Best-of list · City Guide
The best bars in Old City Philadelphia — cocktail lounges, date night picks, and late-night options in one of Philly's oldest and most atmospheric.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
The best bars in Old City Philadelphia occupy cobblestoned blocks that predate most cities in America. The neighbourhood has a tourist reputation that it does not entirely deserve — the best bars in old city Philadelphia are not tourist bars, they are places that have been serving the neighbourhood's residents and the city's after-work crowd for years. The challenge here is sorting the good from the generic, which is what this list does.
Old City is compact enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes. The concentration of bars along Third Street and the surrounding blocks means you can cover several genuinely different options in one evening. The key is knowing which ones are worth your time.
How we picked
Old City rewards people who look past the surface layer of tourist bars and find the spots where the neighbourhood actually drinks. Franklin Mortgage is the best cocktail bar in the area — precise, atmospheric, and worth a reservation. Amada Bar is the best-kept secret. Morgan's Pier is the right choice for any warm evening between May and October. The neighbourhood is best enjoyed on foot, and it pairs well with East Passyunk for a two-neighbourhood evening.
James has been covering the Philadelphia bar scene for over a decade. He considers Old City underrated and will argue that Franklin Mortgage is one of the ten best cocktail bars on the East Coast.
Last reviewed 2026-04-14 · The editors recheck hours and closures against current local coverage.