What the Future Holds for McGlinchey's and Philly's Smoking Bars

This week, news broke that McGlinchey’s would close permanently after tomorrow. But the owner, Sheldon Sokol, told Philadelphia Business Journal, he wants to stay open but close for a vacation at the end of the week, then sell the bar and retire. So what’s all the fuss about this place? McGlinchey’s is a long-standing dive bar on South 15th Street downtown. It’s also one of the few bars that still allows customers to smoke, despite a 2008 ban on smoking in most indoor spaces. We’re listening back to a 2023 conversation with host Trenae Nuri, Ali Mohsen, former food and beverage reporter for Billy Penn, and Sokol about the bar’s history, culture, and more broadly the policies of smoking bars in Philly. 

Read Ali’s full story here. 

This episode originally ran on July 6th, 2023.

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