Forsythia sits at 233 Chestnut Street in Old City, a modern French restaurant from chef Christopher Kearse that runs a full bar built around cocktails and a deep, global wine list.
The address is 233 Chestnut Street, in the heart of Old City a block from the historic-district crowds. Kearse opened Forsythia in 2019 as the larger, full-bar successor to his earlier BYOB, and the Philadelphia Inquirer's Craig LaBan covered the move as a step up in both space and ambition. The full bar is the change that matters for a bar guide: the earlier room poured nothing.
The format is restaurant with a bar that holds its own. Forsythia serves dinner several nights a week, and the bar pours craft cocktails, local beer, digestifs, and a wine list the kitchen built to run long and global. Happy hour starts at 4:30 Monday through Friday, which is the cheapest window to test the room before committing to dinner.
The drinks are a real draw, not an afterthought. The bar's cocktails run technical, with builds like the Third Time's The Charm, which folds vodka, chocolate, Rival Bros espresso, and ginger into one glass. The wine program leans on hard-to-find global bottles, and the bar keeps craft spirits and local beer for anyone skipping the list.
The room is a Kearse production: precise, modern, and quieter than the louder Old City bars a few doors down. That suits the cooking, which is modern French and plated with the same care. The bar seats are the move for a walk-in or a solo drink before dinner.
Pricing sits at the higher end for Old City, fitting a chef-driven kitchen with a serious wine list. The value is the bar at happy hour, when the room opens at a lower price before the dinner crowd arrives. The cocktails hold their price the rest of the night.
The crowd is a date-night and dinner-out Old City set, with the bar pulling a slightly looser happy-hour group early. Best time to go is the 4:30 happy hour for the bar, or a midweek dinner when the dining room has room to breathe. Who it is for: a date that wants a proper meal with a real bar, a cocktail drinker who likes a technical list, and a wine drinker chasing bottles other rooms do not carry. Who should skip it: anyone after a cheap, loud night, since this is a kitchen-led room.
Reservations are the smart move for dinner, with walk-ins easier at the bar. The official site at forsythiaphilly.com carries the current menus, hours, and booking.
For more in the category, see our guide to the best cocktail bars in Philadelphia, browse the full Philadelphia bar guide, or compare it against our worldwide cocktail bars roundup.
