Philadelphia’s Best Bars

Our 85 favorite places to start a tab

GASTROPUBS

Flying Pig Saloon
If you like beer, need a proper pub like most people need oxygen, have some kind of weird pig fetish and live in Malvern, you’re probably already a regular at the Pig. If not, it’s worth it for the good juke, the 25 beers on tap and the nearly 200 bottles behind the bar. 121 East King Street, Malvern. 610-578-9208

Coco’s
If you spend any time in the city, you’ve probably walked by this dive-gone-gastropub a million times without even noticing it. We love it because it’s got some soul—and because the Center City hipsters haven’t discovered it. Yet.

Resurrection Ale House
Sure, it’s a path well traveled, but there’s something to be said about a dependable bar where every beer you order will be interesting and any menu item will be completely delicious.

The Bards
This is where you go when you want something to eat with all those drinks—an indie Irish pub with a solid menu and real Irish people managing it and working the bar. Also a great place to get some work done (thanks to the free wi-fi) while knocking back a couple pints.

St. Stephen’s Green
Philly is full of gastropubs, but it’s rare to find a place that gets all three elements—the atmosphere, the food and the drinks—right. St. Stephen’s does.

Watkins Drinkery
It’s a South Philly version of a neighborhood gastropub, with pool, darts, good stiff drinks, and a game-heavy bar-food menu that makes you feel like a lion with a bear’s head who’s eating every animal nature ever devised.

The Dandelion
Of all the British pubs in this city full of British pubs, the Dandelion is the one that hits closest to home for expat royalists and those who love them.

London Grill
The Bloody Mary bar will change your life.

Teresa’s Next Door
Dirty mussels with applewood smoked bacon, a bit of cheese from the impressive board, and 26 beers on tap (including one nitro and two hand-pumps): The only thing better is the staffers’ commitment to serving only what they know and truly love—no matter how weird or unpopular.

To read about the city’s best dive bars, click here.