McGillin’s named best Irish bar by the Travel Channel

St. Patrick’s Day approaches, and so, too, do roundups of best Irish bars. The Travel Channel assembled a national list with entries from Massachusetts, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, and more — but Philadelphia’s McGillin’s Olde Ale House led the way.

“Chock-full of Old World character, the beloved bar serves [O’Hara’s,] the only stout brewed [exclusively] in Ireland, offers a menu filled with pub classics such as shepherd’s pie, and throws an epic St. Patrick’s Day party,” wrote author Valerie Conners.

Boisterous and welcoming at all hours — family-friendly during the day, with a college-kid crowd at night — McGillin’s is unquestionably a staple of Philly’s bar scene. But Philadelphians might quibble with this characterization. Best Irish bar is a crowded field in Center City alone: There’s Fergie’s, run by Dublin’s own Fergus Carey; the Plough & the Stars, owned by three Irish expats; Black Sheep Pub, launched by Belfast native James Stephens; and Con Murphy’s, from County Limerick natives.

True enough, McGillin’s also has deep Irish roots: Irish immigrants Catherine and William “Ma and Pa” McGillin opened the Drury Street bar, named Bell in Hand Tavern, in 1860 and ran it until Ma McGillin’s death in 1937, after which one of the couple’s 13 kids took over. It changed hands in 1958, sold to the Spaniak brothers, who in turn sold it to their daughter/niece and her husband, Mary Ellen and Christopher Mullins in 1993. The Mullins family still runs it today and thus makes the claim that it’s the oldest continuously operating tavern in the city.

There’s another claim McGillin’s makes — that it’s the bar where you’re most likely to find the love of your life — that’s backed up by hard numbers. The bar’s longtime PR person, Irene Levy Baker, maintains a spreadsheet with nearly 125 couples who first met at McGillin’s. The Mullins had a book made featuring the pictures and stories of dozens of them. Some couples have gotten engaged at McGillin’s, while others have inscribed the bar’s name on their wedding rings.

The bar has even incentivized this narrative over the years. On Leap Day 2020, the bar offered $100 gift cards to the first five women to propose marriage to their partners. Fittingly, the giveaway was an ode to an old Irish custom.