Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse
The originator. If St Patrick's Day in Philadelphia had a birthplace, it's this bar.
Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse is one of the two founding stops of the Erin Express — the St Patrick's Day bar crawl that has defined Philly's Irish holiday for more than four decades. Locals just call it 'Cav's.'
The upstairs is a proper Rittenhouse sports bar — Eagles, Sixers, Union — and the downstairs turns into the loudest room in the city on the Saturday and Sunday before March 17th. Green beer, Guinness, corned beef sliders, and a crowd that spills onto Sansom Street from open to close.
If it's your first Erin Express, start here. Doors open around 11am–12pm — get in line early or you'll be waiting behind Villanova students until 2pm.
Doors open at 11am–12pm on Erin Express Saturday and Sunday — line up before open. Free t-shirts to early arrivals while supplies last. Cash bar moves fastest — bring small bills.
Philadelphia's longest-running St Patrick's Day bar crawl. 30+ bars, free cover, free t-shirts.