We’ve heard rumblings around town that Rob McElhenney was looking to purchase a Philly watering hole. Latest rumor/truth is Skinner’s Dry Goods on Market Street, which used to be Anthony’s Tavern. A phone call placed to the proprietor of said joint got us the following conversation:
Us: “So we hear Mac from It’s Always Sunny bought your bar”
Peter, the bar owner: “Um, not him personally, but his company.”
Us: “Oh, ok, so like both him and Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson, wife of said Mac)?”
Peter: “Maybe”
Further rumors confirm that the bar will be closed for 6 weeks and renovated, reopening as ‘Mac’s‘. We are TOTALLY behind this deal. We’ve spent plenty of weekend days getting bombed at Anthony’s/Skinner’s, as it’s the only bar in Old City we can deal with on the weekends. One time, we even heard the DJ spin some Slint. It was cool.
Seriously though, we do love this bar, and since Mac is Philly local, we believe he knows what the place is all about, and will leave it be mostly what it has always been. A shithole is the middle of Little New Jersey that had cheap drinks and career alcoholics. Please, PLEASE keep the booths. And the Red Seal on draft.
like McGlinchy’s on the Wildwood Boardwalk!
will Mac give ocular patdowns for security?
Skinners is one of the only good, even tolerable places to go to for happy hour in Old City. Why couldn’t he have bought some bro & ho place and close that up for six weeks?
am i the only one concerned that skinner’s/mac’s could now turn super douchey and famous and therefore no longer be the only tolerable place in old city??
I dated a girl who lived across the street from Skinner’s a few years back. Been there many a time and I bet Mac will make it an even better place. But true, they should have redone a shittier place
This is the saddest news I’ve heard in a while.
Bye skinners – Hello tourist stop on the It’s always Sunny tour…
“Little New Jersey”….haha…Classic
old city still has the khyber. an island in the vast sea of douche.
“Little New Jersey”, that funny….
the only good part about skinners is sitting outside for happy hour during the first beautiful evenings or spring and summer. otherwise the food sucks, the bathrooms are nasty and the beers taste like dirty taps.
uhhhh eulogy!!! beer heaven. the first place i go to when i head home to philly.
Haven’t been there in awhile but Sugar Moms hasn’t been jersified yet right?
Awesome news!
The word douche is thrown around a lot in these comments, and when much of the public describes old city. If Skinners fits the bill for “non-douchey” bar…does that mean a non-douchey bar is a place that smells like an alcoholic’s 3-day ripe swamp-ass, stale beer and a deep fried ash tray?
I love, love, love the show! So they take Skinners off the menu – I’m sure you drunks will find another hole in the wall.
kinda surprised he didn’t call it Paddy’s… maybe Rob called dibs on that name.
no good remodel can be done in 6 weeks. Get ready for shoddy workmanship and inferior finishes. Thanks, but no thanks. Leave it as is or do a real renovation. Actually, just stick to acting.
a lot of you people commenting are beyond ridiculous—-
1) there already IS a Paddy’s in Old City (race street)
2) change is ok. it really is. stop being babies.
3) Phoodie got a lot of facts wrong (i went to the source)
4) #17 comment: “no good remodel can be done in 6 weeks. Get ready for shoddy workmanship and inferior finishes. Thanks, but no thanks. Leave it as is or do a real renovation. Actually, just stick to acting.” — this is simply an asinine comment…i mean, EXTREMELY (and in every way) just stupid. i’ve seen an entire home gutted and redone in less time. you’re also a narrow-minded bonehead for judging people’s life decisions when you have ZERO knowledge of the situation or him.
everyone take a deep breath
take care
@john q
The only facts we stated were from ‘the source’, Peter, who owns the bar. And there weren’t ‘a lot of facts’ yet. Just that Mac and Co. were purchasing the bar. We never stated it would close in January. 6 weeks was the timeline kicked around. And a 6 week renovation is absolutely do-able if you’re not completely changing the architecture of the structure and installing a whole new kitchen, or if you have gobs of cash and investors, which surely they do. Timelines are usually pushed by permit/zoning/liquor concerns here, which if you ask any proprietor, are some of the craziest around.
We like Skinner’s. We liked Anthony’s. Whatever the bar becomes will surely find it’s place in Philly. We believe in him. Read the post.
smart move on their part, I’m sure it will make money. whether or not it will be anywhere philadelphians want to go remains to be seen….
Hoping they really take it the full 9 yards- two dollar tequila shots from plastic guns, paddy’s stress ball eggs, nasty stripper waitresses, vietnamese gambling in the basement, dick towels for sale….
anyone who thinks Mac and Dee will ever be there is out of their minds.
“anyone who thinks Mac and Dee will ever be there is out of their minds.”
Hey, I saw them upstairs at Fergie’s once, no lie.
I agree with whoever said that the reason it’s tolerable is because you can actually walk in there, sit down at the bar, and talk to the person next to you without being crushed by the weight and noise of fellow bar-goers. I too worry that it’s now going to become “the place to be” and those of us looking for something “tolerable” will need to move on to greener pastures. However, the reality is that everyone will get all excited that it’s owned by Mac&Dee, go there for a few months before they realize that they aren’t actually going to meet Mac&Dee, and then maybe it will go back to being tolerable once more. Here’s hopin’!
Mourning the loss of Skinners? It’s still open! Go absorb that “deep fried ashtray” smell while you still can!
I pissed off Mac the night he was at Skinners with Dee when I serenaded Dee with my spanish version of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’. I was a dope and didn’t know they were married. But the bartender that night was awesome and introduced me and told everyone to shut their holes and I got a thunderous applause from everyone ‘cept Mac of course
Blew my chance of ever being on the show 
But Mac, for realz, had I known I never woulda disrespected you’s like that.
I love Skinners!!! Had plenty of fights and make ups with my girlfriend there and the fries always went down well with a beer. Hope it retains the same spirit when it’s re-open under it’s new name or what-have-ya.
Peace and love, Philly!