The Library Bar at The Rittenhouse

Occupying the ground floor of The Rittenhouse Hotel, The Library Bar brings old-Philadelphia hotel-bar grandeur to a room that feels both timeless and current. The cocktail programme is anchored by rare spirits and classic preparations, served by bartenders who have been pouring at the property for years and who carry the kind of institutional knowledge that chain hotels cannot replicate. Live jazz on select evenings adds a dimension that most cocktail bars have abandoned, and the crowd — a mix of hotel guests, Rittenhouse Square residents, and visiting professionals — lends the room a cosmopolitan energy. The Library Bar does not chase trends because it does not need to. It is the room where Philadelphia's establishment has always drunk, and it remains worthy of that loyalty.