John & Peter’s is the oldest continually owned music club in the USA and it’s right here in New Hope, PA. They have live entertainment everyday of the year and twice on Saturday and Sundays. Over the years artists many artists including; MARTIN MULL, PENN & TELLER , JOHN SEBASTIAN, GEORGE THOROGOOD, COUNTRY JOE MCDONALD, NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER, RICHIE SAMBORA, JOHN HAMMOND, NORAH JONES, IRON BUTTERFLY, BADFINGER, ORLEANS, TINY TIM, and SLIM PICKINS (from Dallas, Texas) have played this tiny venue either on the way up or the way down but they played here.
But Donna and I didn’t go for the music, we went for the burgers. Robbie had recommended J&P last weekend when we were on our Memorial Day Weekend Best in Bucks Burger Search but we didn’t make it. We made it tonight and it was a good recommendation.
To start we went for the Pork Wings. Four weeks ago I had never heard of pork wings in my 50+ years and now two times this month. We ran into them the first time at Big Bob’s BBQ and they were very tasty so we had to try them again. These wings were coated in apple cinnamon glaze and tasted more like pulled pork than the “mini-ham” wings we had at Big Bob’s. These were equally large and moist as Big Bob’s. 
One surprise was that the Apple and Cinnamon glaze did not penetrate the pork flesh but remained on the surface. That was a little disappointing for the first bite until I realized the existing taste was a great pulled pork taste. The huge size to the wings made this appetizer very filling.
Donna decided to go for the Cheesesteak for her main. That came with Sauteed Onions and Provolone Cheese with a side of Tater Tots. This classic sandwich is still Number 3 on our Sandwich Survey (shameless plug for taking the Sandwich Survey, if you haven’t taken it yet, take it now.) Donna’s sandwich was full of tender, moist beef covered in gooey cheese and caramelized onions. Very tasty. The Tater Tots were truly bite sized, crispy on the outside with a good potato taste on the inside.
There is only one burger on the menu and it comes standard with lettuce, red onions, tomato slices, pickles and potato chips. To customize your burger, John & Peter’s offers 6 Cheese Options; cheddar, Swiss, mozza, goat, blue cheese and pepper jack plus they also offer jalapenos, saute onions, saute peppers, salsa, mushrooms, roasted peppers and bacon. I got mine with Swiss Cheese, Mushrooms and Bacon. My first impression was the amount of bacon on the burger-5 slices. After I assembled the burger, it was huge. The first bite made me feel like Guy Fieri from the Food Network. I had to cut the burger in half to make it managable. In doing so I lost control of the mushrooms which squirted out onto the potato chips. No biggie but if they cooked the muchroom covered in cheese rather than place them on top of the cheese they may have stayed in the burger. The burger was very moist and I ended using three large napkins. The burger was cooked Medium Rare, becoming the first burger we reviewed being pink in the middle. The biggest taste of this burger was the strong bacon taste and the actual ground beef taste. Another first as the fix’ins had overcome the meat taste in other reviewed burgers on the first couple of bites. The moist perfectly cooked 8 oz of ground beef, the amount of bacon, cheese options and fresh veggie options makes it one of the Best Burgers in Bucks. Check out the other Best of Bucks- Burgers here.
It’s fun taking pictures of food in restaurants, you get all kinds of comments but at John & Peter’s, I got to meet Erik and his wife, Lisa and their friend at the bar and Dan and his girlfriend at the next table. Eric recommended the Pork Wings. Dan recommended the Catfish Po’Boy which came with homemade Remoulade Sauce which he had just finished.
Shout out to our wait staff Patti and ”Pumpkin”. “Pumpkin” was telling us The Raven is opening up soon under new management so we will be reporting from there soon. The Raven used to be Donna and my favourite upscale restaurant in New Hope.
John & Peter’s 96 South Main Street, New Hope, PA, 18938 215-862-5981
Tags: Appetizers, Bucks Co, Burgers, cheesesteak, Food, Restaurant Reviews, Wings
May 30, 2009 at 6:08 am |
Dear Peter!
My friend/student Raiga agrees with me that these Pork Wings look absolutely scrumptious!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
May 30, 2009 at 11:30 am |
The taste is amazing too. Can you get these in Japan?
May 30, 2009 at 9:41 am |
Peter-
Great review!
We have been fans of John & Peter’s for a decade.
I think you captured the experience very well. I will add that for a “beer & shot” music joint, J&Ps makes a concerted effort to offer a very interesting menu.
Some clarification on the layout, though, for your readers who aren’t familiar.
J&P’s has three areas- downstairs in the back is it’s intimate stage for live shows, karaoke, and comedy. Separate, but just up from the stage area is the inside bar. Peter & Donna took advantage of the weather, though, and ate outside on ‘the Bricks’, which is open seasonally, weather permitting, and has table service, a bar and seating along the street for “people watching”.
Aside from menu staples like the fish, burgers, crab cakes, wraps, buffalo wings and pork wings, they have a seasonal and eclectic ‘specials’ menu. These specials, which change weekly, range from specialty soups and quesadillas all the way to filet mignon and cream of spinach served ‘steakhouse’ style. On the later, we were impressed that J&Ps gave Marsha Brown’s a run for their money.
The staff there is also a special experience. We have made friends there over the years that now stretch the country and abroad- from California to Florida to Scotland. The management and staff are also very active in the community and contribute their time and resources generously from individual charity events to community activities such as the Pride Weekend and Bucks County FACT.
We truly enjoyed your blog and encourage others to visit J&P’s- where rockstars, lawyers, hippies, bikers and bankers mingle over beers, good food, good company, and great music.
Disclaimers: I do not work there. I swear, but I was the Erik Peter shared his blog with at the bar outside. Also, J&Ps is an old school bar at heart, so they still allow smoking in all parts of the establishment.
May 30, 2009 at 9:51 am |
Peter
I invite you to my forum, it’s quite different than Chowhound. People can actually say what they want.
May 30, 2009 at 11:23 am |
I got this comment so I posted it on the blog for them:
Peter-
Great review!
We have been fans of John & Peter’s for a decade.
I think you captured the experience very well. I will add that for a “beer & shot” music joint, J&Ps makes a concerted effort to offer a very interesting menu.
Some clarification on the layout, though, for your readers who aren’t familiar.
J&P’s has three areas- downstairs in the back is it’s intimate stage for live shows, karaoke, and comedy. Separate, but just up from the stage area is the inside bar. Peter & Donna took advantage of the weather, though, and ate outside on ‘the Bricks’, which is open seasonally, weather permitting, and has table service, a bar and seating along the street for “people watching”.
Aside from menu staples like the fish, burgers, crab cakes, wraps, buffalo wings and pork wings, they have a seasonal and eclectic ‘specials’ menu. These specials, which change weekly, range from specialty soups and quesadillas all the way to filet mignon and cream of spinach served ‘steakhouse’ style. On the later, we were impressed that J&Ps gave Marsha Brown’s a run for their money.
The staff there is also a special experience. We have made friends there over the years that now stretch the country and abroad- from California to Florida to Scotland. The management and staff are also very active in the community and contribute their time and resources generously from individual charity events to community activities such as the Pride Weekend and Bucks County FACT.
We truly enjoyed your blog and encourage others to visit J&P’s- where rockstars, lawyers, hippies, bikers and bankers mingle over beers, good food, good company, and great music.
Disclaimers: I do not work there. I swear, but I was the Erik, Peter shared his blog with at the bar outside. Also, J&Ps is an old school bar at heart, so they still allow smoking in all parts of the establishment.
Guten Appetite!
GRIFFER “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…” – Bladerunner
May 30, 2009 at 3:58 pm |
Peter, can think of nothing better than those wings and litening to Nora Jones.
May 30, 2009 at 3:59 pm |
dont know where the S went to
May 31, 2009 at 9:28 pm |
Dear Peter!
I doubt we can get them as this was the first time I saw them!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
June 1, 2009 at 6:36 pm |
Should I send you some?
June 3, 2009 at 10:45 pm |
Great write up. It is a great place for entertainment and food. Those pork wings must be relatively new. I don’t ever recall having them. Quality food at very fair prices for New Hope.
June 4, 2009 at 10:26 am |
I had not seen them on the menu before that visit either. In fact other than one time before this I had never seen them before. They are very tasty. Thanks for the comment.
June 3, 2009 at 10:45 pm |
Congrats on your blog success.
June 4, 2009 at 10:32 am |
Thanks. It was a nice milestone for me.