Espresso martinis are the it drink in Philly. Here’s where to find them.

The espresso martini has become a favorite among Gen Zers, who can often be seen with the elegant elixir in hand. If it were an outfit, it would be a tailored suit with a loosened tie — chic, but approachable.

“It’s just a trendy cocktail,” said Jared Ridgeway, the beverage manager at the Dandelion. “People love coffee and people love alcohol. When you put the two together, you’re going to have a huge crowd. It looks good in a glass, it catches the eye, and for restaurants, it’s pretty easy to execute.”

Whether you prefer the classic recipe or a modern remix, Philly offers plenty of spots to sip on this caffeinated cocktail.

The best espresso martinis in Philly?

Bar 1010

In Northern Liberties’ booming cocktail scene, Bar 1010 reigns supreme with its “cafe tini” offerings — all variations on the classic vodka, coffee liqueur, and espresso cocktail. For the Classic Parmigiano, the restaurant takes a classic espresso martini ($14) and adds a sprinkling of 16-month aged Parmigianoo Reggiano — a surprisingly good combo complete with a dose of rich umami flavor. Other cafe tini offerings include pumpkin spice, topped with cold foam ($16), salted caramel ($15), and dirty chai ($15).

📍701 N. Second St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19123, 📞 267-930-8486, 🌐 bar1010.com

Enswell

After establishing the Rival Bros. Coffee empire, award-winning chef Jonathan Adams and master coffee roaster Damien Pileggi decided to collaborate again on Enswell, a day-and-night cafe and cocktail bar near Rittenhouse Square. And the partnership was tailor-made to be an espresso martini destination. Among the many standouts on Enswell’s drink menu, which includes an orange espresso tonic, the whiskey-based haymaker ($18) is a real knockout. The drink is made with Rival Bros. “Whistle & Cuss” espresso roast, house-made orgeat, Liberty Belle coffee liqueur, Moscatel cask whiskey, instant coffee cream, and a drizzle of flaky Maldon sea salt.

📍1528 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19102, 📞 215-398-5919, 🌐 enswellphilly.com

Rouge

With the holiday season in full swing, cozy up with Rouge’s pumpkin-spiced espresso martini ($18). This seasonal cocktail is made with Holla vodka, spiced chai, infused pumpkin flavor, Kahlúa, espresso, vanilla, and fall spices.

📍205 S. 18th St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19103, 📞 215-732-6622, 🌐 rouge98.com

The Elephant Bar

The Elephant, Philadelphia’s inaugural espresso martini bar, has evolved from a seasonal pop-up into a permanent establishment. Its menu features inventive variations of the classic cocktail. From fruit-infused tinis to dessert-inspired twists like banana cream pudding ($15) martini and the brûlée all day ($15), made with Absolut vodka, espresso, crème brûlée cold foam, and Southern Tier crème brûlée stout.

📍1500 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19102, 📞 267-761-5582, 🌐 The Elephant Bar Instagram

Charlie was a sinner

Charlie was a sinner is known for its vegan delights and sleek environs, but the sultry after-hour hang’s old-school espresso martini ($17) is top of the line. The smooth, medium roast-infused martini can contend with the best the bustling stretch of Midtown Village eateries has to offer. The drink is elevated by house-made crème liqueur and naturally sweet Nizza espresso.

📍131 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19107, 📞 267-758-5372 🌐 charliewasasinner.com

Blind Barber

It’s no secret: Blind Barber — one of Philly’s most luxurious speakeasies — offers an impressive cinnamon cream-flavored espresso martini ($16) with choice of vodka or tequila. This Center City escape also has an espresso martini-leaning shot called the basic baddie, consisting of espresso-infused vodka, amaretto, house cold brew, and demerara sugar.

📍1325 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19107, 📞 215-528-9485, 🌐 blindbarber.com

R&D

Fishtown’s R&D Cocktail Bar isn’t afraid to go venti. It cocktail list rotates every few months, but a mainstay is the classic espresso martini ($15). If you’re joined by a group of espresso enthusiasts, you can level up to a shareable venti ($55) that serves four people.

📍1206 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, Pa., 19125, 📞 215-515-3452, 🌐 rdphilly.com

Char & Stave

Char & Stave, with locations in Chestnut Hill and Ardmore, transitions from a refined coffee shop by day to a sophisticated whiskey bar by night. While it doesn’t offer a traditional espresso martini, the “Hot Dirty Pirate” ($13.50) is a unique twist. This cocktail combines barrel-aged espresso, whiskey caramel, dark rum, and oat milk, resulting in a rich blend of roasted oat and caramel flavors.

📍8441 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, Pa., 19118, and 21 Rittenhouse Place, Ardmore, Pa., 19003, 🌐 charandstave.com

The Dandelion

The Dandelion is an elevated pub that pays homage to traditional British cuisine, with favorites like rabbit pie, deviled eggs, fish and chips, and English-style stouts on its menu. Given the espresso martini is said to have been invented in London in the 1980s, the Stephen Starr-owned eatery serves a classic one ($15) made with Smirnoff vanilla vodka, fresh espresso, Kahlúa, and a touch of simple syrup for a well-balanced sip.

📍124 S. 18th St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19103, 📞 215-558-2500, 🌐 thedandelionpub.com

Bánh Mì and Bottles

Easily one of the city’s prettiest cocktails is from Bánh Mì and Bottles. The Vietnamese restaurant’s signature espresso martini ($16) features natural shades of purple from ube, which gives it a mild nutty flavor. This lavender-tinged indulgence is made from an espresso blend infused blanco tequila, ube condensed milk, and a whole egg.

📍714 South St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19147, 🌐 banhmiandbottles.com.

Rex at the Royal

Rex at the Royal, a Southern-inspired restaurant housed in the historic Royal Theater, offers an espresso martini that reflects its elegant ambience. The Royal Espresso Martini ($19) features vanilla bean-infused Stateside vodka, NOLA coffee liqueur, and Green Street espresso, delivering a rich and sophisticated flavor profile.

📍1524 South St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19146, 📞 267-319-1366, 🌐 rexphl.com

How to make an espresso martini?

If there’s one takeaway from the espresso martini’s popularity, it’s that there’s no single way to make it. However, the classic ingredients remain simple:

1. 2 oz. vodka

2. 0.5 oz. coffee liqueur (Kahlúa is a classic choice)

3. 1 oz. freshly brewed or cold espresso

4. 0.25 oz. simple syrup

5. Three coffee beans for garnish

While some bartenders stick with the original, others experiment with sweeteners, infused spirits, or unique garnishes to elevate the cocktail. However you take it, an espresso martini is a guaranteed way to energize your night out.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

A karaoke taxi has come to town but some want the plug pulled on the Center City attraction

On a warm September evening, Trenton resident Gabby Douglas and her daughter were aboard Center City’s newest tourist attraction.

They had stepped onto a roofless wagon, hitched to a souped-up pickup truck, and sung their favorite tunes as they toured the bustling corners and residential pockets of Midtown Village and Old City.

Their roaring vocals and impressively timed melodies caught the attention of pedestrians, who cheered them on. Some people looked out of apartment windows while others stopped midstep on nearby sidewalks to applaud them.

“We just had fun. It was a really beautiful experience with my daughter singing. People were cheering, and it seemed like the city really loved that type of atmosphere,” Douglas said.

The musical ride, called FunCab Karaoke Taxi, was driven by founder Dominik Glazewski.

The idea first arose in 2016, when Glazewski worked as an Uber and Lyft driver in Philly. He had a karaoke system set up in his vehicle, and dreamed of the day he could start his own mobile entertainment service.

“We wanted something unique and fun — like typical tourism buses that drive around — but for people to have fun and enjoy in a new way,” said Glazewski, 44, a Poland-born entrepreneur. “We want people to come to the city and enjoy themselves.”

After moving to Charlotte, N.C., in 2020, he put his idea to the test. Glazewski purchased a golf cart-style vehicle and installed a handful of microphones and a speaker, but soon realized it wasn’t generating the excitement he initially envisioned.

The “taxi” wasn’t very safe and only had space for five passengers, which increased the operational costs and added a lot of stress to Glazewski’s fun plan. He returned to Philadelphia last April with hopes the FunCab would turn a profit in a bigger and more familiar city. The regional switch came with notable challenges, including “2-feet deep” potholes and strict city codes to maneuver.

“We weren’t sure if we could maintain the business, or if it was going to be accepted over here,” Glazewski said. “But luckily, there’s been a lot of people who like it.”

Before the FunCab made its first lap around Center City in June, Glazewski managed to do a few upgrades. He added a wagon to the back of the truck, and equipped it with five 5K cameras, LED lights, cushioned seats, a touchscreen song selector, and additional speakers to amplify the karaoke experience.

For the past five months, groups of up to nine people have been belting out hits from Usher, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus, Mary J. Blige, and others in the back of the supercharged ride. And while screaming is prohibited, riders can often be heard howling their favorite tunes from Old City to Rittenhouse on their 15-mph cruise. One-hour rides start at $100, or $25 per person.

Unsurprisingly enough, some residents want to pull the plug on the moving music wagon.

“Drunk people with microphones riding a slow-moving open vehicle that stops randomly like an Amazon delivery truck, late at night — that’s a NO, THANK YOU,” one Reddit user wrote.

“If I wanted to hear bachelorette parties screaming Taylor Swift songs I would move back to Nashville. It’s an abomination,” said another.

Sheri Klock, who booked a tour for her husband’s birthday, sang Bon Jovi, NSYNC, and Michael Jackson songs throughout the late September evening. And in the coming months, she’s looking to schedule a longer session. “We had people dancing on the sidewalks and jamming to music with us,” Klock said. “It was awesome to see people who don’t know each other come together because of music.”

As social media clips of the late-night mainstay have grown more frequent, the FunCab has garnered more bookings for birthdays, bachelorette parties, and other milestones. Glazewski has also received a handful of noise complaints from Rittenhouse and South Street residents.

In response, he said he’s adjusted the FunCab routes to avoid circling the residential corners of South Street and Rittenhouse Square. He has also asked some rambunctious karaoke singers to lower their voices, or if they’re too impaired, to reschedule their trips for another date.

Advertisement

“We’re not trying to be obnoxious,” he said. “If we’re making noise, I make sure we’re not making as much noise and we’re constantly moving. We don’t sit outside someone’s house.”

As for the loud music, South Philly native Oddess Blockar said that’s an unavoidable part of city life. “If you don’t want to hear noise, move to the suburbs,” she said.

Glazewski plans to expand the karaoke cab in size and scope. He wants to move away from the small, slow-moving vehicle to a bus-sized ride, and offer an interactive city tour for non-English speakers.

The plan is to stop at historic sites in Center City, with an information screen showcasing the history and interior design of each location in various languages. If there’s a question, the device would translate the responses in real time.

Glazewski also wants to develop an alternative version of Philly’s Portal, which would allow guests to sing karaoke in tandem with distant crooners from around the country.

“We have a lot of ideas,” Glazewski said. “And we’re going to try to implement them so people can get to know Philly.”

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philly nightlife takes a hit as noise complaints force relocations, unexpected shutdowns

Philly nightlife is an ever-revolving door of happy hour hangs, lavish soirees, laid-back beer gardens, and weekend stay-puts. The city is also home to niche party cultures, intimate music venues, and stylish speakeasies.

Philly DJ David Pianka, better known as Dave P, believes these spaces make the city’s nightlife more vibrant than most. But in recent years, noise complaints have diminished much of its allure.

“Nightlife brings so much to cities, culturally and economically, and it needs to be prioritized more here in Philadelphia,” said Pianka, who founded the electronic music festival Making Time ∞. “So many other cities around the world celebrate and support nightlife and understand its value. Philadelphia needs to do the same.”

Noise complaints, Pianka said, have crippled many of Philly’s outdoor music experiences through the last few years. Fellow DJs and party promoters have been forced to relocate, or even cancel entire events, due to the stockpile of protests brought on by disgruntled residents and nearby establishments.

These complaints often come from neighborhoods with nightclubs and music venues, and newly constructed residential buildings. As, Pianka said, more people and businesses move into these neighborhoods, there is a growing divide between partygoers and residents looking for a quiet place to lay their head.

As new condominiums and high-end apartments are built, more buildings and residents are being squeezed closer together. The city’s growing infrastructure leaves little room for outdoor parties and events to happen without disturbing local residents.

On Memorial Day weekend, DJ Joshua Lang hosted a day party at Cherry Street Pier’s back garden. The event, on Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m., was “before the city’s ‘quiet hours,’ ” Lang said. He hired a sound engineer to monitor the volume, “to make sure it didn’t go over a certain decibel level — which we didn’t.”

The event was a success, Lang says, with over 5,000 people attending. He has hoped it would turn into a series, but in June he posted on Instagram that he would not be returning to the venue “due to neighbor’s complaints about sound.”

A representative from the Cherry Street Pier said they were not aware of any noise complaints, and that while the event was well received, it was only every planned as one-off.

In his Instagram story, Lang added: “it’s frustrating that we already don’t have many options in this city when it comes to venues.”

The city, “is in dire need of an event like this” Lang told the Inquirer. “Philadelphia is an amazing city and what’s happening right now is beautiful between different industries and scenes, but there’s just a ceiling here that seems to keep creatives at a certain level due to city restrictions.”

According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, noise complaints are considered a health risk and commercial properties are prohibited from creating sounds that exceed five decibels above the “background level” at a property’s boundary line. The penalty for an initial violation is between $100 and $300, and the fee increases with subsequent violations.

Based on data from the department, there hasn’t been a dramatic rise in amplified music complaints in the past five years. But as of July 27, there were 10 amplified music complaints directed at Philly bars, restaurants, and nightlife spaces in 2023, which matches the total reported in all of 2022.

Pianka said it’s hard to blame a specific group for the noise complaints, but he said new developments are likely the cause of the issue. “The city needs to make culture and community more of a priority over development,” he said. “...[And] there needs to be more communication between nightlife promoters and city officials.”

“We need more venues, nightclubs, and diverse festivals. We need people who understand culture to be in these rooms where they’re making these decisions,” added Lang, who is also the music director for the W Hotel Philadelphia.

Disputes between residents, party promoters, and business owners in the Philly area are not new. Back in 2012, the New Tavern Bar Restaurant, then known as Watusi Pub II, drew complaints from West Philadelphians about the bar’s rowdy patrons and live music performances.

“I hear from people who have had bars in certain areas forever,” said Sara Walker, general manager of the Khyber Pass Pub. “And now that there’s some development next door, all of a sudden people are angry.” Walker, who recently revived Khyber’s live performance space after the longtime music venue was turned into a New Orleans-inspired eatery, believes that “in order for this city to be successful and have people come here to spend money, these [venues] need to be successful.”

She agrees that there are certain “nuisance bars,” but residents often blame establishments for little noise, or even rumblings generated outside their walls.

Public outcry has even forced outdoor restaurant and music venues to shut down operations.

In an Instagram post, Terra Philly announced on July 19 that it would shut down for the season due to increased noise complaints. “We worked both quickly and openly with both city and state officials to update our facility in a way that would allow us to continue operations. However, it seems a compromise could not be reached with our neighbors,” the post stated.

Health Department spokesperson James Garrow said a “warning letter” was issued to the Fishtown garden restaurant and outdoor music space after noise complaints were filed. The letter outlined the city’s noise and vibration law and noted a potential noncompliance fee of $300. But after an inspection was conducted on June 28, no violation was found, Garrow said. “Terra was not given a notice of violation or asked to close. If they have closed for the season, it was not due to Health Department action.”

Terra staff declined to make further statements, but confirmed there will be measurements in place to address the noise complaints ahead of the restaurant’s reopening next year.

Raheem Manning, the city’s first director of nighttime economy, said he doesn’t have economic data to illustrate how noise complaints affect nightlife revenue, and it’s not known if it does. But having met with nightlife mayors and directors in Austin, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam, and Berlin, he’s confident Philadelphia can be an international destination for its nightlife.

For Philly to contend with global nightlife destinations and minimize noise complaints, Manning, who was appointed nightlife mayor by Philadelphia’s Commerce Department in July 2022, said there needs to be a soundproofing fund, like in Berlin, which will shield venues from receiving noise complaints from new neighbors.

“An agent-of-change policy basically makes it so that whoever is new to the block is responsible for mitigating the sound,” Manning said. “If a club has been on the block for 20 years and a developer wants to build an apartment building across the street, it is on the developer to either soundproof the apartment building or they could soundproof the club, because the club was there first, the burden is not on the club.”

– The Philadelphia Inquirer