“At Doobies, it’s whiskey, beer, and that jukebox. Those are the perfect combination of things,” says D’Onna Stubblefield, beverage director at Fitler Square’s Sally (itself a buzzy new entry in the city’s drinking scene). Doobies has been a Graduate Hospital go-to for 40-plus years. Owner Patti Brett took it over from her mother and has stewarded it through decades of changing tastes without altering too much else. Brett was ahead of the curve on offering a curated selection of craft beer. When the pandemic came around, she adapted again, single handedly serving up a menu of takeout cocktails that kept the bar afloat. It’s been fully shuttered since June, when to-go cocktails were outlawed, but Brett made good on a promise to get it open again this fall — with a newly refinished floor.

Inside Oscar’s, you won’t find much trace of the pandemic’s changes, save for a handful of metal arms mounted above the weathered vinyl booths; that’s where the staff had strung up some clear plastic shower curtains as dividers. The curtains have come down, now replaced by the same green string lights that adorn other nooks and crannies in the red-lit dive bar. Outside is a slightly different story: Like its neighbors, Oscar’s constructed an outdoor seating area that kept patrons mostly warm through the pandemic winter. Its setup is bare-bones compared with the full-blown verandas found elsewhere on Sansom Street, but that’s in keeping with its character. “It’s kind of amazing that there’s a place like that, where it is,” marvels Noah Burke, wine director at Irwin’s in South Philly. “It’s crazy that that place hasn’t been bought out yet and turned into something else.” Prices remain staggeringly low for Center City. Burke gets a Citywide Special when he goes: $5, last he checked.

Older than both Doobies and Oscar’s is Dirty Frank’s. The bar has gone by a few different monikers since it opened at the corner of 13th and Pine in 1933, but it’s had the same heart since 1992, the year now-owner Jody Sweitzer started working there as a bartender. Sweitzer made some pandemic upgrades — she refinished the bar top, installed touchless fixtures in the bathrooms, and added outdoor seating — but she’s otherwise faithful to the everyman spirit of Frank’s, where the currency is cash and dogs are welcome. “Few places have staying power the way that Dirty Frank’s does,” says Brandon Thrash, beverage director for the forthcoming Middle Child Clubhouse in Fishtown. “It’s what every neighborhood bar wants to be.”

“A bar that I would sit at every single day if I could is probably Friday Saturday Sunday,” says Stubblefield. “They make really good dirty martinis.” The sleek Rittenhouse restaurant Chad and Hanna Williams reimagined for a new era has earned accolades for its food, but it also features some of the city’s best drinks. Helmed by bartender Paul MacDonald, the bar program balances drama with familiarity, regularly rotating favorites on and off the menu. Go Stubblefield’s route and order a classic, or look for originals like the Velveteen Sour (blended Scotch, mezcal, lemon, black mission fig, chocolate bitters), the Smoked Eggplant Spritz (blanco tequila, Cappelletti, lime juice, mesquite-smoked eggplant), or the Thinking Machine (high-proof bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, lemon/coriander shrub, orange flower water).

When Kampar Kitchen’s Ange Branca gets a late-night craving for mussels, fries, and Belgian beer, she heads straight to Monk’s, another venerated Center City staple. “We always get the same thing,” Branca says. “It’s the time of the night [when] our brains are fried and all we want is some food, drink, and to go to bed.” The fries are always a must (ask for extra sauce), but don’t sleep on the rest of the menu, including the beer-braised beef cheeks and the ultra-satisfying seitan cheesesteak. Wash down your meal with Belgian classics or a hard-to-find American draft like Pliny the Younger.

R&D bartender Solomon Thomas used to frequent this Washington Square West spot when he worked downtown. The beer selection is great, the food is solid, and the atmosphere is lively yet low-key. “It’s a really chill place to go and relax and probably run into some industry friends,” he says. (It also attracts soccer fans and medical professionals.) Varga Bar knows how to have fun: Come Christmastime, it participates in a holiday decorating bar crawl/smackdown that once saw the entire bar exterior covered in wrapping paper.

South Philly claims the most name-checked bar of the workers we spoke to: Fountain Porter. “I can’t imagine every single colleague on this list doesn’t also include Fountain Porter,” says Thrash. “One of my favorite haunts in the city,” Childs says. “It’s just a good bar, but they also have, like, a really good wine program — like, sneaky good,” says Stubblefield. Located a block off East Passyunk Avenue, Fountain Porter opened in 2012 and had no trouble finding a following in a neighborhood already crowded with corner bars. That may be due to its burger (long priced at $5, recently raised to $6), a simple cheese-topped patty with house pickles that nonetheless has a reputation as one of the best in town. Look beyond the burger and you’ll find finely tuned beer and natural wine selections that invite repeat visits.

No matter which Pistola’s location you go to — there are three — you’re guaranteed quality margaritas, a solid selection of tequila and mezcal, and addictively good snacks. R&D bartender Resa Mueller praises the freshly squeezed juices and house-made mixers at Sancho Pistola’s in Fishtown, while Branca has fond memories at Pistola’s Del Sur, near Broad and Passyunk. “That’s where the Saté Kampar team used to hang out after work. We would get $1 oysters, churros, chips, and beer before we called it a night,” Branca says. Locations include Center City, Kensington/Fishtown, and South Philadelphia.

Doobies owner Patti Brett numbers Lucky’s Last Chance in Manayunk among her all-time favorite bars. Not only does the no-frills neighborhood bar have a great craft beer program, she says, but it’s the reason she eats meat again. The award-winning pickle monster burger “is hands-down my favorite sandwich anywhere.” Bonus: Lucky’s kitchen — both in the Manayunk original and at its sister location in Queen Village — is open till midnight.

A stone’s throw from Fishtown’s good-times epicenter at Frankford and Girard, this neighborhood bar welcomes patrons in with a less frenzied atmosphere and a straight-ahead bar menu. “It really hits the spot after a long shift,” says Thomas. Mueller, his R&D coworker, echoes the sentiment. “They’re open until 2 a.m. reliably, they serve food late-night, and they have Twisted Tea and Rumple Minze,” Mueller says. ”On top of that, everyone who works there are just fantastic people.”

Kensington’s Martha has made waves for its progressive policies; when it opened in 2015, it had front- and back-of-house workers work every position, and in 2020 it was one of the first to switch to a service-charge pay structure. But for all its socioeconomically interesting facets, Martha’s is also just a great bar to hang out in, whether outside in its industrial courtyard or among its expansive beer and wine inventory inside. Both Thrash and Childs praise its beverage program, too. “[Owner-operator] Daniel Miller has been doing some of the best cocktails in Philadelphia for years, and I hope he finally gets the recognition he deserves,” Thrash says.

Valerie Erwin has been mostly out of the restaurant game since she shuttered Mount Airy’s legendary Geechee Girl in 2015. But Erwin and her sister, Leigh, enjoy going out for drinks, as Erwin sometimes documents on Instagram. One of their favorites is Germantown’s Young American Hard Cider, which opened during the pandemic, after a long wait. “Young American makes their own cider and it’s really good,” Erwin says, adding that the hand pies are delicious, too. But she and her sister really enjoy the atmosphere, both inside the historic barroom and outside on the patio. “It’s a really neighborhoody kind of place. I’m pretty certain to run into somebody that I know there.”