Submitted by throwawayjoeyboots t3_xz85d4 in philadelphia
I walk by this place every day on the way to work and it’s obvious very nondescript. But I saw some articles lately saying it’s one of the best dive bars in the country. Then I see some reviews saying it’s disgusting and others saying it’s the greatest bar in the city. Is it actually a hidden gem?
But what did Craig Laban say?
3 Bells, marred by a buncha weirdos peering in
Craig laban is a fat fuck
Really, just go in, look at anyone who works there the wrong way and get banned for life.
Don't be a perennial creep and you will be alright.
I was more frequent in Tops upstairs, even Ruth was tolerable. But Dave was the best, until they treated him like shit.
One night like 12-13 years ago I was at McGlicheys with my boy Jim and we saw a homeless dude walk in, head back and use the men’s. Bartender looked like wanted to stop him but got distracted. After a few the hobo came out and on his way back up front stops and bums a smoke off me. I think nothing of any of this until I have to use the can myself, at which point I walk into the restroom and there’s a dude at the urinal so I go in the stall. Turns out the hobo had done a messy shit all over the toilet. Looked like someone had flung a pot of chili over everywhere. So I warned the bartender whose initial hesitance to let this dude use the facilities now seemed prescient. Bartender then proceeds to prop the door of the men’s open and spray the whole room with a garden hose from like 10’ away. I didn’t notice any functioning floor drain so this action is rapidly spreading hobo poo everywhere via an expanding puddle of effluence across the floor and atomized via splatters from the force of the relentless hosing. Thinking back I really question this cleaning method.
>Thinking back I really question this cleaning method.
Well, hindsight's 20/20. Who among us has not tried cleaning their toilet by blasting it with a hose from across the room?
It's called a bidet.
lmao man you just took me back to summer of '97. my friends and i went to the AMC 8 in Deptford for my friend's birthday to see Men In Black.
we all went to the bathroom after the movie was over . they had two urinals and one stall. ran in, way ahead of them, cus i had to pee major. like "drank a 2-liter of coke before getting in the van with the fam and driving to ocean city maryland but 'we're not stopping 'til we get there' because stone cold dad said so" type piss. a testament to Men In Black as a film, i think.
i start peeing in one urinal, friend walks in and starts pissing in the other urinal. he starts pissing. we hear some like real low grunting going on from the stall. just then–and dude, on my grandmother's grave who just passed away last month that this happened exactly as i am typing it–we start hearing shitting sounds, which quickly became the sound of explosives mixed with something like the sound of doom but i'd never heard it before.
then the guy screams from the stall mid-spraying, **"AAAOOOWWWWW MY GODDDDDDDDDDD! THE BURNING SENSATION!"
i reiterate: the events are presented exactly how they happened.
when he comes out from the stall finally, he washes his hands, grabs a huge wad of paper towels, splits it into 2 smaller wads, wets one of them, wipes the backside of his jeans with the wet wad, hits the hand dryer, and proceeds to lean his butt up in the air at the dryer.
we look inside and it was like that scene in Dexter when he has a flashback to being in a shipping container with his mom cut up by a chainsaw. except instead of blood it was human feces. wall to wall, floor to ceiling.
HOW!?!?
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I guarantee the difference between hating it and loving it is if you can handle cigar/cigarette smoke.
Personally, I can't stand the smell and hate how it gets stuck to my clothes, so it's not for me.
Years ago, I went to McGlinchey's with some friends on a Sunday afternoon. The place was not crowded, and the staff had about 50 fancy glass mugs on a table. My friend ordered a vodka cranberry and asked if he could have it in one of the fancy glass mugs. Our middle age waitress looked at the mugs for a minute and told him no, they weren't available. Friend then orders a hot dog and asks for it in the fancy mug and the waitress almost slapped him across the face before yelling at him to shut up about the fancy mugs. It was amazing.
No, it is not a hidden gem. But you can smoke in there because the only food they really sell is hot dogs, but not in fancy glass mugs.
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My take on this exactly. I wish the waitress actually had slapped him across the face.
Never said it was funny, just amazing. Just like it is amazing there are two McGlinchey apologists out there and you have found each other. Enjoy the hot dogs.
Amazing how? It's actually really stupid. And I've never been to this bar nor do I plan on going there so I won't be enjoying their hot dogs.
very well said
^ this guy has never been to mcglincheys
I’m fuckin wheezing reading this
Your friend is the true hidden gem
If by a gem you mean the bartenders mostly are dour, except for that one woman who likes my sunglasses, it reeks of cigarettes and is smoky dirty as fuck, and beers are still 3.55?, then yeah. Personally it's my CC favorite, alongside Oscar's, dirty franks, locust bar, and brownies.
>except for that one woman who likes my sunglasses
Does she know about the high-definition surveillance camera you have embedded in those glasses?
I thought brownies closed? I used to be a regular before pandy times, heard it through the grapevine
Nah it's open. Can't smoke in there anymore though
Very much open
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Worked there for 10 years, those walls have seen a lot.
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The idea of any bar being called the best dive bar in the country in an article is hilarious
You have to revel in its disgusting charm. It’s a unique kind of charm
It's a well loved. Deeply imbedded Philadelphia institution.
It's a glorious shit hole where one can drink alone together and no one will give you shit for it. All sorts of folks go there to do their drinking, center city lawyers, homeless folks, art students, blue collar workers....
The hot dogs are from 1976 probably, the beer lines on the tap have probably never been clean, and I really miss hanging out with my friends while they did bumps in the bathroom.
It's hands down my favorite bar in the city and smells like my childhood (my dad bartended a bar just like it when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time there with him. Big sentimental points just for that)
It’s truly the only place in this city that I ever enjoyed drinking alone. Other spots I’d feel out of place or like I should expect people to assume I’m actually there to try to interact with them, McGlinchey’s I’d bring a book on a weekday and hang in one of the booths and not a single person ever bothered me or made eye contact. That said, if you do want to chat, you could end up talking to basically anyone.
Heard. Yeah I've done both. The Glinch has the distinction of being the only bar I've never been bothered by a guy at while drinking alone. I've gotten into some interesting conversations at the bar, but for the most part, it's my favorite place to go when I want to be alone, but around people to drown my sorrows
Been to a lot of dives as they are my favorite type of bar. Been to McGlinchey's a few times and honestly never had fun there. I have never once felt welcome by any member of staff either. It's just dirty and unpleasant.
IMO, it's got a miserable atmosphere and it just feels off going there. Just go to Oscar's instead.
I was a bartender and server for 8 years... if you're looking for good service, don't go to a dive bar, that's not what they're for. People forget that "dive" originally signified dirty and disreputable.
I love McGlinchey's because it's a place I can relax, and smoke, and drink good beer and whiskey at insanely low prices, and I respect that the employees can and should be rude to assholes. There's like ten bars within spitting distance that will bow and scrape for you. Go there.
That's not a bar you go to for service or to feel the type of welcoming atmosphere you're describing.
You go there to drink. Your server or the bar tender gives you your alcohol and the Social contract is complete
I just know so many better bars that you can "just drink" at, that doesn't give off that off vibe.
Then go to them
That's literally what I do? Lol
Just go. Cheap beer with great selections, smells and looks like a dive bar from the 70s. It’s everything that’s great about a dive bar. Make sure you rip a couple cigs or blaze up a cigar while there.
peeing on the floor in that place is fun
Just left there. It’s a fucking institution, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
Fred still work there? That man made the finest Manhattan.
The bartender upstairs at Tops wouldn’t serve my homie bc he was wearing a Yankees hat. She told him to fuck off more than once.
Edit: this was around ‘07/‘08
That place rocks but I have sensitive lungs so can’t hang a long time
If you like shitholes, you'll love it
It’s a good bar. Stuck to its principles even post pandemic unlike a lot of smoking bars. Cheap, cash only, just walk in and get a beer…
One of my all time faves. Always strange people who are willing to talk, if that’s what you like. Smoky.
It’s a dive that allows smoking and is dingy. But since it’s been around forever it’s an institution, hence the positive reviews
It's gross. I don't see any appeal whatsoever.
mcglicheys rocks and i always have a good time there but i also love cigarettes and piss and stuff…could be an acquired taste.
McGlinchey's was my go to when I was in grad school. My friends and I spent enough time there Bernadette threw other people out of the back corner booth for us.
I used to go there a lot in the early 2000s when I was young and broke. I met a diverse array of amazing people. The smoke keeps me away these days but I have some great memories of the place. It’s a bit grimy, sure, but it’s meant to be a good old fashioned dive.
Smoky does not even begin to describe the atmosphere. 50 years of cigarette dunk covers every surface and hangs visibly in what passes for air.
I sometimes do dive bar tours with my friends and this one’s always a must. That bathroom! The cigarette smoke. Everything about it
I personally like the upstairs of mcglinchys better
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Cheap everything, including a surprising beer selection, (Chimay blue for $8????) but very rude and inattentive staff if you aren't a regular. (Tbh, I kinda like that in a smoking dive bar, so idgaf. It's part of the ambience to me.)
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Sister bar of McSorelys Ale house in nyc.
Underrated wing joint
Supposedly the place where the most marriages have begun. As in, that’s where couples meet for the first time.
I love dive bars. I used to smoke. It’s a great spot for me
Stopped going to bar several years ago and went instead to Locust Bar which is better. As far as dive bars go - 7/10. Music is good or whoever works the juke box, seating is good, bartenders are ok so long as they aren’t too busy otherwise you’re waiting around for your food and drinks because they’re so overwhelmed . Food is… meh. Nothing to write home about except that as long as you’re drinking and smoking anything taste good. Bathrooms are HAHAHA so god damn dirty but oddly enough a part of the charm. Just don’t drop a deuce in there. Last I check they didn’t have any paper towels- just a thin cloth towel that was on a roller and already damp. (Men’s room mind you, can’t say for the woman’s). Go for the experience, get a feel for it
I don’t understand. These are not mutually exclusive. It is one of if not the oldest bar in the country. It is awesome and a ton of fun. It is disgusting and old, and it is nondescript. All of these things are true. If your idea of a nice bar is one in a hotel, don’t go.
Just fucking go. If you don't like it head to Good Dog a bock a way. It's a fantastic dive bar that isn't a fucking shit storm.
> If you don't like it head to Good Dog a bock a way. It's a fantastic dive bar that isn't a fucking shit storm.
Dive bars don't have menus with "tuna tartare tostadas", "quinoa & nectarine salads", "semolina gnocchi", "short rib grilled cheese".....they don't have "mocktails". They don't have an "allergy menu". Most of them don't have menus at all. Dive bars don't have websites.
Dive bars have a rack of chips or maybe an old vending machine. They have duct tape on the bar stools.
I agree. But.... I'm putting myself in the feet of someone who would think that McGlinchy is nasty. They probably would view good dog as a dive bar.
Yes to all
It’s aight
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I mean Oscars is way better but whatever. It's fine.
you understand what a dive bar is right ? these are not conflicting opinions
The best dive bar in the region is Roach and O’Briens in Haverford (Lower Merion).
Lol
Probably worst bar I've ever been to. Cancer clouds galore, rude af servers
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givemebackmybrain t1_irktslj wrote
Just go in there. What the fuck?