With drastic changes looming for one of Center City's last true dive bars, you'd have been hard-pressed to find anywhere in Philly as lively as McGlinchey's on Tuesday evening.
Dozens of regulars were tightly packed around the tavern's center-stage bar and there was a distinct, poignant feeling in the air — or maybe it was just the cigarette smoke — as people celebrated and mourned a mainstay of the city's nightlife scene.
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Philly Magazine, citing anonymous employees, reported Sunday that after over 60 years in business, McGlinchey's would close for good this Friday. The longtime owner, Sheldon Sokol, refuted those claims the next day to the Philadelphia Business Journal, but he confirmed that the bar would temporarily shut down starting Aug. 29 for a planned vacation and that he's looking to sell the building as soon as possible.
Walking down South 15th Street, you'll hear McGlinchey's before you see it, and the smell inside may stick with you for hours after you leave. But its dark, dingy, smoky atmosphere is what has kept people coming back for so many decades.
Over the years, it has cemented itself in the city's social fabric — yielding everything from a coffee table book to a mention in a Zach Bryan song. ("When did McGlinchey's get so crowded? And why are the crowds so damn green?")
In the eight years that Jahleel Weems, a musician who performs under the name Sir Sly ReMarKs, has been coming to McGlinchey's, he said he's developed close relationships with the other bargoers and employees and even met his two bandmates, Dave Repenning and Lymann Abdyllah Muhammad, who make up hip-hop group M.T.I.T.A.
Weems and Muhammad, both young North Philly natives, have starkly different demeanors — with the former interacting with his many fellow regulars and the latter finding peace among the chaos. Repenning is from the opposite corner of the city and his long, white beard makes it clear he's many years their senior.
"There's no other bar where the three of us could have met each other," Muhammad said.
Weems agreed: "This is Philly's version of the 'Cheers' bar. Most of my business communications, networking, memories, drama, love. … It's all been here."
McGlinchey's was packed on Tuesday night after the owner reportedly said he was looking to sell the bar.
With the Phillies game playing on the TV, the already rowdy crowd erupted when Bryson Stott hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Terry, a former bartender at McGlinchey's who requested that only his first name be used for this story, sat under the screen chatting with friends and reminiscing about his many years as an employee and patron at the bar.
"I feel like [the upcoming sale] is almost a death knell to good times in Philadelphia," he said. "I love this bar. … I'm going to be sad to see it go. I hope that somebody decent buys it and turns it into something good."
No matter what comes of the sale — city property data estimates the site to be worth just over $1 million — McGlinchey's is likely in for some major overhauls. After being grandfathered into a 2008 law that prohibited establishments from allowing smoking indoors, a change in ownership will likely put an end to its status as one of the city's last smoking bars.
For the days leading up to a potential closure, the energy will undoubtedly be bittersweet, and the dive scene in Philly may never be the same. To Terry, the reception on Tuesday night felt like a proper goodbye.
“At my wake, I don’t want people crying,” he said. “I want people like this — happy that they knew me, even if they’ve never met each other before.”