Good rooftop bars in almost any city are pretty cool. Philadelphia is filled with them. And good ones. Most offer really great views day or night. Others offer ambience. And If you’re lucky you can see the sun set while you’re there. We’ve been to 5 of the listed most popular bars Philadelphia. Can you guess which ones? The first two guesses don’t count.
Asking how to find one of the best rooftop bars/restaurants in Philadelphia, the Bok Bar is one that most people we know mention. What’s great about going to the Bok Building, is that you get a “two-fer”. So when you get to the 8th floor, you turn one way, you’re at Bok Bar, you turn the other you’re at Irwins.
The best part is, you don’t have to miss one or the other, you can do both!! (that is if you want to)
The Building
The Edward W. Bok Technical High School building from the outside has an old industrial rustic charm. The Bok building was opened in 1938 for the Philadelphia School District and served as a former vocational technical school that could accommodate 3,000 students. The school had full sized training facilities for careers like welding, carpentry, auto mechanics, and the culinary arts.
It was sold in 2013 to Scout (a creative urban developer group). Scout has created space for numerous local businesses providing great services within the community.
Once you walk up the stairs from the street to the front door, two people greet you. June and Don greeted us – they were very nice!
They ask where you’re going and send you inside. From there, there is a series of Bok staff (all with Bok T-shirts for ID) that guide you. The elevators are about halfway down the hall. Tenants going to their unit get special privilege and get to jump the line.
Then you go up to the 8th floor. Evan greeted us at the top. He was very excited that his infant daughter Mila was soon to be released from the hospital
Once there, it’s to either Bok Bar or Irwins.
We decided to got to Bok Bar first.
Bok Bar
Bok Bar is a pop up beer garden style location, with pub type food, beer in cans, and wine in plastic cups.
Do not let that deter you!
It was windy when we went, but it was also sunny and hot (90+ degrees), so that helped. Bok is dog friendly and several people had their dogs, water dishes, and the dogs that wanted to be were in the shade.
They have a pretty good selection of wine (Rose, nice and dry) and beer (a good IPA, and we’re pretty picky). We ended up getting chicken strips, fries, and a vegetarian falafel. While the food may sound basic, everything was delicious, quite tasty.
They have a surprising large amount of seating. However, it was tough to find a seat when it wasn’t busy, let alone one in the shade. It’s still worth hanging out though, as there are plenty of standing tables to share. There’s also lots of room to stand and chat. It’s definitely a fun casual setting.
Then there’s what we came for – the view. We did say it was a rooftop bar, right? There’s a 180 degree view of Philly looking north towards center city. You can see all the classic buildings (Billy Penn, Comcast, etc.), numerous church steeples, the Delaware River, and of course the Ben Franklin Bridge.
You can see for yourself everything was as we were told it was.
Irwins
Irwins named from the architect who designed the building, Philadelphia Architect Irwin Thornton Catherine. It not only has a rooftop section, it also has an indoor bar, casual bar seating, and a small dining room. It is particularly rustic, complete with well placed graffitti to add to the ambience. They serve great Mediterranian food.
The staff we met that day – Michael, Margo, Shan, Lea, Nicky, and Paul the chef, were all very pleasant and wonderful, adding to the charm of the restaurant.
We decided to sit in the part of the lounge that also serves as a “pass through” to the rooftop seating.
As part of their ambience, they deliberately chose to keep the graffiti on the walls. Along with that, they utilized retro furniture and old books. They also brought up the mannikin from the basement as part of the decor.
As we were sitting there talking, we met a couple with twins, he’s Australian born in South Korea, she’s from Columbia. They’re here in the US for a month, and after that they’re going back to where they live – Jeju, South Korea. We also met another couple Tom and Nadine who we found out have been to Ravenesi’s like us!
From Irwins rooftop, you can see everything south, the Walt Whitman Bridge, the stadiums – Veterans Stadium, Citizens Bank, and The Link (Lincoln Financial Field). Although you can’t see the Philadelphia International Airport itself, there were planes every five minutes or so. We even added a photo taken (by a passenger) from the Walt Whitman Bridge towards the Bok Building (circled in red). We also circled the bridge in the photo looking from Irwin’s.
The bathroom is “decorated” with copies of the old blueprints of the building. so you can learn a little more about the building’s structure and make up. As there is plenty of room in the bathroom, they added some more rustic items.
The Wrap Up
Something to consider. Bok Bar tends to be the “hot spot”. Don’t let that be your mistake. Sometimes people come to Irwins just to see the view from the other side. Anyone who does that greatly misses the ambience that Irwins has to offer. It’s a great place with great food. It just happens to have a great view as well.
Interestingly enough, we ended up going there because our one son recommended Bok Bar, and another recommended Irwins. What we discovered? Both are equally worth going to!