Philly drinking and Nightlife

[Nathan]

I'll be in the city visiting a friend on a Saturday night in a week and a half. Where should we drink? Dance?

the bar at Southwark?

Vetri?

Osteria?

where to eat? those? Snackbar?

Edited August 8, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[zeffer81]

you can drink at any of those places. dance? no...unless you get really drunk. give us some more info. what type of music do you like? what scene do you prefer? i'm sure we could give you some better suggestions with more info from you.

[Mummer]

Vetri's not where you go to drink, except for something expensive with your chi-chi dinner.

What's Italian for chi-chi?

[MarketStEl]

You want a V-place to drink near Vetri?

Maybe you were thinking Valanni? It's in the next block east, and it has a small but happening bar. (Same folks own Mercato, the much-praised BYO across and just a bit further east on Spruce from Valanni. If you want to pick up a bottle at a State Store, you could do far worse than Mercato.)

There's also a new Tria location one-half block further east on Spruce from Mercato. It's already caught on as a place to drink and nosh.

Dance? Erm...Woody's?

[Holly Moore]

There are two ways to end a night of Philadelphia drinking and dancing - the classic whiz wiz at Pat's or Geno's or, and this would be my choice, eggs benedict at Little Pete's where the hollandaise sauce is replaced by mayonnaise spiked with lemon juice and finished under the broiler.

[urbanfabric]

If you want dancing that's not in Old City... or the 50ish crowd of D'Angelos... I would suggest L'etage, above Beau Monde. 6th and Bainbridge.

Bar's not too pricey and you can even order a bottle of wine.

[Nathan]

my friend just suggested either Southwark or Mercato...for dinner. it sounds like Southwark is best for cocktails from what I've read. I might trust her suggestions for nightlife after that...

unfortunately I gave up late-night eating after the late 20's metabolism shift...and I heartily dislike both cheese whiz and mayo...

[mrbigjas]

considering mercato is BYOB, yeah southwark would be better.

[philadining]

I'm not really up on the happening dance spots, so I'll leave that to someone else to recommend, or perhaps your friend has that part covered.

Pre-dancing, it depends on what you're looking for in "drinks." If you'd like a classic cocktail, including some great ones that most of the world has forgotten how to make, perfectly executed with excellent ingredients, in a slightly retro-feling bar, Southwark is the place. It's really a great spot.

But of you were looking for more of a scene, with lots of people, more modern "fun" cocktails, and dancing, etc, you'd probably want to go somewhere else. Or start at Southwark and move on.

L'Etage could be a good suggestion for stop #2, in that it's only a few blocks away from Southwark, so you could do both, and it's a bit more energetic. Fluid is another spot for dancing, only about a block from Southwark. Not sure what kind of music you're looking for, they do "Hip-hop, soul, funk, classics, reggae & house" on saturdays. Randomly, ?uestlove from the Roots spins there.

For dinner, only about a block from Southwark is Ansill, which would be a good spot before or after cocktails, especially if you'd prefer to stay on-foot for the evening. A few of us just had a fantastic dinner there recently.

As has already been mentioned, Vetri's a pretty serious, long, expensive meal, not great pre-dancing fare. And they're closed all weekend for the summer, so it's not an option anyway.

Osteria is a better choice, similar food, but more casual, and it has the distinct advantage of being open. Saturdays are pretty busy, but you can probably still get in. They've got a great selection of wines by the glass, and some interesting cocktails too. And we recently noticed that they've got a really interesting beer list too. It's not really located near anything, but it's a really quick drive or cab ride up and back.

Snackbar has great food and some very interesting cocktails too, so you might be able to eat well and get cool drinks at the same place. But be prepared, it's very tempting to just hang there for the whole night, you might not ever get to the dancing. I think it's the chairs. Snackbar is right off of Rittenhouse Square and so, pretty near a lot of popular bars that might be good for dancing later, I'm not sure... ask around amongst the glitterati lingering stylishly about, they can probably point you to a good place!

Edited August 9, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Nathan]

I'm not really up on the happening dance spots, so I'll leave that to someone else to recommend, or perhaps your friend has that part covered.

Pre-dancing, it depends on what you're looking for in "drinks."  If you'd like a classic cocktail, including some great ones that most of the world has forgotten how to make, perfectly executed with excellent ingredients, in a slightly retro-feling bar, Southwark is the place.  It's really a great spot.

But of you were looking for more of a scene, with lots of people, more modern "fun" cocktails, and dancing, etc, you'd probably want to go somewhere else.  Or start at Southwark and move on.

L'Etage could be a good suggestion for stop #2, in that it's only a few blocks away from Southwark, so you could do both, and it's a bit more energetic. Fluid is another spot for dancing, only about a block from Southwark. Not sure what kind of music you're looking for, they do "Hip-hop, soul, funk, classics, reggae & house" on saturdays. Randomly, ?uestlove from the Roots spins there.

For dinner, only about a block from Southwark is Ansill, which would be a good spot before or after cocktails, especially if you'd prefer to stay on-foot for the evening. A few of us just had a fantastic dinner there recently.

As has already been mentioned, Vetri's a pretty serious, long, expensive meal, not great pre-dancing fare.  And they're closed all weekend for the summer, so it's not an option anyway. 

Osteria is a better choice, similar food, but more casual, and it has the distinct advantage of being open.  Saturdays are pretty busy, but you can probably still get in.  They've got a great selection of wines by the glass, and some interesting cocktails too. And we recently noticed that they've got a really interesting beer list too. It's not really located near anything, but it's a really quick drive or cab ride up and back.

Snackbar has great food and some very interesting cocktails too, so you might be able to eat well and get cool drinks at the same place. But be prepared, it's very tempting to just hang there for the whole night, you might not ever get to the dancing.  I think it's the chairs.  Snackbar is right off of Rittenhouse Square and so, pretty near a lot of popular bars that might be good for dancing later, I'm not sure... ask around amongst the glitterati lingering stylishly about, they can probably point you to a good place!

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thanks! I'm a pretty serious cocktail geek so by all accounts Southwark is pretty much it for what I'd be looking for (heck there are all of five cocktail bars here in NY that I'd get a drink at (as opposed to wine or beer)). my friend just vetoed Osteria...and she's eating at Snackbar this weekend...so that seems to narrow things to Southwark or Mercato (with Southwark for drinks regardless). too bad about Vetri being closed...that was still high on my list and I've done Le Bec-Fin, Paison and Lacroix. I guess I'll suggest Ansill as well.

[wkl]

what about 5 spot for dancing? is it still a happening place? iirc, wasn't there a fire there a while back? have they recovered.

[MarketStEl]

what about 5 spot for dancing? is it still a happening place? iirc, wasn't there a fire there a while back? have they recovered.

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The fire destroyed the Five Spot completely.

[wkl]

that's too bad.

there is place on rittenhouse square that is a decent bar with a attached room (like they knocked down the wall) that has dancing 'til late. it's usually pretty packed. i can't remember the name of it though. anyone know the place?

[Mummer]

And it's only a coupla blocks from Southwark to Chick's where, despite the Wine Bar name, you can have more serious cocktails.

Friendly bartenders and good food at both, also.

[mrbigjas]

for a really great cocktail you could head to bob & barbara's and ask for a 'special.' shot of beam, can of pabst, $3. classy!

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks for the plug, Charlie! I'd be happy to help you and your friend have a fun night and whip you up a nice drink or two, or pour you a fabulous glass of wine. Just stop by.

[Buckethead]

so that seems to narrow things to Southwark or Mercato (with Southwark for drinks regardless).  too bad about Vetri being closed...that was still high on my list and I've done Le Bec-Fin, Paison and Lacroix.  I guess I'll suggest Ansill as well.

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Of those three places, I'd say Ansill is the best, followed by Southwark, then Mercato. They're all very good, you will have a great meal at any of them, but Ansill is really fantastic. Ansill and Southwark are also both within walking distance of many places where dancing occurs, I'm told. Mercato, not so much. Plus, Mercato is BYO, the other two have bars.

[MarketStEl]

I'm currently corresponding with my favorite lurker, who advises me that there are a couple of good options if you like Latino/salsa dancing.

One is Miami, which is on South Street somewhere in the 500 block, near Fat Tuesday's.

The other is Cuba Libre, on 2d Street just south of Market in Old City.

Just up 2d from the latter is the Continental, the place that launched Stephen Starr on his career as restaurant impresario. There are better cocktails to be had in town, but it's one of the longest-running Scenes around now.

She also reminded me that Osteria, by virtue of its location on Broad above Brandywine, isn't within walking distance of anything else that's been mentioned here or that you might want to check out. It's definitely a must-visit, but you might want to consider parking nearer to where you want to end your evening and taking SEPTA up to Osteria, especially if you want to end your evening in Old City or on South Street.

(The Route C bus stops almost at the restaurant's door, and it's about a block and a half north of Spring Garden station on the Broad Street Line.)

[MarketStEl]

Ansill and Southwark are also both within walking distance of many places where dancing occurs, I'm told. Mercato, not so much.

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There are a bunch of dance clubs within two to three blocks of Mercato.

Trouble is, they're probably not the type of dance club the OP is interested in. See my first post on this thread.

[Nathan]

thanks everyone for your advice.

it looks like we'll be hitting Southwark and Ansill (in either order) followed by Chick's tomorrow night....

[KatieLoeb]

I've done that exact trajectory enough times to tell you it's an easy stumble from one place to the other. It's all in my 'hood. Walk up Bainbridge from Ansill to Southwark. Further up Bainbridge three blocks to 7th Street and turn northward (right) half a block to come visit me at Chick's.

See you tomorrow night!

Edited August 18, 2007 by KatieLoeb (log)