Guides

Extra-Long Happy Hours in Philly: Where to Find Them

Where to turn when two hours of discounted drinks just aren’t enough.


Trestle Inn | Photo: Ted Nghiem

These are not your average 5 – 7 p.m. amateur hours. These are the happy hours that go longer. That go twice a day — one after work, and another late at night. Drinking on the cheap ain’t always easy in a city like ours (what with all those pesky PLCB restrictions), but these bars make it just a bit more manageable. 

Here, now, Philly’s best extended and late-night happy hours.

The Trestle Inn, Callowhill
While go-go dancers and weekend dance parties might be two of its most distinguishing features, the whiskey list here is all the more reason to come.
The deal: $5 City Wides (they call them Trestlewides), $4 for most well drinks, $8 craft cocktails
When: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. and Wednesday through Thursday, 10 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Bar-Ly, Chinatown
Where else can you eat fried rice and mini bowls of lo mein while watching the Eagles on a million plasma screens?
The deal: $4.50 cocktails, $4.50 martinis, $3.50 – $4.50 beers
When: Sunday through Thursday, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. – midnight

Tattooed MomSouth Street
The bumper-car seating, pool tables and bowls of candy everywhere prove that being cool also means being goofy and fun.
The deal: Half-priced drafts
When: Daily, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Gyu-Kaku, Logan Square
Share a lychee martini along with a couple New York Strip steaks at this family-style Japanese BBQ.
The deal: $7.50 – $9.95 cocktails (they recommend the $7 Bellini), half-priced Kirin Ichiban beer, $6.50 – $12.50 sake, $3 – $5 beers
When: Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Hop Sing Laundromat

Hop Sing Laundromat, Chinatown
Philly’s best cocktail bar doesn’t serve a single cocktail on its happy hour menu, but it compensates by offering only top-shelf liquor.
The deal: $5.55 Aberfeldy 12-year-old Single Malt Scotch, $12.12 Courvoisier XO Cognac, and more.
When: Tuesday through Friday, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Stratus Lounge, Old City
A swanky rooftop bar towering eleven stories above Independence Hall.
The deal: $5 wines, half-priced bottles (excluding wine)
When: Daily, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

The Bards, Rittenhouse
Just a friendly Irish bar just off Rittenhouse Square.
The deal: $3 Yuengling and Coors Lite drafts, $4 select craft drafts and well drinks, $5 import drafts and house wine
When: Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m., Sunday, 8 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Lolita’s blood orange margarita | Facebook

Bud & Marilyn’s, Midtown Village
Where both your Grandma and 21-year-old cousin feel right at home.
The deal: $4 Budfest beer, $6 cocktails, $6 for a beer and whiskey shot
When: Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 11 p.m.

The Institute Bar, Poplar
Darts, board games and really, really good beer.
The deal: $2 off draft beer, $2 off well drinks
When: Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – midnight

Barcade, Fishtown
It’s the only place on the list that offers a seven-hour-long happy hour.
The deal: $1 off all beer and well drinks
When: Monday through Friday, 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Lolita, Midtown Village
Mexican street food and blood-orange margaritas, baby.
The deal: $5 blood-orange margaritas, sangria, and the house red and white
When: Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Tria Taproom, Rittenhouse
The menus are iPads, you can track what’s on tap and what’s about to kick before you go — oh and it’s one of “America’s 100 Best Beer Bars.
The deal: $2-$3 off drafts and $3 off cocktails.
When: Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.