Guides

Best of Philly Spotlight: 11 Bars for Your Next Night Out

Whether you’re looking for a sexy cocktail lounge, a place to go wine tasting without leaving the city, a dive bar to watch the game, or your next happy hour, this year’s Best of Philly Food & Drink list has you covered. Impress your bar buddies by planning your next night out with these 10 must-visit spots for the best drinks in the city.

BEST NEW COCKTAIL BAR
Almanac

Imbibing nature’s rhythms is at the core of Almanac’s ethos. Almanac captures the gradual changes of the seasons with creations built around ingredients that are foraged or harvested locally. But beyond the rotating menu of meticulously crafted drinks, the izakaya-inspired bites, swanky decor, moody lighting, and buzzy atmosphere make for a captivating experience. 310 Market Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106

BEST NEW WINE BAR
Supérette

The best bars transport you somewhere else. Supérette is one of them. Slide into a seat at the bar or a table, order a glass of wine from a list handpicked by sommelier Kaitlyn Caruke, and add bites from the Euro-leaning menu — and definitely don’t skip the soft serve. After a while, South Philly will start to feel like the South of France. 1538 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19147

HAPPY HOUR
Kiddo

You just left the office. You need a little something to take the edge off. You roll up to Kiddo, sit at the bar, and let your cares fall away with half-priced seasonal pastas like green garlic ravioli and ramp and smoked garlic pesto bucatini, plus a drink that costs $10 or less. The happy hour carbs are on offer four days a week. 1138 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

BEST OLD NEW BAR
A Man Full of Trouble

Succession Fermentory has a new tasting room in the historic, pre-Revolutionary War tavern, A Man Full of Trouble, which recently reopened. Succession grows, sources, and forages ingredients within 75 miles of its Chester County brewery, and this year’s Best New Old Bar offers a selection of farmhouse ales — including rustic saisons and fruited sours — fit for a Colonial-era rabble-rouser. 127 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

BEST URBAN WINERY
Pray Tell

Tom Caruso has worked in wine-making regions up and down the West Coast — from Sonoma, California, to Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where he originally opened Pray Tell. But his viticultural journey actually started in South Philly, where he made wines with his grandfather using a hand-cranked destemmer and basket press. Once a cult favorite in Oregon, Pray Tell is now bringing its Pacific daydream style to Kensington with elegant, low-intervention vintages that remind us that excellent wine begins with excellent grapes. 1615 North Hancock Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122

BEST PLACE TO ROLL WITH A CREW
Jaffa Bar

Michael Solomonov’s towering two-story oyster bar was built for large parties. Upstairs has a chilled-out, fine-dining vibe; downstairs is all gin cocktails, soul music, platters of oysters, and yellowtail crusted in pastrami spice. No matter what kind of night you’re looking for — or how deep you roll — Jaffa has a place for you. 1625 North Howard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122

BEST CIDERY
Cider Belly Hard Cider

Cider Belly Hard Cider approaches apples with a similar level of artistry. This year’s Best Cidery sources apples from local orchards to create crisp, dry European-style ciders with tart, floral expressions of Pennsylvania’s terroir. Take a sip of their signature Wissahickon and ponder the essence of our natural world. 8005 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

BEST SPOT FOR PIZZA AND COCKTAILS
Sorellina

The sister operation to chef Joe Cicala’s fine-dining restaurant Cicala at the Divine Lorraine couldn’t be more different from its sibling across the lobby. Where Cicala is slow, Sorellina is lively. Where Cicala is formal, Sorellina is drop-in casual. Where Cicala glorifies the history and traditions of Italian cooking, Sorellina embraces the anarchy and street-punk sensibilities of young, revolutionary Italian pizzaiolos with its all-electric ovens, high-hydration crusts, and Italian hip-hop on the radio. Drop by for a burrata, mortadella, and pistachio pesto pie, a couple of Aperol-heavy cocktails, and a plate of ’nduja battered and fried like sweet-and-sour chicken. 699 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123

BEST N/A BAR
Bar Palmina

After embracing sobriety following a liver transplant in 2022, Nikki Graziano found Philly’s nonalcoholic options lacking. So she took to her home bar with a slew of zero-proof spirits, a cocktail shaker, and a mission to make drinks she wanted to sip on. The result? Bar Palmina, where Graziano serves thoughtfully crafted zero-proof cocktails like a zingy yuzu negroni and the Brown Dog, which combines a booze-free bourbon with Earl Grey tea and orange. 1306 North Front Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122

BEST PLACE TO PREGAME
Izzy’s Cocktail Bar

It’s easy to find Izzy’s. All you have to do is look for the crowd of people milling around on the sidewalk next to Ardmore Music Hall, waiting to get a seat at this small, dimly lit, and tightly packed izakaya. This is a place for grazing — for crowding up at the loud bar, knocking down plates of excellent hand rolls and birria bao, washing them down with custom cocktails from the Japanese-influenced list, and then moving on. If you need a place to rally the troops for a night out or to grab a bite before a show, Izzy’s is exactly what you’re looking for. 35 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA 19003

BEST DIVE BAR
Mickey’s Tavern

At some point, being considered a “dive bar” became a really cool selling point. So you have bars that try to be a dive without actually, you know, being one. But not here. Local rock musicians, Ecuadorean immigrants, Irish contractors, dart-obsessed patrons, and people who’ve probably been hitting the sauce a little earlier than they should be all rub elbows amid the faint haze of cigarette smoke, the smell of whatever someone is eating from the nearby Wawa, and the sound of Jeopardy! or whatever game is on, washed down with $3 Rolling Rock pints and a general spirit of boozy camaraderie. Bonus: Karaoke night is an absolute hoot. 129 South State Road, Upper Darby, PA 19082

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Published in the August 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.