Beyond the 50 Best: Philly’s Most Exciting Restaurant Bars
From a Malaysian social club to a Fibonacci sequence-inspired cocktail menu, here are the best restaurant bars in the city right now.

Kampar’s Kongsi Bar (left) and the N/A Karbo Not cocktail / Photography by Michael Persico
Ah, the restaurant bar: once a place to wait with a cocktail in hand for your table to be ready, now transforming into a main attraction. Philly restaurants have been elevating their bar programs, creating experiences that rival their dining rooms.
The Kongsi Bar at Kampar
We love ordering beef rendang and nasi lemak in the Kongsi dining room, but the bar has its own unique taste of Malaysia. Here, beverage director Sam Pritchard pulls kopi (coffee), mixes achat into the martini, and pairs it all with Kerabu Jantung heart salad and goat liver curry from the offal-y good bar menu. 611 South 7th Street.
Bolo’s Rum Bar
The scene: You’re at Bolo’s rum bar, watching as the bartender ascends a ladder to retrieve bottles from a towering library of spirits. You’ve got a Tenango rum old-fashioned in one hand, the other going in for another helping of pork belly pinchos. This is a little piece of Latin paradise. 2025 Sansom Street.
The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday
Lead bartender Paul MacDonald runs a bar program that makes the Lovers Bar the kind of place where you’ll want to become a regular who doesn’t order “the usual.” His latest menu innovation is the Carousel — a wheel of spirits that, when turned, uses the Fibonacci sequence to craft a cocktail for you. Take a spin, and whether it lands on Bols Genever, Amaro Nardini, or Chartreuse, trust that the Carousel is one hell of a ride. 261 South 21st Street.
Royal Izakaya
Real fans know that the izakaya, where you can compare tasting notes between junmai and honjozo sakes with the bartenders and order plates of miso-glazed nasu dengaku and Hamachi ponzu, is one of the best hangs in Queen Village. 780 South 2nd Street.
The Bar Formerly Known as ITV at Laurel
ITV might have been absorbed by its sibling restaurant Laurel, but its highbrow-lowbrow spirit carries on during happy hour. At the bar only, you can dip fries in a veal demi with truffle, nibble on yuzu kosho shrimp cocktail, and wash it all down with a High Life. 1617 East Passyunk Avenue.
Caletta at Hotel Anna & Bel
Beyond the bar at Bastia lies an intimate, dimly lit cocktail lounge, perfect for sipping on a rosemary-kissed Sardinian ranch water and nibbling on arancini while being serenaded by a live pianist. 1401 East Susquehanna Avenue.
Published as “Raising the Bar” in the February 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.