Thursday, February 14, 2008

Ten Favorite Drinking Holes

I had a disconcerting exchange with a dear friend from back east today, and in all honesty, I was so proud of the breakdown that I thought I'd go public. The following is an email polling a large group of twentysomethings:
Hello friends,
You're getting this email for one of two reasons. Either you are one of my favorite drinking buddies or I want you to be one of my favorite drinking buddies. What this means is that I trust your judgement. Philly Weekly is doing a cover story on the top 50 bars in the city and I've got to compile the list.

So, tell me, where do you like to get f!@#ed up in Philly?

xoxo,
E.


I responded with charm, charisma and very little humility:

You know I have a bias towards the bars between Broad and 11th, Walnut and South, but I will exercise a touch of diversity in my selections. Still, there are a few haunts in that beloved section of the city that deserve some love for their amazing drink specials.

1. 12th Air Command Thursdays. $5 pitchers and 9-midnight, $1 shelf, $.50 well drinks or $1 pints, $.50 12 oz. beers. They have pool tables too. Not bad for a quest to numb the senses without emptying the wallet - so long as you can tolerate the bad, gay thumpa-thumpa music.

2. Raven Lounge. My number one hide away. They even have games on the tables like "Jenga", "Connect 4", and "You Think You're Smarter Than A 5th Grader". Good times. Great people. Tell 'em Cheryl sent you and Jonathan will take care of you.

3 - 7. Eulogy, Nodding Head, Ten Stone, Good Dog and Jose Pistolas for the beer selection. Bear in mind that I am a self-proclaimed beer snob, so my stamp of approval comes wih great scrutiny.

8. Black Sheep for the food.
9. Knock for the ambiance.
10. Tavern on Camac for the people.

And honorable mention must be given to $2 Miller High Life Thursdays at Irish Pub 22nd St. considering the amount of time the Metro staff spends in that joint. But I must say that their restrooms are deterrent. They are literaly a pain in the neck. At 5-foot 3-inches, there is no excuse for my head hitting the ceiling in your converted, basement janitor's-closet of a bathroom.


Compiling this list has made me homesick. Does that qualify as an alcoholic tendency?

No comments: