Center City Sips: What's your flavor?
The city’s warm weather weekly happy hour returns from Wednesday, June 3, through Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Center City District Sips, the city's annual seasonal weekly happy hour, returns on Wednesday, June 3.
Here's the deal: Over 80 restaurants and bars throughout Center City will be offering $5 cocktails, $3 brews, $4 wine, and half-priced appetizers. With prices like these, the bars tend to get packed quick, so get there early.
We narrowed down some picks, based on drink preference, so we make choosing a spot a little bit easier.
Usual suspects
If you’re just into domestic beers, here are bars that offer your typical tailgating brews.
Smith’s Restaurant & Bar (39 S 19th St.) - Bud Light and Coors Light drafts.
Las Vegas Lounge (704 Chestnut St.) - Big boys (20 oz.) of Yuengling and Miller Lite drafts.
Black Sheep (247 S 17th St.) - Quite the selection here: Miller Lite, Coors Lite, Yuengling, Budweiser, Bud Light, and Rolling Rock.
Fuji Mountain Japanese Restaurant (2030 Chestnut St.) - PBR, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Yuengling.
Craft beer picks
Hop heads, not many bars serve craft styles for $3, but here are a few.
U-Bahn and BRU (1318-1320 Chestnut St.) - Troegs Sunshine Pils. The bar will also serve Jack's Hard Cider Helen's Blend and Iron City lager.
Foodery at Rittenhouse (1710 Sansom St.) - Neshaminy Creek Kutztown Lager, Boulevard Tank 7 (saison).
Perch Pub (1354 Locust St.) - Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale.
Devil's Alley (1907 Chestnut St.) - Rotating Stoudt's draft, and Yuengling lager.
Bank & Bourbon (1200 Market St.) - Yards Brawler (English dark mild ale).
Cocktail cravers
2 Gingers Whiskey is the prime spirit this year. Here are some picks with, and without it.
Square 1682 (121 S. 17th St.) - Irish Mules (2 Gingers Irish Whiskey, syrup, lime juice, ginger ale), and Russian Summer (Stoli Vanilla, pineapple, Midori).
Smokin Betty’s (116 S 11th St.) - Seasonal sangria, Rum Punch, Mrs. Daly (Svedka Citron Vodka, lemonade, ice tea), and 2 Gingers Peach Smash (2 Gingers Irish Whiskey, Peach Liquor, juice).
MilkBoy (1100 Chestnut St.) - MilkBoy Ruby Red Shandy (Goose Island 312 Wheat, Deep Eddy Ruby Red Vodka, soda) and Pharmacist (2 Gingers Irish Whiskey, juice, honey).
Barra Rossa (929 Walnut St.) - Old Fashioned, Manhattan (with 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey), Salty Dog (Absolut Ruby Red Grapefruit with salt), and Sparkling Peach (Chandon Champagne with Grand Marnier and peach/orange liqueur).
IndeBlue Restaurant & Bar (205 S. 13th St.) - Rose gimlet (Beefeater gin, rose water, juice), Ginger Twist (Black Velvet Whiskey, ginger, lemon juice, ginger ale) Chikni Shandar (sparkling wine, cardamom), Indebluetini (house special), and a spicy margarita.
Pennsylvania 6 (114 S. 12th St.) - House cocktail (2 Gingers Irish Whiskey with ginger sage syrup and club soda), Spring Garden (gin, muddled berries, lavender water, tonic, lemon), and Treaty of Paris (elderflower liqueur, honeydew).
Wine for the win
A glass of wine, or two, never hurt.
M Restaurant at the Morris House Hotel (231 S. 8th St.) - Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinotage, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Howl At The Moon (258 S. 15th St.) - Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel.
Gran Caffe L'Aquila (1716 Chestnut St.) - Dom Bertiol Prosecco, Terradei Ischia Bianco, Di Majo Sangiovese, Villa Pozzi Nero D'Avola.
Bellini Grill (220 S. 16th St.) - Riesling, Pinot Grigio (Cavit and Placido), Sauvignon Black (Gallo and Suttter Home), Chardonnay (Sutter Home and Liberty Creek), Cabernet Sauvignon (Cavit and Liberty Creek).
Bar-ly (101 N. 11th St.) - Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, White Zinfandel
Wild Cards
These choices have something special about them.
Yakitori Boy (211 N. 11th St.) - This fun bar in Chinatown is in no shortage of cocktail variations, wines, and beers ranging in craft and domestic, but it also has private karaoke.
Top of the Tower (1717 Arch St., 51st floor) - Enjoy Center City Sips specials while looking at an incredible view of Philadelphia.
Drury Beer Garden (1311 Sansom St.) - Located behind Opa, the setting is perfect to enjoy a drink and challenge your friends to Ping-Pong, Jenga, and more.
Marathon (1818 Market St.) - This outdoor space is conveniently to many offices in the city. It’s also a great networking spot.
Independence Beer Garden (100 S. Independence Mall West) - A great choice for outdoor drinking that is placed right in historic Philadelphia. Free games such as shuffleboard, bocce, and corn hole are available for those who like to play while they drink.
Aki Japanese Fusion & Sushi Bar (1210 Walnut St.) - For an extensive list of specials, this Asian restaurant is the way to go. With over five choices each in wine, spirits, and beer (imported styles), you won’t have difficulty choosing here.
The final Center City Sips of the year will be on Wednesday, September 2.
For more Things to Do, check out our calendar for the most up-to-date happenings.
