Standard Tap

A good bartender is more than just the drinks he serves — he’s a guy you want to drink ’em with. Like Ron Johnson, on the second floor of Northern Liberties watershed Standard Tap. He’s mixing cocktails for the ladies, cheerfully pouring local drafts for the friends who met over MySpace, regaling the nouveaux bohemians assembled at the mahogany. And sometimes, you’ll find him there on off nights. On a totally dead one not long ago, Johnson — a Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts grad, and a sometimes professional painter by day — whipped out the ink wash and brushes he’s known to keep behind the bar and painted tiny masterpieces on customers’ coasters.