Almanac

About Almanac

Up a flight of stairs at 310 Market Street, above an omakase counter, a long, dim room runs back from the street: leather banquettes along one wall, candlelit two-tops, dark green walls and a timber-slatted ceiling over a backlit bar. The cocktail list changes with the seasons and leans on Japanese spirits and ingredients, with names like Mystery Kabuki Theater, and bartenders happily talk guests through unfamiliar bottles. Food matters too: crudo, fried bites, eel rice in a clay pot and a creamy ramen that one reviewer singles out, so it works as a light dinner as well as a drinks stop. Hours are 5 PM to 1 AM Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday, which makes it one of the later serious cocktail rooms in Old City. At 4.7 stars on Google, the praise is close to unanimous; several regulars call it the best cocktail programme in Philadelphia, and staff are named for their knowledge again and again.