Where We’re Drinking Right Now: The Best New Bars in Philly
The new bars, cocktail spots, and breweries you should check out next.
The pepe el grillo cocktail at Amá / Photograph by Mike Prince
Have you ever made plans to grab drinks with friends, but no one can decide on what bar to go to, so they ask you because you’re supposed to be “in the know,” but the second you’re put on the spot, your brain forgets every single bar you’ve ever been to? Same, friend. Same.
That is why we’ve made this list. We’ve scoped out as many recently opened bars as possible, all so that you can find a great place to drink. (Admittedly a tough gig; we take our work very seriously.) Here’s what’s new and cool — or chaotic but fun — in Philly’s drinking world right now.
Amá, Kensington
By this point, everyone knows what Best of Philly-winning chef Frankie Ramirez can do in the kitchen at Amá — the big, beautiful new Mexican restaurant on the Kensington/Fishtown border. But that’s the problem: Because everyone knows how good it is, reservations are getting impossibly hard to come by. The good news? They’ve got a long bar there, reserved strictly for walk-ins, and it is serving some of the most inventive drinks in the city right now (alongside a cut-down version of the kitchen’s remarkably deep and personal menu). Diego Langarica is the bar manager at the helm and his drink program is as playfully clever as it is exciting. The “Mercado Sonora” — with its tequila, chai, and rhubarb base, nopal head, and rim of burnt tortilla — is the one that everyone snaps pictures of, but the snarky “It’s Always Sunny In Puebladelphia” is better, smarter and just as pretty in the glass. The tomato shrub gives it a hit of sweetness, there’s a punch in the reposado tequila, and spikes of dill and roasted poblano add depth and soul. Other highlights: the “Pepe El Grillo” with its fried cricket garnish and the rum-and-amaro “Canelo” made with cane sugar-sweetened café de olla and burnt-milk creaminess. 101 West Oxford Street.
Almanac / Photograph by Stephen Recchia
Almanac, Old City
Danny Childs and Rob Scott find inspiration in the rhythms of nature, pulling locally grown and foraged ingredients into intently crafted cocktails that somehow feel like they’re made just for you thanks to a staff who can recommend drinks that match your energy almost as if they were psychic. The menu is constantly changing based on what’s available during hyper-specific seasons. Echoes of late fall reverberate through the winter with warm notes of smoked chestnuts (hand-peeled, of course), apple brandy, and Japanese whiskey in the “Slowly Going the Way of Ōedo.” Spring equinox blooms with a sherry cobbler blended with bergamot and cherry blossoms. The strawberry moon is celebrated with the “Todavia Viva” made with strawberries, lemon, tequila, and shōchū. There are also inventive takes on classics that are regularly available, like the “Kyōto Red Eye” espresso martini made with Kyōto cold brew and Japanese vodka, and the “Jūban District Manhattan,” as well izakaya bites to pair with your drinks (don’t skip the wagyu hot dog topped with tonkatsu sauce and bonito flakes).
Despite being this year’s Best of Philly winner for Best Cocktail Bar and getting named one of America’s best new bars by Bon Appétit, sipping a drink in this moody, darkly lit Japanese-inspired bar above Ogawa still feels like stumbling upon one of Philly’s best-kept secrets. Recently, a lot of bars have been throwing the term “speakeasy” around as a marketing ploy to engineer a sense of allure and mystery. But the team at Almanac have really perfected the art of creating a clandestine vibe with intriguing cocktails served up in an intimate space and individualized service like what you’d find at a members-only club. 310 Market Street, second floor.
A Man Full of Trouble — Succession Fermentory, Society Hill
There is a novelty to having a beer in the last pre-Revolutionary War bar still standing in Philadelphia. But beyond kicking back a few drinks in a tavern that’s older than the United States of America (it was built in 1759), the farmhouse-style ales you’ll find here are outstanding. Succession Fermentory, the brewery that now occupies the historic taproom in A Man Full of Trouble (our Best of Philly winner for Best Old New Bar), has a wide range of rustic saisons, tart sours, and wild ales that are hard to come by. They only use ingredients that they grow or source within 75 miles of their Chester County brewery, so their offerings rotate regularly. The Levain — a sour ale made with sourdough and whole-grain breads from Big Sky Bread and malts from Deer Creek Malthouse in Glen Mills — is a great place to start if you’re new to Succession Fermentory. It’s a mellow sour with a hint of oakiness and stone fruits, which is indicative to a lot of the styles they brew — well-balanced, fruit-forward beers that aren’t mouth-puckeringly tart. But if it’s on the menu, you have to try the Printemps, a Bière de Mars-style wild ale that’s kind of sweet, kind of funky, kind of spicy, but has a smooth toasty flavor that pulls it all together. 127 Spruce Street.
The Saturn Descent at Caletta / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano
Caletta, Fishtown
If you’re looking for a Mediterranean escape, you don’t have to book an expensive flight across the Atlantic. Paradise is at the Anna and Bel hotel where you can sit poolside with a Primo spritz and Berkshire pork ribs in a sweet and spicy salsa agrodolce from Caletta. From the swanky pool to the sexy-chic lounge to the wraparound granite bar every inch of this place is luxurious. It’s the kind of place you go when you want to impress your Tinder date with your impeccable taste, or when you want to feel like a main character in a romantic dramedy. Don’t worry: Caletta isn’t just a vibe. The quality of the drinks and food match are just as good as — nay, better than — the aesthetics. The night will be filled with both style and substance whether you’re stopping by for a coconut, lychee, and calamansi white Negroni at aperitivo hour, splitting the piparra tapenade-topped cheeseburger with your bestie, lingering solo at the bar over a boozy “Saturn Descent” (“the Roman Empire didn’t fall in one day, but a couple of these would have done some damage,” as the menu says), or having their version of a martini as a nightcap after dinner at Bastia. 1401 East Susquehanna Avenue.
La Jefa, Rittenhouse
The Suro family have really turned a tragedy into triumph. After a fire decommissioned Tequilas for two years, David Suro and his three children not only revived the 39-year old Mexican restaurant — they also added La Jefa to the back. Dedicated to the late matriarch of the family, Annette Cipolloni, the space serves a dual purpose. By day, it’s a coffee shop where you can set up your laptop and enjoy a tascalate and a house-made blackberry jam-filled concha while you work. By night, La Jefa changes gears and transforms into a bar where David Suro’s son, Dan Suro, uses agave spirits in unexpected ways. Cascahuin Tahona Blanco infused with cooked agave adds layers of smokiness and caramelized sweetness to the Agave cocktail, and the koji-fermented “agavezake” blends Mexican and Japanese traditions to bring an unexpected hint of savoriness to the Guadalajaran Old Fashioned. Beyond agave, the full breadth of corn’s versatility is also on display. The “Pox” cocktail made with mellow corn, masa syrup, and pox, a ceremonial Mayan spirit derived from corn is a must-try. There’s also the tetela de plátano macho, which looks simple but is a complexly earthy masa filled with plantain purée-filled and served in a pipián verde. Above the mirrors in the milpa at the back of the bar, there’s a neon sign that says, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” It’s a fitting sentiment for how far the Suro family has come and how long they’ve carried on their Guadalajaran traditions. 1605 Latimer Street.
The Rewolucyjny at Little Walter’s / Photograph by Gab Bonghi
Little Walter’s, Kensington
I think we all know that Little Walter’s — Michael Brenfleck’s heartfelt love letter to both traditional and modern Polish cuisine — is a great place to eat. (It did just win a Best of Philly for Best Eastern European Comfort Food, after all.) And I think we all know that it’s always been a great place to drink, too. But for a place that pretty much nailed it from day one, it also just keeps evolving, and the bar there has only become better, more polished and more daring since opening day. From seasonal cocktails (like the ramp Gibson this spring) to brunch drinks like the rewolucyjny (made with mustard, horseradish, tomato juice and Polish vodka) that’ll burn away any weekend regrets, Little Walter’s bar crew just keeps adding layers to what was already a great place for a drink. 2049 East Hagert Street.
Jaffa Bar, Kensington
Michael Solomonov’s newest, Best of Philly-winning showpiece — a cavernous, booming, edible (and drinkable) tribute to the port city of Jaffa, built inside an old firehouse — is a lot of things. It’s large. It’s loud. It’s crowded almost all the time. And it has a massive bar that features (among other things) a full martini menu, four different spritzes, a frozen Jaffa Orange that’s a little bit like the alcoholic Orange Julius you always dreamed of, and a solid spread of zero-proof cocktails. All of that comes on top of the regular cocktail menu which, in itself, is a surprising and balanced mix of traditional Manhattans and Clover Clubs, skateboarding references, za’atar-spiked grenadine, house-made apple brandy, arak, and at least one drink (the aptly named “Taken By Surprise”) that combines rum and root beer. It’s not an overtly showy list, but it’s got some moves. One thing’s for sure: You’re not going to be bored. 1625 North Howard Street.
The “Money Talks” cocktail at Izzy’s / Photograph courtesy of Izzy’s
Izzy’s, Ardmore
Beverage manager James Cleland is a cocktail nerd at heart. He invented his version of The Last Word (called “Money Talks”) by accident, and now it is such a big part of Izzy’s cocktail menu (this year’s Best of Philly winner for Best Place to Pregame) that he’s got 14 bottles of Chartreuse stockpiled behind the bar and orders a case and a half of Midori every month. His Dark & Stormy is infused with nitrous and contains a house-made five-spice rum. His sake-tinis change whenever inspiration strikes. And, in keeping with Izzy’s izakaya-ish vibes, he does a tea-cocktail service where drinkers are encouraged to think about how the flavor of the cocktail changes over time as the tea steeps. With its cramped quarters and no-reservations policy, it might not always be easy to get a seat at Izzy’s bar. But if you care about cocktails, it is absolutely worth the wait. 35 East Lancaster Avenue.
Doom, Callowhill
The world needs more bars with drinks named for Dungeons & Dragons spells. But until that happens, Philly has Doom — the doom-metal bar opened by ex-Royal Izakaya GM Justin Holden — where the “Magic Missile” is made with vodka, house ginger beer, and a bright spike of lime, and the “Gintonic” arrives blood-red in a balloon glass, tasting of lemongrass and an entire garden of herbs. Between the corn dogs on the happy hour menu, hot wings and nachos at the bar, the Cosmic Brownie ice cream sandwiches for dessert, and the short, tight list of well-thought-out cocktails with just the right sense of humor, Doom is one of those places where you drink because it’s actually fun, not just because everyone else tells you it’s fun. Honestly, metalheads really are always the best people. And come to find, they also run some of the best bars in town, too. 421 North 7th Street.
Percy, Fishtown
The horseshoe bar at Percy is the first thing you see when you walk in, and it is the best feature of the’70s-inspired, ground-floor space at the new Urby apartment building in Fishtown. Record covers and concert flyers hang from the walls, everything is tile and earth tones and gleaming chandeliers; and behind the bar, a revamped cocktail menu has simplified and streamlined, postmodern takes on a generation of cocktail recipes. The espresso martini has transformed into the vodka-based “All Night Diner,” served on the rocks with a powerful shot of espresso, a house vanilla liqueur, walnut bitters to give it some teeth, and a surprising hint of orange. There are small-batch wines made in Fishtown; the Bloody Mary comes spiked with harissa; the “PA Daiquiri” is surprisingly restrained, served in a teardrop coupe with just rum, lime, and simple syrup; and the whole place gives the impression of a bar that takes its drinking seriously enough to be notable, but not so seriously that it forgets to have fun. 1700 North Front Street.
