For 14 years, Erin Wallace’s Devil’s Den has been a haven for debuting some of the finest craft beers.
The Den has also been a comfort food haven with a diverse selection and great happy hours. And somewhere along that trajectory, Wallace additionally turned it into an events space—a place in the heart of South Philly where drag doyennes, bingo aficionados and crime mystery fanatics were drawn for Drag Sundays, Beer Bingo Nights and True Crime Night with investigator Sarah Cailean.
And with that, the Devil’s Den corner of 11th & Ellsworth became a pretty cool place to be.
All that stops, sadly, on Oct. 9 when Wallace closes Devil’s Den, and sells the kitchen space to the Bake n’ Bacon food truck people for their first brick-and-mortar location.
Growing Devil’s Den beyond good food and drink wasn’t a thing for Wallace, at first. “At first, our focus was premiering great craft beers, out-of-town brewers or new Philly independents coming here for their beers’ release,” said Wallace. “When we started, you didn’t see craft beer around as much as you do, in every bar, now.”
As craft beer availability evolved into the norm, Wallace sought out events that would make Devil’s Den stand out, something perhaps more interactive for their regulars and attractive to potential guests.
“I wanted to do things that no one else was doing, and Sarah (Cailean) just happened to be one of my regulars when I bartend-ed,” said Wallace of the police consultant and private investigator.
Crime. Craft beer. Why not?
“Coming into my work life, I was actually in theater before getting into police work and crime investigation,” said Cailean of being an acting major at U-Arts and working at the Arden Theatre. “By age 24, however, I decided I wanted to be a cop.”
After spending 12 years on patrol, and in sex crime investigations, Cailean longed to focus on criminal psychology and profiling, and left the full-time cop biz of “yelling at people and driving fast” for a life of forensic psychology, cold case consulting, and eventually, true crime documentation and examination in a public way.
“Like Erin’s idea for a True Crime Night, which was really successful,” said Cailean, who now splits her days as a real crime consultant and her nights as a true crime storyteller and events master. “It is a side-gig that got out of control,” she said.
On Oct. 6, Devil’s Den will host its True Crime Night finale, ‘The Poison of Power: Pernicious Pols and Savage Statesmen’. “It’s like an academic lecture and a crime podcast pushed together,” Cailean said of her D-Den finale.
Wallace says that the audience at Devil’s Den “has always been diverse – young adults starting families, interesting singles, a large LGBTQ crowd, artists – looking for a place that is warm and welcoming.” And adventurous, considering that motorcyclists and opera singers have become active parts of its Drag Sunday events in front of the Den.
Why that is all changing, now, comes down to Wallace wanting a personal change, an opportunity to do something beyond Devil’s Den, and a chance to bring in new friends such as Bake n’ Bacon. “The last two years have been hard for so many people in the restaurant industry,” she said. “Some things are getting easier. Some things are getting harder. It just feels like a good time for change. I’m very involved in the craft beer and liquor business, and the board of the International Pink Food Society. It’s time to move on.”
