A Big Victory for Ron's

If I'm not mistaken, this may be Ron's Original's (Exton, PA) most star-studded beer event since re-opening a couple of months ago. Sales rep extraordinaire Tracy from Victory Brewing will be there pouring some wonderful brews. She'll also bring along glassware and prizes. It's where I'd be if I wasn't Down the Shore. So, I'm counting on all of you to not leave any for me when I get home.

WildDevil
HopDevil
Ten Year Alt
Baltic Thunder
Victory Kölsch
Mad King's Weiss
Whirlwind Wit
Prima Pils

Ron's Original Bar & Grille Grand Re-Opening

You think I've been behind lately? (Listen here smartypants, I said 'behind', not 'a behind'.) I haven't told you about my visit to Ron's on their Grand Opening weekend yet, have I? Eh, that's nothing. I still have some good notes that I haven't shared with you from a visit to Barclay's in Oakland, CA all the way back in February. But, I have no excuses. Nah, I do have excuses, but I won't waste your time sharing them with you.

Instead, I'll give you a quick rundown of my stop in at the new and improved Ron's Original Bar & Grille in Exton, PA. A month or so after the soft opening, they were ready to blow the doors off with a Grand Re-Opening Bash, complete with Andre Gardner from WMGK, free wine tastings, and live music. I couldn't make it for Friday night's festivities. So, I stopped in early Saturday evening for a few beers, light food, and an Oval to take home to eat with Patty.

From the minute I pulled into the parking lot, then walked through the doors, I could tell that they got the word out (I'm sure I helped too!) because this was the most crowded I'd seen Ron's in quite a while. As I mentioned the free wine tasting, I'm sure this didn't hurt the turnout. I settled in at the bar, which was packed with a mixture of folks like me having some beers and watching baseball and hockey, and others waiting for tables. The dining room was running a waiting list of approximately 30 minutes.

The tap list was as strong as I reported at their soft opening. Of course, giving you this listing 6 days later will not likely be very helpful, but it should continue to provide you with an idea of the kind of selection they're bringing to you at Ron's. The prices seemed to have settled into a reasonable range, something that I was not ready to report a few weeks back. It's good to see that last Saturday the most expensive draft beer were Stone's Imperial Russian Stout, Chimay's Cinq Cents, and Dogfish Head's Festina Peche, each at $7. All others came in just above or below five bucks.

Glassware is something that I hope to see them improve upon. While I didn't inquire further, I could see that many of the drafts were being poured into the round-shaped Dogfish Head glass (14 or 16 ounces, I believe). While I certainly don't expect the glassware "fanaticism" (I say that with a good dose of respect) of a place such as Teresa's, I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more diversity in serving glass shapes and sizes, especially to fit the particular styles and alcohol levels.

I'll have pictures and more detailed tellings in the future. In the mean time, you might want to stop in and rehydrate this weekend; it's gonna be a hot one here in the Philadelphia area. Below is the tap list as of last Saturday.

Anderson Valley High Rollers Wheat
Avery Maharaja IPA
Brooklyn Brooklynator Doppelbock (Brewmasters Reserve)
Chimay Cinq Cents (White label/cap)
Dogfish Head Festina Peche
Flying Dog In Heat Wheat
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter
Magic Hat Circus Boy
Ramstein (High Point Brewing) Mai Bock
Rogue Black Brutal Bitter (John's Locker Stock)
Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale
Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager
Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Southern Tier Über Sun
Victory Whirlwind Wheat
Young's Double Chocolate Stout


And the usual suspects for those who enjoy depriving themselves of gustatory pleasure ;-)
Coors Light
Miller Lite
Peroni
Yuengling Lager


Under the coming soon, or maybe here and gone already by this point, section were: Arcadia Coco Loco; Bell's Double Cream Stout; Blue Point Hoptical Illusion; Franziskaner Hefe Weisse; Left Hand Milk Stout; New Holland Dragon's Milk; Pyramid Apricot Weizen; Rogue I-Squared; Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA; Stone Arrogant Bastard; Thirsty Dog Siberian Night; Tröegs Troegenator; Victory Dark Lager; Weihenstephaner Kristall Weiss; and Wells Banana Bread

Ron's Original is Celebrating Their Grand Re-Opening This Weekend

From the crew at Ron's Original in Exton, PA. Beer, wine, music, WMGK, and Sierra Nevada make it look like a fun weekend to stop in and check out the new place. Here are a few words and pictures from when I stopped in a few weeks back.

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It's time for Ron's GRAND RE-OPENING! The weekend of May 29th-31st will be a weekend long party for Ron's Original Bar & Grille. Come check out this newly renovated and expanded Bar & Grille. The place is gorgeous and we can't wait to share it with all of our friends - YOU! There will be a weekend of events and promotions, check out our complete schedule of events here.

The Ron's staff is excited to share our new space with all of you, so don't miss this exciting time. We hope to see you at some point during the weekend!

Thank you and be safe!

Ron's Original Bar & Grille

A Quick Stop at the new Ron's Original in Exton, PA

Welcome to Chester County's Most Comfortable New Bar. The soft opening at Ron's Original is underway and will last for the next few weeks or so as they iron out some kinks. From the minute you walk in through the front door, you know this isn't the same Ron's Schoolhouse that many of you grew up with in northern Chester County. This is especially true in the bar area, where customers are now greeted with a comforting atmosphere of stone, dark wood, soft leather chairs, and even a friendly caribou. Though the renovations took place from one end of their long establishment to the other, the change is most striking in the bar area.

The bottle shop is still operating at the normal level of quality, now on the opposite side of the wall from the bar area and with its own entrance. On tap for starters this week at the bar is the list that you'll find further below. After they've had a couple of weeks to work out the bugs, I'll do a full dinner and drink review with additional comments. 'Til then, go check them out for yourself and let me know what you think.

p.s. don't bring your growlers quite yet, they're still working out the growler policy and pricing

(This is Ron's? You bet.)
(A view from the front windows)
(The comfortable bar area will keep you in your seat longer than you expect)
(So will the tap selections)

Avery Ellie's Brown
Bell's Amber
Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse
Chimay White
Dogfish Aprihop
Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale
Flying Fish Espresso Porter
Left Hand Sawtooth Ale
Ommegang Witte
Southampton Double White
Southern Tier Unearthly IPA
Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Stoudt's Double Mai Bock
Tröegs Mad Elf
Victory Baltic Thunder
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Birra Peroni
Coors Light
Miller Lite
Yuengling Lager

Ron's Original is ready to take it to the next level

Stop in today as Ron's Original (fka Schoolhouse) gets the soft opening off the ground. I may stop in there on my way to Sly Fox, along the critical path to watching the Flyers game at 7pm. Need directions? check here.

They'll be building things up to an official grand opening weekend in May. Stay tuned for more details.

The (soon to be) Tap List at Ron's Original in Exton, PA

The tap list is almost set at Ron's Original for when they unveil soon-to-be completed renovations in just a matter of weeks. As you can see from the intended tap list, they plan to make a splash and give The Drafting Room a little more competition in northern Chester County.

They've always had a top shelf take out selection, now they'll have the taps to match. There are even a few beers at the end of the list that will satisfy even the most discriminating of palates.

Stay tuned for an exact date of their official reopening; but remember that they remain open in the meantime.

Flying Dog Double Dog
Left Hand Dopplebock
Victory Abbey Six
Tröegs Mad Elf
Rogue Brutal Black Bitter
Ramstein Maibock
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout
Chimay White
Stone Russian Imperial Stout
Brooklyn Brewmasters Reserve
Ommegang Witte
Southern Tier Unearthly
Avery Ellie's Brown
Flying Fish Espresso Porter
Stoudt's Mai-Bock
Bells Amber
Peroni
Miller Lite
Yuengling
Coors Light

Ron's Original (Schoolhouse): Open During Construction

Continuing my criss cross county tour yesterday, I stopped in to find what is poised to be the next destination beer bar in Chester County. Ron's Original (aka Ron's Schoolhouse) has always been a good stop for a meal and a beer and/or perhaps some takeout. But, now with a 20-ish seat bar going in and 16 tap handles, I can see us all now jamming in there for happy hours, special events, and the like.

I had a chance to see behind-the-scenes yesterday. The comforting stone work is shaping up nicely, the new takeout area is completed, the tap lines have just been run to the cooler, and work looks to be on schedule for a mid-to-late April unveiling. According to management, we should look for a big weekend blowout in April re-introduce Ron's. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures that they're keeping up-to-date on their website.

Ron's Original Bar & Grille: Construction Update 1/21/08

This came via e-mail update from the folks at Ron's. It's finally off the ground; Add this construction project to the list. Let's see, this makes West Mt. Airy (Earth Bread & Brewery), Downingtown (Victory), Philadelphia (Yards), and now Uwchlan Twp/Exton. I'm probably missing some brewery/brewpub-related construction project here in the Delaware Valley, but these alone give us promise that the flow of better beer in this region will continue through 2008.

Ron's Original Bar & Grille, aka Ron's Schoolhouse Bar & Grille, has been talking about this long-anticipated expansion for some time now. For the beer lover in all of us, this should be a welcome addition to the area. Tom M. and company already bust their butts to stock the to-go coolers with great bottled beer...soon there'll be 16 taps a-flowing with draft beer. Can't wait!

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To Our Loyal Customers:

As you may have heard, we are about to start a new era in our restaurant life. The extensive remodeling project that we have all been waiting for is finally upon us! We will remain open throughout most of the construction and will only close when it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. During this phase there may be times when we run low on certain food, beverage or condiment items - please be patient with us, the end result will be well worth it. Ron would like to stress, as he has already to many of our guests, that the food itself and our prices will NOT change. During this exciting time we will communicate as best we can through signage and our website if and when we will be closed. Be sure to visit www.ronsoriginal.com if there is any question as to whether or not we will be open. Or call 610-594-9900 for updates via a daily message about the progress of our construction.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ron's Original Bar & Grille