beer bar.
roger freiday

My experience at T % T was a rip-off dinner for Schlenkerla. $95 for tiny plats of poor food, and 4 ounce beers with 20 minutes between! THEN the AD the TAX and GRATUITY so it’s now $118 !!! for diddly. Some of the ”beer experts” were acting like it was GREAT, to be pick pocketed. To Matt’s credit he DID offer another event in the future but now ????
CandleVictim

Umm… does that mean I probably won’t get my last paycheck from FnB? And Nate ur awesome. don’t forget it.
Lee

Pretty sure none of us are getting our last pay checks unless we go get them at farmers cabinet
CandleVictim

Damn. I’m glad I quit when I did. Sad tho. I loved my coworkers…most of them.
- Scooter
  
  I filed my taxes when I worked at tap n table and let’s just say I was the only one who paid them.
rts

If he doesn’t give you your last paycheck, then after 30 days you can take him to small claims court and demand an extra $500 penalty under PA Wage Payment and Collection Law.
http://someotherbetty.wordpress.com Jess

I have been a longtime fan of the Bookstore so I’m happy that’s staying open, despite the fact they’ve restructured the menu and kitchen so there’s less in the way of meals now.

I was only at Tap & Table once and didn’t really enjoy the experience. Too crowded and the food wasn’t very good.

I’m saddened about this news for friends of mine that worked at both Tap & Table and Fork & Barrel. I’m not sure how the move and closing, respectively, will affect them yet, but I hope the Matts get their ish together business-wise.
PAWriter

The Bookstore is still open. I was there a month ago and the menu has changed b/c of ownership changes, it now seems. It has a tapas-light fare menu that’s pretty comprehensive considering they’re not doing hard-core food service anymore. We ordered sliders, some delicious chickpea popcorn appetizer, and a doughnut dessert and four of us were full. The drinks still kill ya, and the beer is still good, and the hot jazz is still, well, hot. Come up here. We need more unique places in the Lehigh Valley.
P

This whole post is why I really enjoyed working at F&B. Good employees that worked hard, and funny as hell. Esp you nate, will miss working with ya, gotta hit up some buckets some sunday night in the future.

Bill, we are not talking about the morality of the employees here. Maybe they weren’t always completely stand up people, but who is really? I doubt you are and don’t have the right to talk about employees being perfect. But Nate has it right, working hard at a place only to see it continually be hurt by owner negligence, and then shut down when it was actually improving despite continue set backs from not getting food orders due to the owners not paying, not having a stocked beer and draft list because the owners neglected to order any beer or not listen to management telling them we were out of many bottles. Not stopping in for weeks and not attempting to do advertising for months, or trying to planning any beer events outside of the new location. The employees were not perfect, but at least we tried and the fruits of our effort were definitely showing to patrons in the area. You could not possible understand the facade you are presented with when you go to some event run by a Matt’s new location. It might look good on the front, but behind the scenes there is simply just bad business strategies and unorganized lackadaisical nonsense that should just never happen. It is a shame, it really is. I just want you, Bill, as well as everybody else reading this, that this whole thing was not in part due to the efforts and in many cases results from the employees.
Come on the place was only open 7 months and in the past 2 months the owners have almost never stopped in, possibly only once, maybe not even at all, during work hours. I just don’t like your tone of blaming the employees when it def was not due to their work ethic and quality of service.
Phil Gall

Who is P? I can understand anonymity if that’s desired, I just don’t want to be lumped into some other posters handle. Lots of relevant points though and I will miss the F&B.
-Phil
Max

I blame Bart
P

Sorry Phil, old nickname that existed well before F&B. Didn’t really make the connection that someone might think it you until you said something. Simple and well said though… I too will miss the F&B.
Chris

The out right disrespect of not giving a warning to any of the employees or patrons of fork and barrel is enough to show off the sleazy business practices of the ownership
pj

judging by the number of comments related to the the fork and barrel closing its obvious that we should address a subject that is rarely discussed by the media when it comes to the hospitality industry: the working conditions of the staff at the places that we choose to spend our money. many of us are conscious of where we shop for other goods because of labor conditions but that rarely factors in to the decision of what restaurant we visit.
- JB
  
  @PJ As a former employee of the “Matts” I can assure you that all of this is GROSSLY exaggerated. Sure Swartz is aggressive and particular Scheller is pretentious and condescending but what owners aren’t assholes? I made good money at their place. Their employees posting on here give themselves too much credit
  - Jobless in the valley
    
    I would feel so much better if it was employees just venting because that is normal but this team is unethical and immoral and everyone is actually trying to warn anyone and everyone. When enron cooked the books and stole hardworking people’s money, were those people scrutinized? In an economy where everyone is watching their dollars and cents, we should watch who we are giving our money to. We should realize those proveyors, newspapers, building owners did nothing wrong and these thieves stole goods and services from them! What they can get it back in a lawsuit! They shouldn’t have to and people should stop enabling them to hurt more. Emmaus now has garbage piled all around their building, polluting the water supply that we drink! The employees will find jobs and already have been embraced by other local establishments whom care about their community and the people in it. Wake up and notice whats really going on here. It’s not just about
    Disgruntled employees. it’s bigger than that!
Jessa

BRING BACK THE OLD POURHOUSE!!! Only successful concept to survive in a very challenging area, landlord needs to be a fair and honest businessman, (and a decent human being, although that status has thus far eluded him) and there would still be a thriving pub there. Karma is a b*tch.
nate

within the next two weeks or so the bookstore will have an entirely new DINNER menu
nate

oh and a brand new cocktail menu as well
Rip off

To Matt
Imitacion is the sincerest form of flattery.it is not a product strategy. The best way to predict the future is to invent i
- Gram
  
  What the hell does that even mean? Haha
http://powerplayersmagazine.ning.com/profile/NIzKiNgOfHoOkSAkABarakOBuLLy NIzzy

btw for the record This Is Nate with the big beard aka nizzy i don’t know who the f that other poser is — But well Good Luck With The Farmers Cabinet — It was A Pleasure Working For Big Mat And Pete And Well Working Under that Capelli Kid The Staff well The Majority of the Staff @ the FB Will Be Missed
http://powerplayersmagazine.ning.com/profile/NIzKiNgOfHoOkSAkABarakOBuLLy NIzzy

keep in mind that if i figure out who is using my GP to Slander people i consider family I will Break Open Cans Of Whoop Ass On you — Ninja Style which means Ya Won’t see it coming — I was there since day one at the FORK & Barrel And Loved the Experience and training I received –furthermore Swartz is A Good Dude –Things were always $traight on my end ! the rest of you clowns Need To Pull Your Heads Out of your asses and see the bigger picture –Farmers Cabinet… Won nuff said
Lee

nizzy- i know it is hard to believe but there is more that 1 nate in the world. dumb dumb. and NATE is right, i dont know how you can even say matt is a good guy, when he bounced checks every week, when he actually came to tap and table he was out of his mind drunk, did not pay any of his landlords who are by the way going to sue him…. and even the morning call came to T&T to serve the swartz to go to court bc he did not pay them… so he did not win, he is the worst business man and farmers cabinet wont be open that long..
Ginslinger

The start of Fork and Barrel was an upswing for the Matts, believe it or not. I can understand why those who only started working for them in September might think all these former employees are overreacting, but trust me when I say that if you’ve only worked at Fork and Barrel, you don’t know the half of it.

The only thing I find surprising is how many people find this move surprising. Not only is it in their character, they’ve done exactly this before! Rewind eight months to Rehoboth Beach, DE, where the Matts were kicked out of their brand new restaurant for failure to pay rent, folded, and locked the doors overnight with no announcement or explanation to any employees. Are any of you really that surprised?
Nate

Slander would require me state a specific persons name, in which I did not.
Nate

” a man”
Donna

I’m really not sure what the majority of people do not understand here. They guy loaded trucks late at night and took off!! If he just closed his business, then you pay your bills,notify the owner and leave in a respectful manner. They are THIEVES!!!! They open a business for several months, take cash and supplies and then take off. I heard he was a criminal before and I guess it’s not long before he is again. Don’t blame East Falls or the landlord. If someone is out to do wrong then they do. By my calculation they will steal from the owner of Farmer’s Cabinet and disappear by August. I can’t wait to see him prosecuted. It’s coming, but he will be too drunk to realize it!
- IRS
  
  To donna you right “this brilliant business man” matt spent many years in jail for Money laundering (Matt’s mug shot upon request) lol!!!! He is not strange to the law!
Elk

OK everyone, just calm down.

I rode by the F&B this morning and the place was shuttered up tight. Even the barrel that was hanging from the facade is gone. Can anyone put me in touch with these so called Matts? I will give them $20.00 USD – cash money, in fact – for said barrel. I think it will make a fine end table for my study. I’m offering a bottle of Mikkeller as finders fee. Please get in touch if you can help out.
Mike

Never been to F&B, but I always made a point to visit Tap and Table when I was back in PA. Even had a running joke that my buddy and I were regulars, even though visits were few and far between. a damn shame. Keystone Ice doesn’t cut it the way a fine St. Bernardus tripel does”
Nate

Haha I like the post about the barrel, pretty awesome
TnT HH Regular

I was a TnT Happy Hour regular – was there a week ago, in fact. ALWAYS had a great time, great beer, good food. TnT was only 5 minutes from my house, DAMN, I’m gonna miss it.Zach, you’re a nice kid, good luck and I hope you find a good job.

When we were leaving last Friday, my B-I-L looked at the overflowing dumpsters and said “That’s not good.” He was right.

And to the owners, I betcha you weren’t paying any taxes, even unemployment tax, so you have fun with that with Mr. Government. Payback’s a bitch and Karma will GET YOU.
Graham

I’ve been to TnT and FnB and had great times at both. Sorry to hear about them closing. I’ll check out Farmer’s Cabinet if they are doing similar things. All the drama sucks for everyone involved but I gotta think that if things were that bad for that long people would have been running out of the place. I guess people have the right to say what they want, but I know that the E True Hollywood story wont be out to clear up whatever actually happened. Best of luck to the staff, the owners, and families. I hope you all move on to bigger and better
Anon

I’m sorry to see one of the few restaurants in East Falls close. When we saw it closed up so suddenly, we were afraid the owner had died, or that the bar had been held up at gunpoint. But they just left in the middle of the night? Who does that? Were they victims of a shakedown? If not, how can they expect to blow off their landlord without any consequences?

I first thought something was a little funny after my boo ordered a beer suggested by the server that turned out to be completely undrinkable. It tasted like fermented prune juice with a shot of Jagermeister and algae. Whatever, these things happen.

I asked if we could exchange it for one of the cheaper beers on the menu. The server said she would see if she could exchange the beer, and came back very apologetic that the owner told her she wasn’t allowed to exchange it for a full beer, but she could exchange it for a half of a beer. What? We said okay, and then she checked to see if anyone was looking and brought us a whole beer on the DL.

What kind of owner offers patrons half a beer? I mean, it would have been reasonable to say that they can’t exchange microbrews, but to offer half a beer is just insulting. The server did the right thing, but I wonder if this is the kind of “employee theft” the owner is objecting to. ‘Cause if so, the man should really take a few business classes. Heck, I’ll school him up for free.
- Anon2
  
  Sounds like you and your “boo” were looking for the Pourhouse.
Anon

Were we? I’d never been to the Pourhouse, but a friend of mine was very sad to see it go.

Buckets, or the East Falls Tap Room is our usual spot. They always have several nice beers on tap, good waffle fries and even a few outdoor tables.
- Anon2
  
  East Falls Taproom is a good spot. Glad to see good beers in the area. FnB was good for what it was
Horace Steenblatter

hello i am a potato
Yes

Yes. Yes you are
Grape Viner

For what it’s worth, he’s lost the Bookstore, too. The real estate owner is now running it after he was unable to collect back-rent. Same thing happened at his Jazzyard or whatever down the shore… Great concepts — horrible execution.
Dan

Tried to go to Farmer’s Cabinet yesterday. Did not stay because it was about 85 degree in there and they refused to put the air conditioning on. Consequently the place was all but empty accept for the window seats. This of course does not bode well. Went to Dandelion instead and of course starr pays the air-conditioning bills…
- RJ
  
  Stay at Dandelion. That leaves more room atthe bar for me and my friends where we can drink better stuff.
Dan

I’m not questioning that Belgium beer is better than English. That appears to be incontrovertible. In fact, that’s why we went there in the first place. The point is the company cannot be doing well if they can’t afford to air-condition the place. I have eaten here once; the food was good, a little overpriced. The service was deplorable, slow and rude and also very odd. One person in our party had already finished their beer before the other was served. When this was brought to the weird dude with the mustache’s attention he dead-panned “I see, that is a problem” and then stormed off. Needless to say the drink didn’t come for another 10 minutes and he wasn’t the one who delivered it. The cheese plate came and was thrown at the corner of the table without any description of what any of the cheeses were. Nothing was ever cleared, to the point that our huge table was completely filled with dirty dishes. This would all be cool if the meal was cheap, it certainly wasn’t. Look I have no dog in this fight. I live at 12th and pine and I want places like this to succeed. I just hope ownership/management is up to the task.
Librarian Lew

We ran up a huge bill at Farmers Cabinet and then ran out. If they don’t pay their bills why should we? We’ll be back again next weekend. Viva Freeloaders !
Matt

Lew, You are the biggest freeloader in the business. And your blog sucks. Watch your mouth and get a real job. Matt
J

Lew’s got a good point, I fail to see how skipping out on your landlord and skipping out on the tab are any different.
WP

@Dan,
Sounds like you have some legitimate concerns that I would like to assure that I address. I did not have contact info for you from this website, but if you inbox me an email address or even phone number via our Facebook page, I’d like to get some more information about your experience.

Sincerely,

Will
GM of The Farmers’ Cabinet
ex employee

As a former employee of a previous spoken restaurant this thread upsets me and i will list the reasons without bias….. a mjority of the statements are written out of context and written by employees,and here is another i guess
Over the years i witnessed alot of interesting things working but in reality thats all they were and part of all restaurants, nothing of harm directed at anyone and for everyone to just judge without full knowledge of situations is just wrong, as a child of restaurant owners I understand the tough decisnoness on a daily basis, as employees we are extacly that employes and were lucky enough to have jobs in this downturn of an economy. i made good money and would work for the matts again, maybe the previous posters forget the truly shitty restaurants that are out there or are to inexperanced in the restaurant world to understand closings. I was an employee, not a complainer and fixed problems, never once in years did matt ever object. Why such hatred, great food and drink, yeah it sucks to lose suck cool spots but for all we know which is nothing I have no comment or harse words to say about the ownership….. bussiness close all the time what entitles someone who doesn’t own stock in a company to believe they have any say in the internal workings of a bussiness. I have since visited the farmers cabinet and enjoyed it and even had a sense of pride in knowing the concept and appreciated it moving to a city. The true beer lovers appreciate and respect the effort…..i hope this all passes and we can reflect on our own lives not someone elses….and as far as running out on taps that is just ridicous because you are only stealing from your kind restaurant people hurting an already hurt sector…you are probaly the same people who keep saying i work at a bar in hopes the bartender comps you a drink and than tip on the tab…. shame on you and to steal from the poor servers who took care of you assholes this thread makes me sick
NT

Lew may be a freeloader, but I think the title of “biggest freeloader in the business” would have to go to the man who has bounced the majority of the paychecks he’s distributed over the past two years. Thank you, Matt, for the valuable life lessons I was able to learn while watching you drive your businesses into the ground. Have fun doing the same at your newest one.
Pissed

They screwed us out of $10k. Just stopped paying the bill. They are all the scum that everyone talks about. Their business model is open the restaurant, operate awhile leave and stiff everyone, do it again

i dont understand how they get to keep doing it
NE food boy

@ WP if you are the GM of Farmer’s Cabinet, I have a G.C. from Tap and Table my employees gave me for Christmas (I own a restaurant as well) will it be honored at Farmer’s Cabinet?
WP

@ NE Food Boy,
We would be more than happy to honor your gift certificate as well as any Fork & Barrel/ Tap& Table gift certificate at The Farmers’ Cabinet.

Thanks for the inquiry and we look forward to seeing you soon,

Will
GM of The Farmers’ Cabinet
EF Patron

I wish some grown-ups – and that goes for restaurant owners AND landlords – would make a PROFESSIONAL effort here instead of looking for a way to make fast money. We have too many vacant buildings and places that apparently can’t keep up with their rents… what’s with these landlords around here?

Falls Taproom is proof that there is a market here – it’s smart and caters to the community and seems to be doing well. We’re close to Wissahickon Park; Kelly Drive; Mt. Airy; Germantown; City Line Avenue; the northern and western suburbs… there is plenty of opportunity for ethically-minded entrepreneurs with a little vision.
Barman

Scheller’s a puss, Swartz is a douche and Jen the bartender from tap and table who now owns a biz similiar to that in the same building is a thief…and a man.
Jim

Damn. I was looking forward to trying Fork & Barrel. I am with some of the other posters. I know running restaurants is hard work, and many/most? restaurants loose money…..that’s a shame. Good luck to everyone who got left without a place to work. I hope you guys find or have already found other jobs.

I still might visit the Farmer’s place…..not sure….
Ouch

One of Phillys biggest food critics, craig laban ate at and ripped apart the farmers cabinet…. It’s a pretty funny article..,, guess they got what they deserved
Carol

@ExEmployee: Jesus Christ! Where on earth did you go to school? Reading your post made my brain hurt. Proofread your shit before you post it.
Anon

Continually work for him, just lime you would be doing if he didn’t shut down on your thieving, lying ass? It’s funny how you “moral” and “stand up” employees dont mention the free food and drinks that everyone got who knew someone who worked there or how you all ransacked the place after they moved out and drank all night. (I got the text invite) You’ve been a loser your whole life, Nate
Scooter

I worked there as well and agree to EVERYTHING you said. Swartz is pretty much scum of the earth.

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A Fork & Barrel Update: Closed, Indeed