Good Dog

Bar #2: Good Dog, 15th and Locust

Following our delicious cocktails at Village Whiskey, Emily and I (and a handful of our friends) walked a few blocks over to Good Dog on 15th and Locust. We have many great things to say about this place, but perhaps the most important is to note the wonderful décor, which consists mainly of black and white photographs of adorable dogs hung all over the walls. Here, for example, is Emily’s personal favorite! You can find him up on the second floor of the bar.

The Best Dog at Good Dog

Having been sufficiently distracted by the dogs, we proceeded to order drinks. Good Dog has a great list of specialty cocktails that change every few months according to the seasons, along with an extensive beer and wine list. I ordered a delicious Kir Royale ($12), while Emily went with a Blood and Whiskey ($9), a tasty combination of Jack Daniels, blood orange juice, and simple syrup.

Enjoying our drinks at Good Dog

Hey look, our drinks matched our nail polish!

Overall, Good Dog is a great bar: it has a relaxed atmosphere, it’s always busy but never feels crowded, and the drinks are both creative and delicious. The food is great, too – don’t miss the baked macaroni & cheese! And now, drum roll, the ratings:

Good Dog Ratings

And here’s where we feel Good Dog belongs on the The Bar Chart (remember to click on the image to view it at full size!):

The Bar Graph: Good Dog

Definitely awesome, not at all bad.

—Brynn

Village Whiskey

Bar #1: Village Whiskey, 20th and Sansom

Brynn and I would consider ourselves pretty serious Jose Garces groupies. Also pretty serious whiskey lovers, so Village Whiskey was an obvious choice to kick off this little project of ours. They have two sweet prohibition-era themed (but alcoholic, of course) drink lists: one of VW staples and one that changes seasonally. I ordered an Old Fashioned ($12) and Brynn chose a Brooklyn ($12), which is VW’s twist on a Manhattan.

Toasting to the first stop on our quest!

A close-up of our drinks at Village Whiskey

In addition to their drinks, we’d highly recommend the soft pretzel sticks and the “duck fat French fries with sly fox cheddar sauce,” in spite of their slightly off-putting name. We’re fans of the speakeasy-style décor, though the layout of the restaurant itself is pretty cramped and doesn’t work well for large amounts of movement or people. And we’ve can’t say we were particularly well regarded by the servers, but that’s pretty standard for a group of college students. Here are our official ratings:

Village Whiskey Ratings

Overall, it’s pretty pricey and not our favorite environment, but Village Whiskey’s cocktails and extensive whiskey list make it a solid bar experience and a must for any whiskey lover.

We’d now like to introduce The Bar Graph, a chart of where each bar falls on the (admittedly subjective) scales of sketchy to classy and bad to awesome. Each time we visit a new bar, we’ll decide where we think it belongs on the graph, and place it there with a dot that is sized according to to priciness. Be sure to click on the image to view it at full size!

The Bar Graph: Village Whiskey

Stay tuned for further adventures from Bar For The Course!

<3 Emily