13 of the hottest hidden bars in Philly — if you can find them

Some bars are right out there, beckoning from across the street or down the block. But how about the Philadelphia bars that are hidden in plain sight or tucked where you’d least expect to find them?

Here are a baker’s dozen, including one buried inside a barbershop, a few located down alleys, and several without signs entirely.

Sleek Scandinavian style, interesting snack boards, and wonderful cocktails are the calling card of this sultry newcomer on two floors behind a nondescript black-painted brick façade at 16th and Chancellor Streets. Take your chance with a walk-ins, or attempt to nab one of the tables released at noon daily on Resy.

🌐 Andra Hem, 218 S. 16th St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-545-0823. Open 4 p.m.-midnight Wednesday-Saturday.

Drinks are flowing at a fast clip at this low-lit cocktail lounge tucked behind a barbershop just off Broad Street. Yes, it’s a working barbershop with a few chairs. Phillies star Bryce Harper is an investor.

After hours, there’s a smaller bar and a few tables on street level, plus a multiroom, multibar experience with cocktails and DJs upstairs during busier times.

🌐 Blind Barber, 📍 1325 Sansom St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-528-9485. Open 5 p.m.-”close” Monday-Saturday.

» READ MORE: Our picks: Philly's best cocktail bars

Walk into Harp & Crown. Just before the host stand to the left is a door leading downstairs to a narrow basement bar in an antique-filled setting with reclaimed tin ceilings and walls lined with antique millwork and intricate mirror molds. Elbow Lane also has a 70-foot bar made of quartz and walnut, plus comfy lounge seating. (As low as the ceiling feels, keep in mind that Sixers players routinely show up after games.) As for the two bowling lanes: If they’re not otherwise reserved, rent one for $100 per lane, per hour, including shoes, for up to eight people.

🌐 Elbow Lane, 📍 1525 Sansom St. (beneath Harp & Crown), Philadelphia, 📞 215-330-2800. Open 5-10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m.-midnight Sunday.

Generally open only Saturday afternoons — check social media for the schedule and enter if the green lamp outside is lit — this Kensington microbrewery delivers creative beers brewed by mixing assorted yeasts and bacteria during fermentation.

🌐 Fermentery Form, 📍 1700 Palethorp St., Philadelphia, Open when they feel like it.

The first trick is finding the cozy-chic Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., which reopened last year after the pandemic shutdown. The stated address is 1715 Shubert Alley, which appears on no map. It’s down an alley — Latimer Street, just off Rittenhouse Square. The entrance is behind an unmarked door. The cocktail menu includes true classics (Manhattans and punch), and the food menu’s interesting dishes include escargot, borscht, and raclette baby potatoes.

🌐 Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., 📍 1718 Latimer St.., Philadelphia, 📞 267-892-4557. Open 5 p.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Going on 11 years behind an unmarked steel door in Chinatown, the sumptuously appointed Hop Sing Laundromat is undoubtedly the quirkiest bar on this list. It’s been open only Friday and Saturdays since its return from the pandemic shutdown, though Thursday service will be added March 16.

The mononymous, anonymous, cantankerous owner, Lê, purports to be a North Korean agent, demanding IDs from everyone while enforcing a series of rules (no cameras or phones) designed to maintain decorum and privacy. Break one and you end up on his banned list, which is at 5,300 names and counting.

Lê also happens to keep a well of booze that’s better than many bars’ top shelf. He recently brought in Toby Maloney, who led Chicago’s The Violet Hour to a 2015 James Beard Award, to serve patrons at the bar itself. For $75 a person, you get two hours at the bar, including drink and conversation (and you get to cut the line); seats must be reserved via DM to Hop Sing’s Instagram. The regular drink menu is available at tables.

🌐 Hop Sing Laundromat, 📍 1029 Race St., Philadelphia, Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, adding Thursdays on March 16. No reservations for tables, no phone, plenty of attitude.

GLU Hospitality recently expanded its buzzy Washington Square West lounge into the adjoining space occupied by 1224 Raw, the sushi bar that fronts Sansom Street. This has expanded the food options.

🌐 Leda’s Cocktail Lounge, 📍 1224 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-770-7001. Open 4 p.m.-midnight Thursday-Saturday.

They’re really anti-photo at this luxe lounge buried deep behind a bright red restroom within LMNO, the Stephen Starr-owned Mexican restaurant under the El in Fishtown-Kensington. Once your eyes adjust to the darkness, you’ll make out hundreds, perhaps even thousands of vinyl records. This is reservation-only, and you’re encouraged to start your experience in LMNO’s dining room for chef Frankie Ramirez’s menu.

🌐 The Listening Room at LMNO, 📍 1749 N. Front St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-770-7001. Open Fridays and Saturdays, ticketed.

Whiskeys are the specialty at this chill, unassuming Rittenhouse lounge, done up like a granny’s parlor behind a ho-hum storefront. Snack menu includes cocktail meatballs, hummus and pita, pimento cheese and crackers, and sweet and spicy nuts. Definitely a contender for a pregame or nightcap.

🌐 1 Tippling Place, 📍 2006 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-770-7001. Open 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

My colleague Samantha Melamed perfectly laid out the basics describing this quasi-speakeasy buried behind El Rey in Rittenhouse: creative cocktails that “actually do live up to the hype” in a dark room jazzed up by ribald artwork. The alley entrance is a plus for the vibe.

🌐 Ranstead Room, 📍 2013 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-563-3330 (El Rey’s number). Open 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday–Saturday.

Want a secret? Walk into the lobby of the W Philadelphia hotel and approach the Living Room bar and lounge. There’s a mirror to the left of the bar. It’s actually a two-way mirrored door leading back to Stevens’ Prophecy, a salonlike space whose artwork celebrates local royalty: East Falls’ Grace Kelly, later Princess Grace of Monaco.

The name pays homage to Kelly’s yearbook prediction while at the Stevens School in Germantown, which prophesied she would be “famous on stage and screen.” Stevens’ Prophecy can handle 20 people and may be reserved; there’s a $2,000 minimum. Walk-ins are allowed, space permitting. Snack menu and full bottle service menu are priced for your Black Card (e.g. the citywide is a Love City lager with Dad’s Hat rye for 15 bucks).

🌐 Living Room/Stevens’ Prophecy, 📍 1439 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-709-8000. Open nightly.

Center City’s newest bar is still a secret, since it only opened to the public March 7. It’s just off 16th and Spruce, where Plenty Cafe was.

Superfolie — with its made-up French name — is a snug, moody walk-in with a five-seat bar, a couple of tables on the street level, and an inviting mezzanine. Owners Chloe Grigri and Vincent Stipo, the wine experts behind the Good King Tavern and le Caveau across town, offer a rotating selection of bubbly, white, orange, and red wines by the glass, with a bottle list of 70-plus cellar selections, including wines from hard-to-find producers and vintages. Menu feature tartines, composed salads, raw plates, and cheese and charcuterie plates

🌐 Superfolie, 📍 1602 Spruce St., Philadelphia. Kitchen open 4:30-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, bar till 11 p.m.

Very few bars’ custom wallpaper is made of word-search puzzles, but that’s the conversation-starter at this bar in a building hidden on a back alley a block off Broad Street. The second and third floors’ library motif, beneath a large globe, is capable of stimulating conversation over potent drinks and light snacks. And now I can’t think of more to say. Must be a writer’s block.

🌐 Writer’s Block Rehab, 📍 1342 Cypress St., Philadelphia. Open 5-11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5-11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday.