Hundreds of couples have met at McGillin’s, the oldest continuously operating tavern in Philadelphia and one of the oldest in the country. With Valentine's Day coming up next week, you may like to pay a visit.
There is so much mating magic at McGillin’s that the 164-year-old bar has created a Love Letters book where couples can tell their stories. They are now on their third volume.
After she broke up with her fiancé, Eileen’s girlfriends brought her to McGillin’s Olde Ale House. She wasn’t looking for someone new. But she said January 1, 2020 turned into the best New Year’s Day of her life. She met Dave Somerville and they got engaged before the end of the year. The bar was so instrumental in their meeting that Dave had his wedding ring engraved with the phrase 'Today and Always...McGillin’s'. The couple returns every year to celebrate their union with their two daughters.
Two brothers both met their wives at the historic bar near Philadelphia City Hall. Another couple who met there, Vicky and Mike Weinstein, have a watercolor of McGillin’s Olde Ale House hanging above their bed.
Maybe the mating magic comes from William McGillin, who opened McGillin’s in 1860, ran it with his wife, Catherine, and raised their 13 children upstairs. Or Mary Ellen and Chris Mullins, Sr, the husband and wife who took over the tavern from her father and uncle and now run it with their son, Christopher Mullins, Jr. Or perhaps it comes from the 30 beers on tap. Either way, it’s better than endlessly swiping! Just ask Martino Picariello, a realtor who made a new client at McGillin’s, helped her buy a house and then ended up moving into it with her.
Happy Valentine's!