There are rules. No phones at the bar. No standing. No photographs. No baseball caps. No large groups without prior arrangement. You read the list outside, and either you agree or you don't come in. The owner Lee, who goes simply by "Lee," enforces every single one. This is not performance. It is a genuine attempt to create a specific kind of environment, and by every measure it works.
Inside the narrow space on Race Street, the bar stretches the full length of the room. The lighting is low in the way that flatters both the drinks and the people drinking them. There are perhaps 35 seats in total. Every one of them matters. You will not be rushing through a cocktail here because someone is hovering for your table. You will sit, drink well, and talk to the people with you.
The cocktail list changes frequently, but the standard never does. Lee makes drinks with the precision of someone who has thought about this longer than most bartenders have been alive. The house Sazerac is a reference point. The seasonal offerings reward return visits. Philadelphia's cocktail bar scene has grown considerably over the past decade, but Hop Sing Laundromat sits at the top of that conversation without appearing to try.
It opens Wednesday through Sunday starting at 5pm. There is no reservation system. You join the queue, you follow the rules, you get a seat. The city's Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company has a similar reverence for the craft, though the two bars could not feel more different in practice. For a more relaxed Old City experience with excellent absinthe and French cocktails, Royal Boucherie on 2nd Street is worth a visit on the same evening. For anyone serious about cocktails, this is essential Philadelphia.
What to order
- 01
The House Sazerac
Rye whiskey, Peychaud's bitters, absinthe rinse, lemon oil. Made with the kind of care that makes you rethink every Sazerac you've had before. Order it first.
- 02
Seasonal Rotation Cocktail
Whatever Lee is making with the season's best ingredients. Ask what's new. Trust the answer. The bar sources obsessively and it shows.
- 03
The Daiquiri
Rum, fresh lime, cane sugar. Simple on paper, exceptional in execution. A perfect drink to benchmark the bar's technique before ordering something more complex.
- 04
The Old Fashioned