25 Best Happy Hours in Philly for Every Occasion
Your guide to stiff after-work drinks, deals on food, happy hour hookups, and more.
A Pineapple Express cocktail at Blue Elephant / Photography by Ed Newton
Thanks to a new state law, Philly bars can keep the party vibes going well after the sun goes down. Which means there’s never been a better time to fill up on nonna-approved meatballs, mingle with singles over $9 whiskey sours, or assemble your friends for a beer-fueled game night. When the workday ends and the night begins, the possibilities are endless.
The Best Happy Hours for After-Work Drinks
The bar at The Blue Elephant
The Blue Elephant
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
If you’re an old-fashioned fan, try this trendy Main Line Asian fusion spot’s $9 happy hour version, which packs as much of a ginger punch as it does a bourbon one. And who among us can resist a saketini when noshing on snacks like tempura shishitos and pork belly bao buns? On Wednesdays, it’s all about the Japanese whiskey flights — three tastes for $20. Wayne.
Little Walter’s
Happy hour: Mon. 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tues. to Sat. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Little Walter’s is a stunningly good restaurant — an unlikely mix of Eastern European comfort foods and modern technique, a dining room that’s cozy without being cutesy, and a cocktail menu unlike anything else in the city. And during happy hour (or szczęśliwa godzina) you can score some of the best the house has to offer for heavily discounted prices. Because if there’s any better way to celebrate the end of another workday than with a $9 pickle martini and $6 pierogi ruskie, we haven’t found it. Kensington.
The Delightful Geisha cocktail at Blue Elephant
Bar Lesieur
Happy hour: Tues. to Sat. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Pull up a pink leather stool at the gorgeous, French-inspired zinc bar above Giuseppe and Sons, sip a $6 wine, and pretend you’re in old-school Paris for a while. Happy hour food deals are enough to make a meal — beef tartare, croquettes, even a burger — but the cocktails are the true star. In addition to two excellent $7 happy hour selections — a passionfruit paloma and a French twist on a Hotel Nacional — the expanded menu is available and worth a splurge for inventive, swanky drinks you won’t find anywhere else. Center City.
Post Haste
Happy hour: Wed. to Sun. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
From the grow light-lit back-bar herb gardens to the obsessively local sourcing, Post Haste’s sustainability is only one aspect of its charm. The Classics Hour program is another: an acknowledgment that any bar’s primary function is to sling drinks to thirsty customers after a long day’s work. So drop in after quitting time (or post the day’s haste, if you will) for a rotating selection of reinterpreted classic cocktails for $11, special bar snacks (like smoked fish dip with dill and chive chips), and 20 percent off whatever is on draft. Kensington.
Poison Heart
Happy hour: Tues. to Thurs. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fri. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Sometimes you need someplace dim and loud to shake the day off: a dark room, neon lights, rum and bourbon, fried shrimp, waffle fries with a Cheese Whiz knockoff, and platters of oysters. An anti-ironic, pop-punk oyster bar with Painkillers and freezer martinis coming over the rail, Poison Heart is perfect for drinking alone after a long shift or rolling in with the entire accounting department for an hour of discounted riffs on classic cocktails poured with a heavy (though artful) hand. Spring Garden.
The Best Happy Hours That Double as Dinner
Nana’s Southern Treat at Bake’n Bacon
Bake’n Bacon
Happy hour: Wed. and Thurs. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This one is for the bacon lovers who want to see breakfast’s favorite side dish become the main course it deserves to be. If you’re looking for a pork-forward feast, this happy hour goes, ahem, whole hog. You can eat your fill of saucy bacon burnt ends, bacon caramel sauce-glazed pork spare ribs, and their deconstructed hangin’ bacon on cornbread (a happy hour riff on their signature dish), each for $10. East Passyunk.
Forsythia
Happy hour: Sun. to Fri. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (bar only)
Where else can you find foie gras toast on a happy hour menu (served with Rohan duck and chicken rillette)? Or ham and cheese beignets? There are simple finger foods too, like fried pickles and deviled eggs — except here it’s beer-battered cornichons with a smoky-spicy rouille, and pickled eggs topped with smoked salmon and dusted with vadouvan and lemon ash. So settle in with a gin-heavy La Vie en Rose or any of the bar’s punches and just make an early dinner of it. You won’t be disappointed. Old City.
Forsythia’s deviled eggs
Yanaga Kappo Izakaya
Happy hour: Mon. 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Wed. to Sat. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fri and Sat. 10 p.m. to midnight
Thanks to a long menu of fusion bites dreamed up by co-owner chef Kevin Yanaga (also known as the Sushi Whisperer), no one leaves Yanaga Kappo Izakaya hungry. There’s spicy tuna tartare pressed onto crispy sushi rice for $10; soy ginger-braised pork belly hibachi and salmon ceviche dressed in a sweet and tangy ponzu sauce, both just $8; and a $12 katsu-style burger that pairs beautifully with a Japanese rice lager and a shot of sake (the $10 “Sake Wide”). Happy hour is what this izakaya was made for. Northern Liberties.
Forsythia’s Jr. Royale with Cheese
Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This happy hour is as generous as an Italian nonna who just found out she’s got company coming over. Expect meatballs swimming in marinara, lightly breaded fried calamari and zucchini, and their signature chewy sourdough pizzas, for $8 a pop. Get a few glasses of house red wine (also only $8) and you’ve got yourself a proper Italian American dinner. Mangia, mangia! East Passyunk.
Broadway Bar & Grille
Happy hour: Tues. to Sun. 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The sister restaurant to Delco’s iconic Clam Tavern unusually packs in three hours of happy hour daily — yes, including weekends. Also unusual: The deals apply restaurant-wide, not just in the bar area. Sure, there are discounted drinks, but we’re there for the BOGO 12-inch pizzas (don’t sleep on their clams casino pie) and a rotating cast of half-priced appetizers like big-ass fried shrimp, oysters on the half, and deep-fried balls of crabby goodness. Clifton Heights.
The Best Happy Hours Where Singles Mingle
A couple chats at the bar at Bob & Barbara’s
The Trestle Inn
Happy hour: Thurs. to Sat. 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Thurs. 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Consider happy hour at the Trestle Inn merely the beginning of what will evolve into a night you’ll talk about for years. Come for $9 whiskey sours (hot and sours during the late-night happy hour), $7 well spirits, and $2 off all drafts; stick around for go-go dancing. You probably won’t find the love of your life here, but somewhere between polishing off your first whiskey sour and the DJ’s last track, you’re sure as hell going to meet someone. Callowhill.
Bob & Barbara’s
Happy hour: All the time
Every hour is happy hour at Bob & Barbara’s. Seriously: 4 p.m. until 2 a.m., the PBRs are $3, a Dirty Shirley will run you $9, and the bar has snacks … kinda. Plus, this is the place that made “the Special” — the progenitor of the Citywide — famous, and the bartenders here still lay down a can of PBR and a shot of Jim Beam for $5 all day, every day. As for meeting people? B&B is a cross-section of the entire city, all jammed together into one loud, crowded, occasionally sticky room, lubricated by cheap drinks and a chill vibe, just hanging out. So if you can’t meet your person here, maybe you’re just not trying hard enough. Grad Hospital.
Philly’s ever-enduring Citywide special
DePaul’s Table
Happy hour: Daily 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Every few years, the Main Line single and newly single (read: divorced) crowd seems to migrate to a new spot, and for the past year or so they’ve been firmly planted at this steakhouse that replaced the Frenchy bistro the Bercy. Here, happy hour is denoted using the more sophisticated terminology “social hour.” As those seeking some human connection — and maybe more — flirt, mingle, and exchange glances, they drink $10 martinis and $5 craft drafts while noshing on crispy truffle Parmesan fries and charcuterie. Ardmore.
A Buyé Mule and Ocean Park at Bolo.
Bolo
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Latin things aren’t necessarily sexy by default, but a rum bar with $11 happy hour cocktails and a Puerto Rican-inspired menu might as well be an aphrodisiac. Everything from the Caribbean vibes to the cute window bar exudes romance. So order $7 tostones to share with your wingperson, kick back a trio of $3 ceviche shooters, and get ready to have a meet-cute tonight. Rittenhouse.
Sampan: Graffiti Bar
Happy hour: Daily 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Your scorpion bowl or mine? Taking the narrow, graffitied alley off 13th Street feels a little different, like a liminal space into a crowded patio party where house drinks are $5 — and if you hit it off, you can share a $25 scorpion bowl for an excuse to sip just inches away from your new love interest’s face. (Cold out? Snuggle under a heat lamp.) Plus, Sampan’s indoor food menu (edamame dumplings are a must) makes this one of the best happy hour menus in town. Midtown Village.
The Best Happy Hours for Big Groups
Friends around a table at Tattooed Mom
Queen & Rook Game Cafe
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
When it’s your turn to host Dungeons & Dragons but you’d rather not run a chaotic campaign at your place, assemble the game-night crew at Queen & Rook Game Cafe for $8 daiquiris, margaritas, and buffalo cauliflower bites instead. If D&D isn’t your jam, the new 6,000-square-foot space has more than 2,000 other games to choose from and 30 arcade machines, including a retro Ms. Pac-Man, air hockey, pinball, and Dance Dance Revolution. Queen Village.
Cantina Los Caballitos
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sun. and Mon. 10 p.m. to midnight
In the summer, the patio at Cantina Los Caballitos is an iconic South Philly hangout — a place that everyone knows, where everyone goes — that’s perfect for any occasion requiring liquor, tacos, and/or space for 20. But even once the weather starts to cool and those bright umbrellas start looking less and less tempting, the bar has space, the staff is used to dealing with crowds, and the specials — $20 pitchers of frozen margaritas, $2 taquitos, cheap plates of nachos, and $5 Mexican hot dogs wrapped in bacon and topped with mayo, jalapeño, pico, and queso fresco — are precisely calibrated for large-group dining. East Passyunk.
La Chinesca
Happy hour: Sun. to Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Philly is full of bars and restaurants that repurpose old buildings in clever ways, but nothing tops what La Chinesca has done to the old Jiffy Lube on Spring Garden Street. The wraparound bar, retro booths, and sprawling patios offer up plenty of space for your friend group to catch up over $3 Tecates, $3 quesabirria tacos, and $7 Tijuana street dogs topped with crispy bacon, smoky chipotle mayo, and pickled jalapeños. Callowhill.
Tattooed Mom
Happy hour: Daily 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For 27 years, Tattooed Mom has been the official hangout of Philadelphia’s punk rockers and offbeat artists. It’s a silly haven where you can let loose, play with the toys scattered around the bar and tables, get in a few rounds of pool, and deface the walls with graffiti and wheat paste. (It’s not vandalism here — it’s art!) So pull up a bar stool (or a bumper car) and order a couple of $4 beers. Queen Village.
The bar at Mercantile 1888
Mercantile 1888
Happy hour: Wed. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
If you or your friends are sober or sober-curious, this zero-proof bar serves up nonalcoholic craft cocktails everyone can enjoy in a welcoming, communal space. For happy hour, enjoy $3 N/A beers and $2 off all zero-proof cocktails, including their functional beverages made with botanicals that can have either a calming or an elevating effect. Mingle with friends over a Tom Collingswood at the bar or peruse the locally made crafts in the shop while you wait for your Livener Paloma to perk you up. Collingswood.
The Best Happy Hours for the Weekend
Osteria
Happy hour: Mon. to Thurs. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
It can be hard to find a decent pizza or a plate of pasta for less than $20. But what if we told you that one of the best Italian restaurants in the city is serving $10 margherita pizzas and bowls of rigatoni, involtini with peach mostarda, and grilled octopus with Calabrian chile, plus $9 spritzes and $7 drafts? You’d say that’s crazy, right? But that’s actually the weekend happy hour lineup at Osteria. Weekend deals like this are rare, and at Osteria, they’re just too good to pass by. Spring Garden.
Upstairs at Abyssinia
Happy hour: Daily 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Up Abyssinia’s creaky staircase is a whimsical hole-in-the-wall where you can sip a boulevardier while watching a magic show and challenge fellow patrons to a round of chess (with an official Simpsons chess set, of course). It’s the Narnia of Philly bars, and, during happy hour, you can get $1 to $3 off any cocktail or beer. The pro move is to order Ethiopian food downstairs and send it upstairs so you can take sips of your discounted Oaxacan old-fashioned between bites of injera-wrapped tibs. University City.
Solar Myth
Happy hour: Mon. to Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sat. and Sun. noon to 2 p.m.
In addition to their weekday evening happy hour, this avant-garde jazz spot adds an afternoon one on weekends. So while the rest of the world is out sipping mimosas at brunch, dip into this dimly lit, vinyl-spinning bar to sample their extensive selection of wine, beer, and amaro. Throw in a $3.75 piece of Cacia’s tomato pie for good measure, and browse their curated record selection before you return to the daylight. East Passyunk.
Bar-Ly
Happy hour: Daily 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Who says happy hour has to be an after-work thing? And for that matter, who says it can’t happen at a Chinatown sports bar with banh mi, sushi, nachos, chips and guac, chicken tacos, shrimp dumplings, chicken wings, pad thai, and crab ravioli all on the same ridiculously cheap happy hour menu (mostly in the $5 range, with nothing more than $9), alongside $5 drafts and $6 martinis? Bar-Ly makes its own rules. This is one of the best weekend sports-focused pad-thai-and-chicken-wings happy hours you’re going to find anywhere. Chinatown.
Southgate
Happy hour: Tues. to Thurs. 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Fri. 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sat. and Sun. 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Southgate understands that sometimes the happy hour we need isn’t the traditional couple of hours after work on a weekday. Sometimes what we need is a discounted burger and a beer on a Saturday afternoon, or a Southgate Citywide (a Kirin and a shot of soju) on a quiet Sunday. There are $3.50 pork bao, spreads of banchan and plates of fries available, and cocktail and punch specials — everything necessary for wellness and sanity — and Southgate offers us this boon for three hours every Saturday and Sunday. Grad Hospital.
Published as “Happy Hour Is Back (Now Even Happier and Longer!) in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
