a. Bar - A Yuppie's Happy Hour
I love happy hour. The lovely co-owner of this blog makes fun of me because he thinks I think stuff tastes better if it's cheaper. My counter argument is that I'm a poor grad student and there's nothing wrong with making your dollar go a little farther, and to me, happy hour is the epitome of that motto.
When I first got to Philly, one of my favorite activities to pass the time during a particularly boring lecture was to browse Philly.theDrinkNation.com. An amazing site that has accumulated menu information about every happy hour in the city and broken it down by neighborhood and day of the week. Now that I'm coming up on the end of my third year in Philly, I already have my favorites and rely on the site much less, however finding new happy hours is still a favored pastime.
The happy hour at A. Bar, while perfectly fine, is a little bougie to be in my go-to rotation. However, it does have it's time and place. The moment you step inside A. Bar, the ambiance gives off a sense of wealth. The space is intimate without being cozy, using a lot of dark wood, and the main accent of the room is the well stocked bar. The view from the windows is of Rittenhouse square with the bustling intersection of 18th and Walnut, which makes for some stellar people watching.
The happy menu consists of a red wine, a white wine, and the house punch, all priced at $8. There were also a few happy hour snacks (bonus points for having a food happy hour menu), of which we got the raw oysters on the half shell, which were $9 for a half dozen. The oysters were great, petite and well shucked, with no bits of shell and already detached from the half shell, going well with the lemon and mignonette provided.
As for drinks, we ordered off the regular menu because A. Bar's specialty is their unique and well crafted cocktails. I ordered the Margot 10, a seasonal cocktail of tequila, mezcal, yellow chartreuse, lemon, orange, ginger, chamomile, and egg white ($14). If you're a sucker for cocktails with ridiculous lists of ingredients, which I am, you will enjoy the menu here.
TL;DR - a great spot to impress a date or to grab a drink with a business acquaintance. You will not look out of place if you are dressed to impress. On the expensive side, but service is attentive and the drinks are well made.