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The Best Bars in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has long been a beer town, yet its cocktail bars hold their own, and so does its Citywide Special, a can of beer and a shot. The best bars in Philadelphia gather around Rittenhouse Square, with one more on South 7th Street. Behind an unmarked door in The Franklin Hotel, The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., named for a Prohibition-era bootlegging ring, dates to 2009, reopened there in 2022 and serves its own Citywide Special and a Schuylkill Punch. Downstairs from a Michelin-starred dining room, The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday runs the Carousel, a menu built from 21 bottles in a fixed ratio, and was a 2026 James Beard nominee for Outstanding Bar. Andra Hem pours Scandinavian-inspired drinks such as a Swedish Negroni on aquavit, and 1 Tippling Place hides with no sign on Chestnut Street. Above Good King Tavern on South 7th Street, Le Caveau is a natural wine bar with draft cocktails. Le Caveau takes walk-ins only. These are the bars we would start with.

Browse every Philadelphia barBest cocktail bars in Philadelphia
  1. Andra Hem
    ★ TOP 10PINNACLECocktail Bar

    Andra Hem

    Andra Hem is a Scandinavian-inspired cocktail lounge in a townhouse on South 16th Street in Rittenhouse, run by art collector Paige West, and the room shows it: peacock blue and mustard walls, esoteric artwork and lichen-print wallpaper behind the bar. The drinks lean savory. The Lambhattan, bartender Patrick Jennings' Manhattan on lamb-fat-washed bourbon with Cocchi Americano and cardamom bitters, put the bar on Esquire's 2023 list of the best bars in America, and the legacy section of the menu keeps house originals like the Boomerang, on Söderblandnin-infused whiskey, dry vermouth and Swedish Punsch, and the Peat Forsberg. Aquavit runs through the list. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 pm.

    218 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102Wed 5pm-11pm, Thu-Sat 5pm-12am, Sun-Tue closed
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  2. Friday Saturday Sunday — The Lovers Bar
    ★ TOP 10Cocktail Bar

    Friday Saturday Sunday — The Lovers Bar

    A 2026 James Beard Award finalist, Friday Saturday Sunday houses The Lovers Bar with head bartender Paul MacDonald, who earned a spot on Wine Enthusiast's Future 40 Tastemakers list, crafting a program that weaves cocktails into the restaurant's seasonal tasting-menu philosophy. The drinks reflect the kitchen's ingredient-driven ethos, with cocktails built around fermented fruits, house-distilled spirits, and produce from local farms. The room is intimate and design-forward, and the bar seats are the most coveted in the house. MacDonald's approach to cocktail-making, methodical, produce-first, and allergic to shortcuts, represents where the most ambitious bartenders in Philadelphia are heading. A bar that has earned its James Beard recognition the hard way.

    261 S 21st St, Philadelphia, PA 19103Wed-Sat 5pm-10pm; Closed Sun-Tue
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  3. Le Caveau
    ★ TOP 10Wine Bar

    Le Caveau

    Le Caveau is a bar à vins upstairs from The Good King Tavern on South 7th Street, reached from the street under a neon sign, walk-ins only, with a list organized by producer and draft old fashioneds and negronis, local beer and a lot of mezcal alongside cheese, charcuterie and French hot dogs. The James Beard Foundation named it an Outstanding Bar semifinalist in 2023.

    614 S 7th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-12am
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  4. The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.
    ★ TOP 10Speakeasy

    The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.

    Named for a Prohibition-era bootlegging operation, The Franklin has held its position as Philadelphia's benchmark cocktail bar since reopening in its current Rittenhouse Square location. The unmarked door at 1715 Rittenhouse Square opens onto a dimly lit room where the cocktail program favours spirit-forward builds, house-made ingredients, and seasonal menus that rotate quarterly. The bartenders work with the quiet competence of a team that has been doing this longer than most of the city's cocktail bars have existed, and the drink quality is remarkably consistent night after night. Open until 2am on weekends, which gives it a late-night credibility that Rittenhouse's earlier-closing neighbors lack. The bar that set the standard, and still meets it.

    1715 Rittenhouse Sq, Philadelphia, PA 19103Sun-Thu 5pm-12am; Fri-Sat 5pm-2am
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  5. 1 Tippling Place
    Cocktail Bar

    1 Tippling Place

    A classic cocktail lounge at 2006 Chestnut Street, 1 Tippling Place has operated with quiet confidence since 2012, building a reputation on whiskey depth, vintage spirits, and a bartending team that can execute any classic you name without consulting a recipe book. The room is dressed in vintage velvet chairs, leather couches, and the kind of warm lighting that makes everyone look like they belong in a jazz album cover. The menu favours Old Fashioned and Manhattan variations alongside house originals, and the whiskey selection is among the deepest in the city. This is where Philadelphia's cocktail cognoscenti drink when they want the drink to do the talking. No gimmicks, no themes, just serious cocktails in a serious room.

    2006 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103Tue-Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-12am; Closed Sun-Mon
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