McGlinchey’s Bar & Grill

Great bar and very friendly people behind it. Some of you might complain about the bathroom or the crowd. If that’s the case go elsewhere and get ripped off by paying double the money for a drink. This place is been In Business for 30 years bc it’s a place to hang out and have a good time.
Dave and Marie and all the staff are doing a great job.

This place — - holly packed. Lots of fun if i was in a large group. Very hard to get service with how packed, but it was soooo hopping. I would love to go back if there was 75 – 100 less ppl inside

Place is filthy and not very welcoming. Will not be returning here for sure. Take your talents somewhere across the street but deff skip this joint

Decent Dump Brutal Bathroom
Not much to report here. The place is truly a dump. However; cheap decent bar food, super cheap beers, and very dark. Everything you want in a dive bar. It fits the bill. If your looking to go out and get drunk on the cheap, you’ve found your place.
Tip: Cash Only and the bathrooms are horrific.
I am a fan, but what do I know. I’m a little crazy.
Thanks

Absolutely awful bar. Walked in, sat at the bar for about 20 minutes (tipped the bartenders well on a Friday night, by the way. Even though we should have gotten a hint from the empty bar that it wasn’t a good idea to stay.) bartenders were rude, telling us to «be patient» although they asked us what our orders were in the first place. But I guess apparently we ordered too much and gave them too much business. Moved to a booth, which was small and dirty. No server approached us, so me and my group continued to order from the bar. A friend of mine ordered from the bar, and was told to «ask your server for drinks». Friend then said «oh I’m sorry, who is the server?» Bartender than bantered, «if you don’t like it you can get out». Again, friend said «I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it that way. I was just wondering who our server was because we weren’t approached by anyone». And then the bartender replies «Shut the fuck up. You are gone. Get out.» The bartender also said «What are you in first grade? Get the fuck out of this bar.» Then we proceeded to get up, leave, and then friend who was insulted and cursed at realized she left her phone at the table. And the bar would not let any of us return in the bar to retrieve her phone. Unfortunately, we got into an argument with a security guard who another worker said was a manager (which later we found out was a security guard) and he claimed that we were drunk and disorderly. When we were speaking calmly and just asking to check the table for the phone, not even commenting on the awful situation that had occurred minutes before. All we wanted was her phone, but it took us 15 more minutes of arguing to let us retrieve it from the table. Eventually, we had found the missing phone and proceeded to tell the security guard that the way that this was handled was awful and we would continue to relay this story to other people. At this point we had enough, and left the bar. This bar only likes people like them, they profile you as soon as you walk in the door. It was a completely awful experience and I’m sorry to say that I will never go there again and will make sure to have everyone I know avoid that horrible, ash tray smelling place. Doesn’t even deserve the 1 star, no stars for this place. We are tipping well, paying you for your alcohol in an empty bar where you’re not making much money anyway because it’s empty on a Friday night. But the bartenders and «servers» are miserable and obviously would rather not do their job the way they are supposed too. You make you’re money from tips, act like you deserve it. Made the wrong decision going into this bar, completely ruined our night of fun and dancing, all we wanted was to relax and have a nice conversation. Stay far away! Save yourself the rudeness. Cool prices though, gotta say that. Cheap beer isn’t worth anything though if the service is awful. Get it together.

Worst bar I’ve ever been in

If you just want a beer, a shot, and to smoke your cigarette in peace; head to this place and saddle up to the bar. No bs, no screaming, no douchery. Just a weird red hue, smoke, and good ol drinking.

This is one of the few spots that does not frown upon smoking cigars. Definetly a dive but everyone was cool and the drink prices are super cheap. Very dark inside and not much for appearance thus no picture necessay. Our bartender was a drag queen named Pretty Girl and provided awesome service.

I was in Philly for no more than 36 hours recently, with a lot of sitting around to do. I’m not much of a sightseer, so none of that stuff appealed to me (I’ve heard there’s a bell or something), I was just looking for a comfortable bar where I could drink for cheap and not be judged for day-​drinking alone.
I really struck gold with this place. There are few bars like these left anymore, at least in major cities. Good music, good clientele, good selection of drinks for good prices, and thank fuck for any bar you can still smoke in. The bathroom is hilariously grim, seems to be a running joke among the regulars. Fine for pissing, but I imagine the situation would become altogether bleaker should you (or anybody else) be occupying the open-​plan stall/​urinal for browner reasons.
The bartender Nina was lovely, had a nice chat with her about John Waters (who apparently used to frequent the place). I live in Los Angeles and am never able to get that kind of conversation in the bars here, so go figure. Everyone was friendly and talkative, perfect for a lone stumblebum like myself. Ignore all the negative reviews on here, they seem to have been expecting something else entirely. I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Philly.

The Glinch is a classic Philly dive bar. I prefer the South Philly dives, but I always check out McGlinchey’s when I’m in Center City. I recommend sticking with beer here as opposed to any liquor on the rocks… Heaven Hill (a well bourbon) is something like $ 7.56 (the pricing here is odd). The jukebox is usually playing great music and the TVs are always showing sports. My only gripe is that if you can’t find a seat at the bar or go with a group and have to sit at a table, it is table service only. It’s a little annoying to have to wait for the staff to realize you need another drink and then wait for them to serve you. Also, A+ for the most disgusting bathroom in the city. I’m serious, it’s commendable. Also A+ for being one of the last bars in Philly to allow smoking.

The perfect divey oasis in center city. On a Saturday night my boyfriend and I left our s. Philly home and decided to wander up to center city and grab a drink. It seemed that everywhere was spewing with people. Every bar or restaurant we wandered into had a wait or was so crowded that a visual inspection of the bar was impossible, but then we turned the corner and our prayers were answered when the glinch came into view. We have been here before and love it’s divey «from a different era» vibe and after an hour of rejection the feel of sliding into a red vinyl booth with a cold one was a gift from above. In summary this place is smokey and all the surfaces are a bit stickey, but in a posh eatery meca it’s a lone wolf with its cheap drinks and no reservation required model.

One of the absolute dive bar standards of Philly and a long-​time favorite. Cheap, a solid variety of beer for a cheap dive, smoking, dark lighting, etc. I miss the old jukebox, which has been replaced by the ubiquitous online jukebox, but I guess that’s progress.

McGlincheys is the ultimate dive bar. Dirty and dingy but you can smoke and drink for mad cheap. Always a friendly crowd in there too. Love ya!

If you want a true dive, this is what you’re looking for. Don’t mistake the high average rating for quality, it’s an old school dirty place where the beer is cheap and the smoke is thick. The bathrooms make you want to go home and take a shower in bleach. But it’s a nice holdout against the upward climb of center city prices.

Yer rough and yer stinky. Even as a cigarette smoker, I kinda hate how my hair smells when I leave. Yer cheap and yer easy, and seriously, I fucking love you… even if I cant breathe well the morning after.

I am relatively certain that this place took a couple of years off my life – and I mean that in the most endearing way possible!
A friend and I came here very late at night, when virtually nothing else was open and we hadn’t quite satisfied our alcoholic tendencies. Spoiler Alert: this bar is a total dive! Big surprise, I know.
We ordered the cheapest pitcher on the menu. I’m not even sure what we ended up getting, but it was dirt cheap (and also tasted like dirt). Still, it helped us wax nostalgic about our undergraduate days and it was a roaring good time.
If you enjoy smelling like a brothel, getting totally hammered, and making poor decisions, this is the place for you. Is it wrong that I’m this excited to go back?

Cheap beer and cheap food. Lots of name brand beers to choose from for less than $ 3.50 a beer. Also cheap food and no tax is charged. 75 cent hotdogs and at the top is the $ 1.50 kielbasa. Only bar in the city where you can smoke. You won’t smell like it here though so good for nonsmokers

Beers by Dave, Marie, Brigid, Jo-​Ann, Roxy Dave, and Sammy by night. Beers by Alia by day. Are always super awesome,
Tip them well or suffer their fury!’

We were looking for a bar on a crowded center city Saturday night, and saw no line in front of a place that just said «bar». Figured it was worth a shot and headed in.
Walking into this place is like walking into a strange alternate universe. It’s dark, dingy, and full of smoke. Not only are smoking bars rare in Philadelphia, I can’t remember the last place I was in a place that reeked this strongly of smoke — and I regularly hang out at Frontier in Ridley. It’s crowded — not because there’s a ton of people, but because the bar in the center takes up all of the space. Don’t bother trying to go to the bathrooms — it’s a terrifying experience. They’re equally dark, dirty, and unbelievably cramped. I’m not a big guy, and even my shoulders barely fit in there — I can only imagine what it would be like for a bigger person.
The beer selection is surprisingly decent for a place like this, and it’s cheap, so they’ve got that going for them — although when I ordered a Flying Fish, they told me they were fresh out, which was unfortunate. It’s cash only, as you might expect, so don’t bring your credit card.
I mean, I’ve been to worse bars in my life, but it’s three days later, I’ve showered, and I still smell from being in this place. There are a lot of bars in center city — if you want a cheap, cash-​only dive bar in the area, head a few blocks north to Oscars. I’d recommend coming here only if you’re truly desperate to smoke or have no other options.

This is the quintessential Philly dive bar and one of my favorite places in the city. Complete with dollar dogs and ash trays! Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, McGlinchey’s is one of the few places in Philly that is smoke friendly. I’ve lit up a cigar or two in this place and no one really seems to care. Replete with the darkest of dark walls from decades of smoke I presume to a graffiti covered bathroom. The 5 second rule is definitely suspended here. The service is fine and beer selection good, a great place for a quick boilermaker or to spend a snowy afternoon making a new friend.
It’s diviness is forever captured in this book: