Birch Street will get a new restaurant and cocktail lounge this summer as its makeover in Kennett Square continues.
Opus, a New American upscale restaurant with a second-floor cocktail lounge, will open at 201 Birch St., adjoined to Artelo, a 14-room boutique hotel. Opus is a new initiative for Square Roots Collective, an organization that builds businesses and uses the profits to support nonprofits in southern Chester County.
Opus will boast 125 seats in its 6,000 square-foot building, with outdoor dining and a two-story terrace. During the day, the cocktail bar will serve breakfast to the public and guests of Artelo.
The restaurant, which will be adorned by curated art pieces and a hand-painted ceiling mural, is an extension of Artelo, which Square Roots Collective opened in 2024. The hotel, which replaced the former Birch Inn, offers an immersive art experience, with each room painted by a local or regional artist, creating a living piece of art.
That same principle will follow in Opus, said Luke Zubrod, chief of staff for Square Roots Collective.
“It’s kind of the anchor to Birch Street,” he said. “It’s really kind of setting the tone for the street as a whole — and the tone it’ll set is really an artistic tone. This is a street kind of filled with beauty, and I think that that theme will be more evident over time.”
It’s part of a larger effort to revitalize Birch Street, which has in recent years seen more development, including Square Roots Collective’s beer garden The Creamery, and streetscaping.In the coming years,the street will be resurfaced, and the borough plans to add a trail on one side and sidewalk on the other, along with new streetlights and crosswalks. Square Roots Collective worked with the borough to secure funds for that investment, leaning on grant dollars from the state and county, Zubrod said.
“In addition to the Opus itself, there’s a lot to look forward to,” Zubrod said. “This street is really receiving some public investment that will make it a really vibrant and beautiful place.”
Along with Artelo and The Creamery, 100% of Opus’ funds will go to the organization’s nonprofit, focused on community improvement, he said.
“I think in addition to just being a really exciting restaurant concept, it’s also one people can feel really good about in terms of helping to make the community better,” he said.
Another boutique hotel coming
The Francis, a boutique hotel in central Kennett Square, is slated to open this year. The eight-room hotel will reimagine an 18th century home, and pay homage to the region’s history.
Meanwhile, also coming this year, the collective will open another boutique hotel, at 205 S. Union St. The Francis, an ode to Francis Smith who named Kennett Square for his home back in England, will have eight rooms, each dedicated to the history of the town.
The hotel will reimagine an 18th-century home, and offer single rooms and loft suites with kitchenettes, plus balcony or courtyard access.
One room — “The Watchmaker” — will honor a former resident and watchmaker, Thomas Milhous. Another room, “The Gardener,” will pay homage to the region’s first big harvest: flowers. Others nod to battlegrounds, four generations of a local family, education, plus the region’s history with the Underground Railroad, the Lenni-Lenape tribe and its “rich immigrant history.”
The collective plans on luscious landscaping, with a courtyard serving as “a little bit of an oasis,” said Zubrod.
“There is an appetite to have kind of quaint boutique hotels in the area to meet the needs of people who are coming for Longwood [Gardens] especially,” he said.
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Dry January is here, and Philly bars are serving inventive alcohol-free drinks. But that’s not all: Bartenders are also offering interactive classes and bottle shops are expanding their inventory of nonalcoholic spirits.
We’ve complied all the tips and tricks you need navigate the month — and beyond — alcohol-free in Philadelphia.
Mercantile 1888 is a vintage store and nonalcoholic bar in Collingswood.
Where to drink for Dry January
Start your Dry January journey at Bar Palmina in Fishtown, where Nikki Graziano, a “former heavy drinker,” serves creative zero-proof craft cocktails featuring brands like Monday and Lyre’s.
Over in Collingswood, Mercantile 1888 offers pomegranate margaritas with Ritual tequila, Monday mezcal palomas, and Seedlip botanical cocktails.
Other options include:
Grace and Proper (South Philly): $7 zero-proof cocktails during happy hour (Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 to 6 p.m.).
Mia Ragazza (Manayunk): Booze-free tiramisu espresso martinis made with Seedlip Spice.
Bar Hygge (Fairmount): Sparkling nonalcoholic wines.
Evil Genius Beer Co.: Nonalcoholic golden ales from Athletic Brewing Co.
Dry Vibes, a touring sober festival, makes a stop in Philly this January.
Best Dry January events
There are plenty of events in honor of Dry January, too.
Jan. 14: Jesse Andreozzi, known as @mr.zeroproof, will share his expertise in zero-proof cocktail-making at Bar Hygge at 6:30 p.m. Tickets include cheese and charcuterie, a live demonstration from Mr. ZeroProof, and three nonalcoholic cocktails.
Jan. 15: Bar Palmina teams up with Heart to Heart Herbology, Three Wild Spirits, and Home Brewed Events for a Dry January class. Learn about the history of herbs and botanicals, along with its uses in beer brewing, distilling, and cocktails. Tickets, which can be purchased online, include a nonalcoholic cocktail featuring botanicals created in collaboration Bar Palmina.
Jan. 31: Dry Vibes Philly Festival at Billy Penn Studios (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), featuring a vendor marketplace, wellness services, and celebrity meet and greets, including skateboarder Brandon Novak and author Arlan Hamilton. Tickets can be purchased online.
Gem Life + Bar in Pitman offers over 250 nonalcoholic products.
Where to find zero-proof spirits
The options for alcohol-free spirits in Philadelphia are vast, with plenty of stores and shops selling an expansive selection of alcohol-free spirits for you to try at home.
At Cork in Rittenhouse, brands like Spiritless tequila, Lyre’s Aperitif Rosso vermouth, canned Ghia aperitifs, and others are priced up to $48. Herman’s Coffee, the South Philly cafe known for espresso tonics and food pop-ups, offers a selection of over 200 nonalcoholic wines, spirits, and beers. And Riverwards Produce in Old City and Fishtown are stocked with nonalcoholic spirits, along with a variety of ingredients for cocktail making.
Whether you’re seeking a zero-proof wine, beer, or spirit, there’s something for every palate — explore more options in the Inquirer guide.
Best zero-proof spirits
But with such a wide selection of nonalcoholic spirits, where do you begin?
Buyer Michelle Flisek asks visitors walking into Cork one key question to help guide them in the right direction: What flavor profiles are you looking to enjoy? With over 100 varieties of nonalcoholic items in the store, starting with flavor is a good way to determine what brands and cocktail accessories will work for you.
Each brand has distinct flavor profiles and ingredients. Brands like Ritual Zero Proof and Monday use botanical ingredients like Mexican blue agave and coriander seed extract to mimic the flavor profiles of mezcal, gin, and other traditional spirits. Wines like Prima Pavé create grape beverages through dealcoholization, a process that begins with the traditional fermentation process, but includes the additional step of removing alcohol from the final product.
Remember the key to working with these nonalcoholic products is experimentation, according to Kasey Ehrgott of Manayunk’s now-closed alcohol-free bar the Volstead by Unity. Ehrgott recommends Ritual products, All The Bitter zero-proof bitters (created by botanical extraction with vegetable glycerin), and Pathfinder, a hemp-based drink with dark botanical notes of angelica root, saffron, and wormwood.
“It’s important to remember it’s not going to be identical — you might like something you didn’t expect to,” she said.
Kristian Fidrych, beverage manager at Ember & Ash, creating a Tomato Collins, made with zero-proof gin, zero-proof bitter aperitif, smoke tomato shrub, lemon, and club soda, in 2021.
Are there health benefits to Dry January?
Reducing alcohol consumption, even temporarily, can offer meaningful health benefits, according to experts. Henry Kranzler, director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, previously emphasized to The Inquirer that “alcohol is not good for you, by and large,” highlighting the potential risks associated with drinking.
In a recent report, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy outlined a direct link between alcohol consumption and an increased likelihood of developing cancer. The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk stated “alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer” with about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually.
Nikki Graziano runs Bar Palmina.
How to keep your Dry January resolution
With the city’s ever-growing sober-curious scene, Philadelphians are able to prioritize an alcohol-free lifestyle, even during the holidays. But sustaining mindful drinking beyond Dry January can be a challenge for some.
Understanding what leads you to drink is the first step, according to Amanda E. White, the founder of Therapy for Women Center and author of Not Drinking Tonight.
White and other experts say changing your mindset and having more options can help you stay booze-free year-round.
“Sometimes people go back to drinking without even realizing why they started again,” White told The Inquirer. “This is likely because they are not familiar with their triggers or reasons that they drink — maybe it’s feeling awkward at a party or a warm day that makes you crave a margarita.
“Learn your triggers and come up with a plan for how you will combat them.”
Suraya, the Michelin-recognized Lebanese restaurant in Fishtown, will temporarily close Friday after a nearby rooftop fire left the restaurant without gas.
The Philadelphia Fire Department arrived to fire on the roof of a two-story building on the 1500 block of Frankford Avenue late Thursday night. The department controlled the fire within 20 minutes and there were no reported injuries. The cause was under investigation.
However, Suraya reported that its building was still without gas service and wouldn’t open until the service was restored.
“We are incredibly grateful that our team was unharmed in the fire. We are temporarily without gas, so we cannot open the restaurant. The Suraya team will be working with local authorities to support their ongoing investigation and appreciates the community’s support,” said a spokesperson for Defined Hospitality, the restaurant group that includes Suraya.
Halabi kebabs and the samke harra are pictured at Suraya in Philadelphia’s Fishtown section on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.
Updates on the restaurant opening will be posted on social media at @surayaphilly.
Suraya, named after the sibling-cowners Nathalie Richan and Roland Kassis’ grandmother in Beirut, was just recognized by the Michelin Guide for its welcoming presence, rich Middle East and Levant-inspired menu, and expansive offerings from the bakery and shop up front to its open kitchen and outdoor dining area.
Fairmount’s pup-friendly pub the Boozy Mutt is closing its doors Jan. 3 after just over two years in business, co-owners Sam and Allison Mattiola announced via Instagram on Monday.
“After much thought, we made the difficult decision to close the Boozy Mutt … What began as a dream became something truly special because of our community — our guests, our team, and all the good mutts who walked through our doors,” read the post, which has been shared over 1,400 times. Nearly every comment is from a dejected dog parent wishing for another round of beer and belly rubs.
The Mattiolas, who are married, opened the Boozy Mutt at 2639 Poplar St. in December 2023, transforming former rock-and-roll dive the North Star into roughly 7,000 square feet for pooches and their people to roam across two floors and an outdoor patio. The venture was inspired by pandemic-era trips to a dog park with Bernadoodle Buba, where the couple would camp out with lawn chairs and a pack of beers to make friends.
At the Mutt, as regulars called it, dogs are allowed to mingle off-leash under the supervision of aptly-named “Rufferees” who monitor and facilitate healthy play. All owners had to register their pet’s vaccinations before gaining access to the space, which includes a self-service dog wash room, outdoor TVs, a summertime-only puppy pool, and a menu of bite-sized “human grade” dog treats.
Tess Bodden (left) and Jenn Maher pose with their pet shih tzus Hazel, Hendrix, and Kelce at the Boozy Mutt, a popular third space for dog parents in Fairmount.
The bar felt like a version of Cheers for pet parents almost immediately, regulars told The Inquirer, thanks in part to a rotation of events that ranged from weekly quizzos to breed meetups and Pitch-A-Friend nights for singles. A monthly membership was $40, while an annual Mutt subscription cost $360.
The bar had upward of 100 regular members, Sam Mattiola said, all of whom will receive prorated refunds in the coming days. “People would tell us that this was their third space, that they go home, they go to work, and they go to the Boozy Mutt,” he said. “We walk away with our heads held high knowing that we achieved our goal of creating a place that made people feel at home.”
And yet, the Mattiolas said, running a bar that catered to dogs and their owners in equal measure proved increasingly challenging as the cost of rent, insurance, food, and alcohol continued to increase. While dog-friendly bars and beer gardens have taken off in the South, the concept has had mixed success in Philly: Manayunk dog bar Bark Social closed abruptly last year after its parent company declared bankruptcy. Its replacement, an outpost of the Atlanta-based company Fetch Park, opened in November.
“It’s a pretty overhead-intensive business model that we have, and it’s just gotten pretty hard to make the math work after the last couple of years,” Sam Mattiola explained. “There was just always something new hitting [us] in the face.”
Darby, a 5-year-old shih tzu, sits on a picnic table at the Boozy Mutt in Fairmount during an August 2025 breed meetup.
The Boozy Mutt’s 26 employees were informed of the impending closure before the announcement went public Monday, Allison Mattiola said, and the couple has spent the last three days putting together job recommendations. Neither she or her husband had worked in hospitality prior, and the couple has no immediate plans to revive the business elsewhere.
Where is Fido to go?
Already, the Boozy Mutt’s impending closure has been ruff — pun intended — for Fairmount pet parents.
“It’s a loss for us and a loss for the dogs,” said Sarah Kuwik, whose 2½-year-old pooch Willie “grew up at the Mutt.”
Kuwik started taking what she described as her “50-pound mutt” to the bar almost immediately after it opened. It has given Willie a social life most adults would envy.
Willie goes on dates at the Mutt with his girlfriend Bea, a 3-year-old golden retriever who clings to him like a magnet. And in June, Willie had a joint WrestleMania-themed birthday party with his best friend Levon, also a mutt with boundless energy.
Willie (left) poses with his golden retriever girlfriend Bea (right) and his best pup friend Levon at the Boozy Mutt, where the trio first met.
Kuwik doesn’t know how Willie will handle the news: “He’ll pull us toward [the Boozy Mutt] every time we’re on Poplar [Street] … it’s going to be very confusing.”
The Boozy Mutt is also what drew Valerie Speare to Fairmount in the first place. Speare put an offer on her current rowhouse a mere four blocks from the bar after grabbing brunch there in between open houses last spring. Now she goes to the Mutt four times a week with her pugs Lily and Winston, who are both deeply playful (and deeply codependent).
The Mutt “is exactly the kind of thing I want in a neighborhood,” said Speare, who has lived in the area for a year-and-a-half. “Where else can I go have a mimosa on a Saturday morning and have my dog sitting in my lap?”
Valerie Speare, of Fairmount, and her pugs Winston and Lily lounge with Chihuahua pals at the Boozy Mutt. Speare takes her pugs to the bar four times a week, she estimates.
For others, the bar has fostered connections that extend beyond puppy playdates. Katherine Ross has lived in Fairmount since 2004, but has seen the neighborhood — and the people in it — with new eyes, thanks to her 4-year-old pug Hoagie.
At the Mutt, Hoagie likes to beg for bites of Old Bay and truffle-coated fries or splash in the puppy pool. Ross, meanwhile, has enjoyed getting to meet her neighbors.
“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over 20 years, and to be honest with you, I didn’t know all that many people until I got a dog,” Ross said. “Having a place like the Boozy Mutt brought a lot of friendships together.”
‘Tis the season of spiked hot cocoa in novelty glassware and donning Christmas sweaters before waiting in line to take Instagram photos.
The holiday bars are back, baby. And this year, they’re making me feel like the Grinch.
Holiday bars typically run from the weekend after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, and Philly has no shortage of them. This season brings pop-ups that serve cocktails inside snowmen-shaped mug, a mini-golf course with a greased North Pole, and a slew of Santa impersonators looking to make some extra cash.
And cash they will make: Holiday pop-ups can give bars and restaurants an extra leg up during what already is the busiest time of year, with the most successful — such as New York City’s Miracle on 9th Street — spawning lucrative franchise opportunities. Sometimes, however, they yield more coal than Christmas magic, like when drunk St. Nick impersonators spill into the street at the end of the annual SantaCon bar crawl.
Holiday bars have always struck me as late-stage capitalism holly jolly-ified, because they commodify something as simple (and cheap!) as the joy of drinking with your friends in December.
Despite this, I have a soft spot for them. I love taking in the slightly tacky displays and sipping on a sugary cocktail from a novelty glass that I’ll pay extra to take home. There’s also something magical about the tipsy train ride home that comes after, where my friends and I crack enough jokes to turn an overrated experience into one we end up doing annually.
Christmas lights hang from the bar inside the Emo Christmas pop-up inside foundation at 699 N. Broad Street.
This season feels different to me . One bar has ruined it for the rest by stripping away the whimsy and up-charging for something more nefarious: A holiday bar distilled down to its barest elements — gimmicky cocktails and Hobby Lobby discount-bin decor held together by a barely-there theme. There’s no sentiment behind the displays of miniature nutcrackers and colorfully wrapped (empty) gift boxes, just profit motive.
The batch’s most egregious offender is the Emo Christmas bar pop-up that runs through Dec. 28 at Foundation., an event space beneath the Divine Lorraine on North Broad Street. It’s hosted by Bucket Listers, an New York City-based company that puts on limited-run events in cities across the U.S., from a Christmas Bar co-signed by Mariah Carey in Los Angeles to a murder-mystery dinner series in Miami.
In Philly, Bucket Listers’ track record is mixed: When I attended their cereal-themed pop-up bar in March, plastic bowls of resin Fruit Loops fell from the photo wall. But I had also won putt-putt at this year’s Christmas collaboration with Libertee Grounds (the second of Bucket Listers’ three holiday pop-ups), where the mini-golf course was decked out in Philly-centric holiday decor, like a sleigh covered in Philadelphia Parking Authority tickets.
The Taking Back Christmas welcome cocktail (left) and the I’m Not Okay cocktail (right) sit in front of an Emo Santa Claus at the Bucket Listers’ Christmas pop-up at Foundation.
So when I learned before Thanksgiving that Bucket Listers was hosting an Emo Christmas pop-up, I was undeterred by any red flags. I love Christmas, and I spent high school on the outskirts of a clique of emo teens, cool enough topartake in My Chemical Romance listening sessions but not cool enoughto vape with. If I was going to love a holiday bar, it should’ve been this one.
A poser bar that preys on nostalgia
I paid $57.20, after fees, for two Friday night tickets to Emo Christmas. The cost included one welcome cocktail per ticket, but, as I would later learn, any drinks or food beyond that would be pay-as-you-go.
The only thing that’s punk rock about Bucket Listers’ Emo Christmas bar is that it doesn’t care about first impressions.
The decorations feel half-baked, amountingto fake Christmas trees and a trio of full-sized nutcrackers that had black Sharpie smeared under their eyes to mimic eyeliner. Across from them stood a mannequin dressed as Santa, with swide-swept fringe bangs so you know he’s emo. Like everything else in the bar, he smelled lightly of kitchen grease.
Each Bucket Listers pop-up is clearly designed as Instagram bait, as evidenced by the influencers that post about each one. Yet the space is too dim to take any photos. The only lights in the room emanated from the Christmas trees or red-tinted neon signs with phrases that no one has ever uttered seriously, such as “happy holidays, you bastard.”
Christmas stockings hanging on the wall at the Bucket Lister’s Emo Christmas bar Philly pop-up. One honoring Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker has his name misspelled.
It’s clear the space was decorated by posers. The back wall is covered in Christmas stockings labeled in chicken-scratch with the names of so-called pop-punk greats: Brendon Urie, Pete Wentz, and my personal favorite, Tavis B., a misspelled bastardization of Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker.
I cringed, and cringed again while skimming the food and drink menus, which read as a list of poorly constructed puns. There’s the Panic! at the Pizza Bites (deep-fried pockets of sausage and cheese) and the Blink Wing82, which come in sets of six with either Buffalo sauce or dry rub. The most unfunny is the Still Into-fu, a tofu hoagie on a long roll named after “Still into You,” a pop love song from Paramore.
My friend had already sent of photo of the menu to be flamed by her groupchat. “The obvious choice is Panic! At the Disco Fries,” she read from her phone. “BlinkWing182? All the Small Wings is right there.”
An unexpected silver lining was our bartender. A true elder emo, he led with apathy, dodging questions about what’s good on the menu and the decorations with a shrug and a simple answer: “I don’t know. I just work here.”
Buffalo cauliflower, pizza bites, and a slider from the Bucket Lister’s Emo Christmas Bar pop-up in Philly. Tickets start at $16.00 and do not include food or drink beyond a welcome cocktail.
The bartender’s eyes roll while squeezing black food coloring into the aptly named I’m Not Okay, a vodka-club soda cocktail zhuzhed up with a whisper of blackberry. By the time he got to my Mezcal Confessional, he was was over it, leaving out the orange bitters to serve me a clear glass of mezcal spiked with brown sugar.
Not that it mattered. Both drinks tasted like rubbing alcohol despite being made with completely different spirits. That’s a first — a Christmas bar where the drinks aren’t sweet enough. We toasted to the bartender’s commitment to the bit while an overdramatic ennui overtook me.
I felt like I was taken for a ride, and not one on Santa’s sleigh.
Christmas trees decorate the dimly lit seating area inside the Bucket Listers’ Emo Christmas Bar pop-up at Foundation.
Emo Christmas preys on nostalgia. All holiday bars are designed todo this. Maybe the decor reminds you of a favorite window display from childhood or a scene from your guilty-pleasure Christmas movie. Or perhaps the peppermint espresso martini recalls the Schnapps you downed on your first pre-Thanksgiving Blackout Wednesday. The anticipation of it could even feel like waiting for a turn with mall Santa.
I usuallydon’t mind paying extra for an experience like this. When done right, these bars conjure feelings that are more difficult to come by in adulthood: whimsy, silliness, glee.
I came to Emo Christmas in search of all of those things. I left with none, only a check for $82.00 and a shriveled-up Grinch-sized heart.
Waylon Jennings drawls as customers cradle bottles of Lone Star beer while browsing the racks at Secondhand Ranch — the latest attraction deep in the heart of Fishtown.
The rough-hewn, outlaw-country theme bar paired with a retail store specializing in secondhand clothing and vintage merchandise opened Dec. 6. It’s set behind saloon-style swinging doors inside the Frank Furness-designed former bank building at Frankford and Girard Avenues, across from Garage, Joe’s Steaks, and Johnny Brenda’s.
This retail-bar pairing dates to 2020, when founder Josh Sampson opened Garage Sale Vintage in Denver. Sampson describes the idea as “a love letter to the circular economy — with salt on the rim.”
The three pillars, he said, are sustainability, a focused margarita program, and partnerships with local vendors. He later expanded it to two locations, with a tacos-and-tequilas menu, in Nashville and then to New York.
Decor items and clothing are shown at the thrift store inside the new Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown.
Seeking a space in Philadelphia last year, he struck a deal with Alterra Property Group for the Fishtown building. Soon after, he became embroiled in a copyright lawsuit with the operators of Garage, the bar across the street.
Sampson changed the name and concept for the Philadelphia location. Rather than strictly vintage items, he decided that Secondhand Ranch would be a country bar paired with secondhand retail, with a smattering of vintage items.
Barn doors separate the bar and retail at Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown.
The distinction between secondhand and vintage is crucial: “Secondhand is a much broader category,” Sampson said. “With vintage, it’s simple — everything has to be 20 years old or more. Secondhand lets us focus more on sustainability and diverting usable goods from landfills. It also allows for lower price points and a different kind of fun.” Think racks upon racks of T-shirts, sweaters, hats, jeans, button-down shirts, as well as a rodeo’s worth of cowboy boots — all secondhand.
The retail operation, behind barn doors, is split evenly between in-house curation and a vendor collective, said manager Nikki Gallipoli. Each vendor (such as Zac Cowell, known as VintageZac) manages its own rack in the store — “they come in, sort it, and keep it updated,” she said. Inventory includes vinyl records, books, and knickknacks.
Decor items and clothing are shown at the thrift store inside the new Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown.
“Part of the experience is grabbing a drink and going on a treasure hunt,” Gallipoli said.
A retro-style gift shop within the space focuses on new, non-clothing merchandise such as accessories, novelty items, stickers, matchbooks, and handmade goods. Much of that inventory is sourced from small independent businesses online rather than strictly from Philadelphia suppliers. “The clothing itself isn’t always handmade, but it is always secondhand,” she said.
Decor and clothing items are shown at the thrift store inside the new Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown.
Secondhand Ranch leans fully into honky-tonk aesthetics and sound for what Sampson calls “very much the kind of vibe you’d see in Austin or Nashville.”
The massive bar, set beneath wagon-wheel chandeliers, seats about 30, with an additional 30 to 40 seats spread throughout the room. The former bank vault has been preserved and now functions as cold storage for beer. There are old-fashioned coin-operated games in one corner, and a stage that’s now set up with den-style furniture.
Jordan Sims tries on a cowboy hat at the thrift shop inside Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown.
The stage will host live music, scheduled to begin in early February, when the food menu — primarily wild-game sausage, nothing fancy — launches. Right now, hot peanuts are served.
Lone Star is the beer of choice; it’s part of the citywide special ($10), paired with an infusion shot.
Customers gather in the lounge at Secondhand Ranch in Fishtown on Dec. 6, 2025.
“One fun goal we set for ourselves is trying to become the No. 1 Lone Star beer account,” Sampson said. There are 12 beers on tap. Besides Lone Star, the bottle list includes Star and Shiner Bock from Texas, plus elevated local craft options like Tonewood Brewing’s Freshies. “It’s exactly what you’d expect at a honky-tonk,” Sampson said.
Classic and seasonal margaritas anchor the cocktail program, along with zero-proof options. Programming will include DJ sets, pop-ups, and “Trade-In & Sip” nights, designed to connect the drinking and shopping experiences while emphasizing community engagement. Vendor applications will open online, and a pop-up showcase with margarita specials is planned as part of opening festivities in February.
Secondhand Ranch, 1148 Frankford Ave., 267-807-13450, is open from noon to midnight Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Closed Tuesdays through December. The retail store closes at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 9 p.m. the other days.
There’s magic at work in Philly’s dive bars. Some are great for the memories made in their low-lit, low-key backdrops. Some have a hard, regulars-only shell that melts away the moment you plant your butt on the barstool. Others feel frozen in time — portals to an era where beers were cheap, smoking inside was allowed, and strangers could become friends over a drink or three.
But for several years now, Philly’s dives have felt in jeopardy, with the cost of a drink rising along with real estate prices. At least one strand of dive — the smoking bar — is decidedly on the way out, evidenced most recently McGlinchey’s closure, but also stalwarts like Grumpy’s Tavern and Buckets going non-smoking earlier this year.
It’s made us think, Why wait to celebrate something until it’s gone?
So The Inquirer is asking readers: What are Philly’s best dive bars, and what makes them special?
Fill out the form below to tip us off to your favorite Philly dive. If your bar makes the list, an Inquirer reporter may follow up.
With the winter holiday season seeming to start before Thanksgiving turkey has even been served, it’s easy to feel like the Grinch. But if there’s one thing that can cure those early holiday blues, it’s over-the-top decorations and a novelty cocktail.
Luckily, these Philadelphia-area bars have already begun to their deck their halls (or booths) with garlands, nutcrackers, and more string lights than we can count.
One tip: Regardless of which holiday bars you chose, plan ahead and snag a reservation. The only thing worse than a stocking full of coal is waiting in the cold for a seat at the bar.
Wine Garden co-founders Nazaret Teclesambet and Favian Sutton are taking over three rooms inside Suburban Station through Dec. 31 for a luxe limited-edition holiday bar, not unlike last year’s at the Divine Lorraine. This go-round, the theme is diamond and pearls: Think gold-mirrored walls, grand Christmas trees, and enough bows and pearls for a tea party. Guests can sip on spiked hot chocolates rimmed with crushed candy canes, bourbon and apple cider holiday punches, and marshmallow-topped espresso martinis, among other cocktails. General admission is $14.64 per person for a 90-minute reservation. A $42.39 VIP ticket includes a welcome glass of sparkling rosé and a mini vintage cake. All other food and drinks are pay-as-you-go.
Unfortunately, Santa cannot call in favors to get you a table at High Street, one of Philly’s first-ever Michelin-recommended restaurants. The big guy, however, does recommend you spend $5 per person to snag a reservation at High Street’s holiday pop-up inside the Franklin Residence’s grand lobby. Ever Eve in the Back Bar runs Saturdays only through Dec. 27, and features a cocktail partnership with specialty spirits purveyor BOTLD alongside a menu of upscale bar snacks like crispy oysters, brown butter shoestring fries, and deviled eggs topped with trout roe.
Cocktails from a partnership with BOTLD will be served at Ever Eve in the Back Bar, a holiday pop-up from High Street taking over the lobby bar inside the Franklin Residences on Saturdays through Dec. 27.
Dining at this indoor-outdoor restaurant near Rittenhouse Square is far more low-key than most of the city’s holiday bars — mostly because it’s not marketed as a holiday bar at all. Instead, diners can spend two hours inside one of Harper Garden’s private heated outdoor cabins, which can seat four to six people. Something about eating warm bowls of pasta under woodsy garlands screams cozy.
There’s something about snow on the beach, at least according to that one Taylor Swift song. For a dose of holiday spirit down the shore, shoobies can check out the Jingle Bar inside Harry’s Ocean Bar & Grille. The beloved holiday pop-up bar inside the Montreal Beach Resort will run through Dec. 31 this year, with some new additions, like outdoor fire pits overlooking the ocean and a $90 Christmas tree cocktail tower that comes with six libations of your choosing.
Juno’s Holly Jolly Bar is a collaboration with events company Bucket Listers that converts an outdoor summertime hot spot into a winter wonderland — with a roof. From Nov. 26 to Dec. 28, Juno’s patio will be draped in rows upon rows of string lights and ornaments designed as Instagram bait. Don’t expect any Mexican inspiration on the menu beyond a winter marg and some sangria. Tacos and ceviches have been swapped for giant french fries, chicken tenders, and a charcuterie-inspired snack board. Tickets cost $22.50 for a 90-minute seating and a welcome drink. All other food and beverage is pay-as-you-go.
Is nostalgia on your Christmas list this year? The Library Bar inside The Prime Rib at South Philly’s Live! Casino and Hotel has transformed into a swanky-yet-quirky holiday pop-up with drinks inspired by classic holiday movies ranging from Elf to Die Hard. Guests can sip on an Ovaltine espresso martini and spiked sea salt caramel eggnog, among other cocktails, while cozying up by the fireplace through Jan. 10.
Prime Rib inside the Live! Casino & Hotel at 900 Packer Ave. has been transformed into a cozy living room for Holiday Rewind, a pop-up inspired by nostalgic Christmas movies.
Philly’s first minigolf bar has also partnered with Bucket Listers to overload their course with a hefty dose of Philly-ified holiday spirit. From now through Jan. 31, guests can play nine or 18 holes of holiday-themed putt-putt with decor like a greased North Pole, snow globes, and a golf cart covered in Philadelphia Parking Authority tickets (of course). Libertee Ground’s seasonal menu features a standout tomato soup and grilled cheese duo alongside several holiday cocktails, including a cranberry and cinnamon mule and an orange-plum punch made with Stateside Vodka. Those looking to tee off can expect to pay $20 for nine holes of minigolf, plus a cocktail in a souvenir cup.
It’s a gift from Santa himself: A walk-ins only holiday bar. Every holiday season, McGillin’s covers itself in floor-to-ceiling Christmas decorations. (That’s roughly 1,200 feet of lights and 1,000 feet of garlands for number-crunchers.) Holiday barflies can expect a lineup of festive drinks that include an eggnog martini and a spiced rum hot apple cider. Just around the corner from the bar at Sansom and Juniper Streets is holiday pop-up shop that sells McGillin’s merch (stocking stuffers, anyone?). The shop is open noon to 6 p.m. daily.
All 18 holes of mini golf at Libertee Grounds have been updated with string lights, ornaments and other holiday decor for a collaboration with Bucket Listers that runs through Jan. 31, 2026.
It takes roughly 60,000 ornaments and 20,000 lights to transform Craftsman Row Saloon into the Miracle on 8th Street, its annual holiday pop-up bar best known for over-the-top milkshakes. This year’s shake lineup includes the seasonally confused Pumpkin to Talk About — blended pumpkin ice cream topped with a whole slice of pumpkin pie — and Santa’s cookies, a chocolate chip cookie dough variety rimmed with chipwiches. Reservations are recommended for Miracle on 8th Street, which runs through mid-January.
For the first time since its 1978 opening, Bridget Foy’s will transform into the aptly titled North Pole on South Street, a Christmas bar that will run from Nov. 28 through Jan. 4. The devil (or Santa) is in the details: The bar’s new Instagram account shows footage of craftsmen freezing tiny nutcrackers into custom ice cubes for a lineup of cocktails that includes a peppermint tea-infused negroni and honey-chili margarita floated with aperol. Reservations also include access to several holiday-themed photo backdrops.
Take in views of the ice skating rink and the Delaware River from the lodge inside the Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest, a festival of all things festive that runs from Nov. 28 to March 1. Guests can choose to warm up inside the pop-up ski lodge or sip spiked hot chocolates and ciders around private fire pits or cabins available for rent.
Annual pop-up bar Tinsel runs from Nov. 28 through January with the same over-the-top shtick in new dressing. Sip on cocktails in novelty cups (that you can take home!) under a blinking neon Santa tracker, oversized ornaments, and illustrations of pop culture’s wackiest holiday characters. This year’s naughty beverages include punch served in an adult juice pouch and a duo of festive red and green shots.
Evil Genius regulars secured their spot on Santa’s nice list by painting larger-than-life gingerbread houses and cutting hundreds of paper snowflakes for the bar’s Twas an Evil Christmas holiday pop-up. Ornaments and wrapped presents hang from the ceiling while guests can sip on the brewery’s signature holiday saison Santa! I Know Him!, a 7.5% ABV Belgian-style brewed with rose hips, dark candy syrup, and chamomile.
The brewery is hosting a 0.5K (a run around the block) on Dec. 3, where $30 scores runners free beer and a Santa Hat. All proceeds will go toward buying Christmas gifts for families in need.
This Manayunk Tex-Mex restaurant will dress up for any occasion, and the winter holidays are no exception. Taqueria Amor has transformed into its signature Señor Grinch pop-up for the sixth year in a row, playing classic holiday movies via projector every evening through New Year’s Eve, no reservations required. Taqueria Amor’s very-merry cocktail lineup includes a shot that purportedly tastes just like a gingerbread cookie and several margaritas the color of Rudolph’s nose or the Grinch.
Santa’s workshop is taking over Center City’s Uptown Beer Garden through the end of 2025, and with it comes inflatable elves, oversized nutcrackers, snow globes, and fire pits for s’mores. All of the pop-up’s holiday cocktails are served in souvenir cups, including the Polar Espress-o — a peppermint bark-flavored cold brew martini — and the Apple Spice and Everything Nice, a caramel apple mule.
1500 John F. Kennedy Blvd., 267-639-4493, uptownbeer.com
This popular Rittenhouse Square beer garden is winterized through Dec. 31 and features a 22-foot tall Christmas tree alongside plush life-sized penguins, a playhouse pulled by reindeer, and lots of neon lights. Also included inside Walnut Wonderland: make-your-own gingerbread house and s’mores kits for $9 each, plus $12 holiday drink specials that include a maple whiskey sour and a banana-flavored vodka and hazelnut liqueur number that’s meant to taste like banana bread.
Santa greets guests at Walnut Garden at 1708 Walnut St., which is offering table side s’mores and gingerbread house decorating kits this holiday season.
Spend the winter inside Butcher Bar‘s heated covered patio, which looks kind of like a man cave inside a contemporary ski cabin. Butcher Bar’s seasonal cocktails make up for the macho decor. This reporter’s favorites include the Die Hard is a Christmas Movie (rye whiskey, sweet potato, marshmallow, toasted almond bitters) and the Christmas in Paradise (citrus almond spiced rum, mango, lime, herbal liqueur topped with a teeny drink umbrella).
The Founding Fathers never suffered sobriety. When they weren’t sweating out independence at Independence Hall, they were bending elbows at City Tavern — pretty much around the clock.
George Washington developed such a hankering for a rich, malty, Philly-brewed Robert Hare’s porter, he had kegs of the stuff shipped to Mount Vernon.
John Adams, once virulently anti-tavern, effusively extolled the Philly bar scene in letters to his wife, Abigail. At one “most sinful feast,” Adams recalled sipping what would become his favorite Philly cocktail, the “Whipped Sillabubs.” A popular choice of the colonial-era Philly cocktail set, the boozy, creamy concoction was made from sherry, wine, and lemons.
Items related to drinking at the Museum of the American Revolution, in Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2025,
Thomas Paine, the working-class poet, whose thunderous pamphlet Common Sense helped roar in a revolution, oiled up his writing hand with Philly rum.
It has long been accepted that Thomas Jefferson spent those sweltering summer weeks of 1776 drafting the Declaration from the favored Windsor chair of his Market Street lodgings. But records show he actually spent more time than ever at City Tavern at Second and Walnut. A minor, if tantalizing, historical development, which hints that perhaps the world’s most famous freedom document came fortified by fortified wine.
Benjamin Franklin, polymath of the Revolution, inventor, scientist, printer, statesman, and lover of French wine (if in moderation), affectionately penned a Drinker’s Dictionary. The tippling tome contained 229 of Franklin’s favorite phrases for drunkenness, including buzzy, fuddled, muddled, dizzy as a goose, jambled, halfway to Concord, and Wamble Cropped.
‘Boozy business of revolution’
Franklin and his ilk were not ringing up 18th-century expense accounts for the hurrah of it. They were doing the boozy business of revolution.
Revolutionary-era Americans consumed staggering amounts of alcohol compared with today, said Brooke Barbier, historian and author of the forthcoming book Cocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolution.
By the end of the 18th century, when beer and spirits were a staple of daily life, the average colonist swilled about 3.7 gallons of hard liquor per year. A dizzying amount, not counting beer and cider, that must’ve set many a patriot’s tricorn hat spinning.
By comparison, Americans now consume about 2.5 gallons of all alcohol, from beer to whiskey to wine, per year, said Barbier.
Historians believe booze and bar life played an outsize role in stoking the embers of insurrection.
Items related to drinking at the Museum of the American Revolution, in Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2025,
“Tavern culture was essential to the American Revolution,” said Barbier. “It was not a part of the sideshow. It was part of where the discussions about revolutionary ideas happened. Where spies met. And where others, who weren’t directly involved in politics, gathered to discuss the growing political crisis. Opinions were formed in taverns.”
Nowhere was this work done more than in Philadelphia.
By 1776, Philadelphia boasted roughly 200 licensed and illegal watering holes — or about one for every 150 citizens, said Tyler Putman, senior manager for gallery interpretation at the Museum of the American Revolution.
Revolution with a twist
The fare of colonial-era drinking spots was as diverse as the budding port town.
There were posh spots like the newly constructed City Tavern, located blocks from the waterfront, and where the delegates of the First and Second Constitutional Congress drank nightly like fish. Ensconced in an upstairs space, known as the “Long Room,” the Founding Fathers debated liberty over libations late into the night, while imbibing copious amounts of Madeira, whiskey, punch, and everybody’s favorite Robert Hare porter.
There were taverns and flophouses, where tradesmen and sailors learned of Britain’s newest outrage from newspapers read aloud, or the latest traveler. And there were scores of unlicensed disorderly houses, grungy forebears of the modern dive bar.
In 2014, three years before opening, the Museum of the American Revolution conducted a large archaeological dig, discovering thousands of artifacts from a Revolutionary-era disorderly house buried beneath its future Old City home. Among the mounds of mutton bones, glassware, and broken bottles unearthed from the privy of Benjamin and Mary Humphreys’ living room tavern was a broken windowpane inscribed with the initials and names of customers.
Bones from Tavern food at the Museum of the American Revolution, in Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2025,
In what can only be the earliest example of Philly barroom graffiti, one dreamy patriot etched a quote attributed to the ancient Roman senator Cato into the clouded glass: “We admire riches and are in love with idleness.” The etching was meant as a barb toward the British, Putman said.
“They were obsessed with ancient Rome,” he said, of the American revolutionaries. “They were thinking a lot about, ‘How do you go back to some sort of idealized republic?’”
A nation born in taverns
Just as the nation strived to become democratic, its taverns became more undemocratic.
“In Philadelphia, the elites who are cooking up one version of the revolution are not drinking with the rabble who are cooking up what maybe would become a different version,” Putman said.
The newly-renovated Man Full of Trouble Tavern in Society Hill on Saturday Dec. 7, 2024.
Revolutionary-era drinking and tavern life, and its role in America’s founding 250 years ago, will be explored in full at a Nov. 21 after-hours event at the Museum of the American Revolution. Dubbed “Tavern Night,” the sold-out cocktail reception and boozy symposium serves as a twist to the museum’s grand exhibition celebrating the national milestone, also known as the Semiquincentennial, “The Declaration’s Journey.”
“Unlike today’s bars, taverns were meeting places at a time when few others were available,” said Dan Wheeler, who last year reopened Philly’s only remaining colonial-era tavern, A Man Full of Trouble, and will join Barbier in speaking at the event. “Revolutionary thoughts were conceived and refined in taverns, and a nation was born.”
Colonial keggers and the bonds of liberty
Booze was the social lubricant of the Revolution, said Barbier, a Boston-based historian who also runs tours of Revolutionary-era taverns, who pored over the Founding Fathers’ diaries and account books in recreating their raucous time in Philly.
The historical record provides no evidence that the nation’s founders were fully loaded — or “cock-eyed and crump-footed,” as Franklin might’ve said — as they went about forming the republic, she said.
“When you hear someone accusing someone of being drunk, it’s in an overly negative way,” she said.
Still, she was surprised by just how much the Founding Fathers drank.
Items related to drinking at the Museum of the American Revolution, in Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2025.
Hard cider and small beer, the 18th-century version of light beer, more or less, accompanied breakfast, she said. The midday meal, known as dinner, boasted cider, toddy, punch, port, and various wines. When their workday wrapped up in the late afternoon, the delegates’ drinking began in earnest.
“There’s certainly a lot of drinking happening in these taverns,” said Barbier, whose book includes recipes of the Founding Fathers’ preferred aperitifs. “I don’t drink and not eventually feel tipsy. Certainly the same would be true for people in the past.”
Barbier notes the downside of all the drinking, like booze-fueled mob violence that spilled into the streets. And neither will she say that Jefferson, who kept all his receipts, actually penned the Declaration at City Tavern.
“He was there more frequently than ever during this time,” she said. “Maybe he needed to take a break from his writing, and go there. And sometimes when you’re on break, you develop your best ideas.”
The Founders’ endless toasting of tankards — including a rager for the ages marking Paul Revere’s arrival in Philly, and held in 1774, the night before a critical vote toward independence — provided crucial trust-building, Barbier said.
The men who founded America arrived in Philly as strangers, agreeing on little. After so much boozing, they bonded as brothers in liberty, and left a new nation in their wake.
“Ultimately, this comradery and social bonding leads to the consensus that leads to the Declaration of Independence,” Barbier said.
There were Irish step-dancing vampires and opera-singing vampires. Vampires who claim to hunt billionaires and vampires who moonlight as emergency medical technicians. And, in at least one instance, a vampire who doubled as a heavyweight champ.
Such was the lineup of the first-ever Miss American Vampire Philadelphia pageant, where 13 wannabe bloodsuckers donned their best vampiric drag to compete inside heavy metal bar Doom Friday night. Contestants were thirsty to show that vampires contain multitudes (and, perhaps, for a little bit of blood).
Back then, MGM hosted the regional beauty competition to promote the movie House of Dark Shadows, with finalists going on to compete in Los Angeles for title of Miss American Vampire and a guest-starring role on the long-running vampire soap opera Dark Shadows. Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather won the crown, though she never redeemed her prize.
The stakes of Doom’s pageant were far lower than a TV appearance and eternal life, though just as competitive. Contestants were judged by a panel of full-time goths and burlesque performers on their creativity and vampiric presence as they competed in the standard pageant categories: A costume parade, an interview, and a dark art — or talent with a touch of the occult.
The crowd reacts as Ezra Markel’s vampire persona “Isolde the Saturnine” eats the human heart she concocted during the talent portion of the Miss American Vampire Pageant at heavy metal bar Doom in Philadelphia on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Prizes included $100 cash, a new set of fangs, and comic books donated from Atomic City Comics. Skull and mixed metal artist Sue Moerder prepared a Bob Mackie-inspired gothic crown, with feathers and pearls sprouting from an arrangement of ornate obsidian gems.
“Vampires represent the alternative, the occult, the bat-brained, the gothic … [people] on the outskirts of civilization,” Delgado told The Inquirer. “We just wanted to show that this bar is a safe cave for vampires to commune.”
Both floors at 421 N. 7th St. were packed as contestants flitted across the makeshift stage in costumes that highlighted the full expanse of vampire-dom. There were homages to both the German and Transylvanian versions of Dracula in peasant blouses and bejeweled collars, as well as more contemporary interpretations, with floor-length evening gowns, corseted waistlines, and lots of red lips.
Lilith Lobotomy — a blue-haired vamp whose bio alleged she bakes cakes and stalks billionaires — was an immediate favorite, earning thunderous applause when she turned away from the audience to drop her floor length duster. Emblazoned in sparkling blood red font on the back of her black dress was the phrase “Eat the rich.”
Logan Laudenslager performs as “Lilith Lobotomy” during the talent portion of the Miss American Vampire pageant held at Doom. She performed a rendition of “Phantom of the Opera.”
Madame Lobotomy would go on to win the coveted title of Miss Off Putting — Delgado’s spin on Miss Congeniality — after belting out the song “The Phantom of the Opera” while twirling a lit candelabra.
She was still no match for Norah Morse, who took home the Miss American Vampire Philadelphia crown after shocking the judges with her interview. When asked how she prepared for the competition, Morse scoffed.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said in a thick Transylvanian accent. “I’m a vampire and I showed up.”
Contestants get ready backstage to performing during the Miss American Vampire Pageant at heavy metal bar Doom.
Judge and burlesque performer Caress Deville said Morse represented the commitment she was looking for. “I was gagged,” Deville said. “That’s exactly how you would answer if you were a real vampire.”
During her crowning, Morse’s human mother rushed to the front of the crowd to take photos. Even vampires, it seems, yearn for mom’s approval.
In the world of us mortals, Morse goes by Alex Decker, a 29-year-old from Bellmawr who has been drawn to vampires since she was a child. Decker lives with contamination OCD, she said, and envies the freedom of the undead.
“Life would be a lot easier if I was a vampire who could just drink blood all the time,” Decker said. “I have been weird and creepy and insane my entire life.”
Jenna Painter, of Willow Grove, performed as a naughty ‘Count Orlok” during the Miss American Vampire Pageant at heavy metal bar Doom, throwing off a trench coat to reveal a leotard and garters.
Competing to be America’s next top vampire
For some contestants, Miss American Vampire Philadelphia was an opportunity to transform their mortal selves into bolder and braver versions that were battle-tested from centuries of living.
When Doom announced the pageant on Instagram in early October, the post received more than 4,500 likes, Delgado said, and hundreds of shares. More than 50 hopefuls sent in applications via a Google form that asked for their vampiric backstory and talent, forcing Holden and Delgado to spend hours deliberating.
Delgado was unsurprised that the pageant took off. They were, however, shocked by the lack of trolling.
“I didn’t know how serious everyone who applied was at first,” Delgado said. “It’s supposed to be campy.”
On Friday, the beauty competition toed the line between a drag show and an actual Miss America preliminary. The judges pressed contestants on tough questions, such as how they choose their victims, and if it’s ethical to let them live post blood-sucking.
For Mira Castigin, of Camden, the most important quality to look for in a vampire is fun.
“What’s the point in being immortal if you let life pass you by?” she told the crowd.
Castigin’s vampiric persona is Elmira, a bewitching goth girl who shares Castigin’s day job as an EMT in hopes of atoning for her sins. The competition was an excuse for Castigin to air out some special pieces from her vintage clothing collection, including a petticoat and a pair of London Underground shoes.
Mira Castigin’s vamprie persona “Elmira” is applauded after performing during the Miss American Vampire Pageant at heavy metal bar Doom. For her talent, Castigin sang opera.
“I think it’s always fun to do your makeup and get dressed up no matter what day it is,“ Castigin, 25, of Camden, said. ”And this is like a more thought-out version of that.”
Castigin opened the talent portion by singing an operatic aria, setting up the audience for a night of bewitching tricks. One vampire played the violin, while another danced an Irish jig to a Type O Negative song. Cassius King — a silent movie star turned vampire — wowed the audience by performing feats of strength, at one point picking up his assistant and turning him upside down.
Rachel Rushmore — aka “Vampire Rachel” of Philadelphia — waits backstage during the Miss American Vampire Pageant at heavy metal bar Doom.
Rachel Rushmore, 34, of Fishtown, had a simpler talent, using sleight of hand to summon a tiny bat. Rushmore said she felt called to compete after 15 friends — including several who don’t even live in Philly — sent her Doom’s Instagram post.
Onstage, Rushmore transformed from mortal Rachel to Vampire Rachel, a temptress and philanthropist who had been around since “the age of powdered wigs and Ben Franklin.” Vampire Rachel wears maroon floor-length gowns and bedazzles her face with gems borrowed from Marie Antoinette. The real-life version works in children’s book publishing and had never performed in front of a crowd before.
“I called myself Vampire Rachel because it’s hard for me to be somebody who I’m not,” Rushmore said. “Tonight I’m Rachel, but more.”
