The Bards

In a sea of Irish pub imposters, The Bards is the real thing. Any Guinness aficionado (except for the ones who swear by The Plough and the Stars [2] in Old City) will tell you that this is the best place in Philly [3] to grab a pint of the dark stuff.

Outfitted in an Irish literary theme, The Bards is a good place to read or write while you sip a pint and have fish-and-chips on a quiet afternoon in the middle of the week. Weekend nights, including live traditional Irish music on Sunday evenings, and Quizzo nights (Thurs. 10 p.m.) tend to get a bit rowdier.

Sometimes The Bards turns a little more Greek than Irish when the Penn frat boys cross the river to play darts and blast Bon Jovi and Journey on the electronic jukebox.