McGillin's Olde Ale House

McGillin's opened in 1860, when William and Catherine McGillin ran it as a small Irish tavern on what was then a working-class alley off Chestnut Street. It's changed hands a handful of times since, but never stopped being a tavern — through Prohibition (it stayed open, serving "soft drinks" upstairs), through Center City rebuilding around it, and now tucked down a narrow lane most passersby on Chestnut Street never notice.

Inside it's a warren of low-ceilinged rooms, dense with old photographs, license plates and Philadelphia sports memorabilia, and a beer list built for a city that takes beer seriously. It's touristy at the edges given the history, but it's also still a working neighborhood bar for the Center City office crowd after 5pm.

Go for a pint and the room itself rather than a quiet meal — it gets loud, especially on weekend nights, and that's part of what a tavern this old is supposed to feel like.