Prepare for spiked eggnog, shiny ornaments, and plenty of twinkling lights. The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Philadelphia, with bars and restaurants decorating for the holidays and mixing up themed cocktails.
Start with Tinsel, back for its third year in Midtown Village. The pop-up Christmas bar from Teddy Sourias (Blume, Tradesman’s, Bru, U-Bahn, Finn McCool’s) might just win the prize for most over-the-top, with 3,500 lights, 100 nutcrackers, 58 Santas, 70 elves and gnomes, and 400 ornaments set up in the former jewelry store at 116 S. 12th Street. The theme is the North Pole and Santa’s workshop, though Mr. and Mrs. Claus likely don’t have a 33-foot long bar and ceramic souvenir mugs filled with cocktails like the Gingerbread Man with bourbon, ginger beer, and cinnamon syrup or hot chocolate spiked with peanut butter whiskey.
