None of the 20 seats at the bar inside 923 N. Second St. can be booked. Field Day opened there on October 21, and roughly half of its seats, including the whole bar, are held for walk-ins. That's an unusual choice for a bar that The Inquirer called one of the most anticipated openings of the year. It also says a lot about who the place is for.
Most of the coverage has focused on the cocktails, the foraging and the James Beard pedigree. The details that matter to someone living a few blocks away are the open seats, a short $15 menu, and hours that start at 4 p.m. Read together, they make Field Day the most drop-in-friendly new spot in Northern Liberties this fall. Meanwhile, the biggest changes on Girard Avenue are going the other way.
A destination bar with a back door for neighbors
Field Day comes from Danny Childs, the James Beard Award-winning bartender behind the Slow Drinks approach, and his wife, Katie. The main menu is a leather-bound "Field Guide" that tells you where each ingredient came from. One drink is sweetened with raw honey from Kara Jo Bee Farm. Another uses lacto-fermented beech mushrooms from Kennett Square. An orange crush is made with wild persimmons from Childs' own backyard.
You don't have to read any of it. The bar also has a "$15 Holler" list of nine cocktails with no tasting notes, aimed at locals stopping in for a quick drink and a bite. Beyond that, there are house sodas, kombucha and lemonade, plus coffee, tea, wine, Guinness and a house lager brewed by Tonewood. A kids' menu comes with a botanical coloring page and crayons.
Childs explained the idea to The Inquirer:
"We want anybody to walk in here and feel welcome, and that it's not like they're going to school, that they're just at a great bar. And if they want to learn more, they can."
The Infatuation's review, published two days after opening, described the room the same way: loud music, a lively bar and service with "no hint of stiffness." It also mentioned a backyard garden. The building used to be an auxiliary space for Cescaphe Ballroom. It now has a 50-seat dining room, walnut shelves lined with family heirlooms, and a staff of 25.
What to order when you're just stopping by
The kitchen is run by James Beard-nominated chef Melissa McGrath, known for Sweet Amalia, so there's South Jersey seafood on the menu: steamed clams, smoked fish dip and a fish fry. The rest of the menu stays regional. Early favorites from the soft opening included:
- Tomato pie and a seasonal Roman-style "field pie"
- A Lebanon bologna sandwich on a sourdough English muffin
- A roast pork "Philly dip" with long hots and broccoli rabe
- A skillet chocolate chip cookie
- Seasonal water ice, which was Concord grape at opening
April McGreger, a preservation specialist, makes a pickle plate the Inquirer called "already a must-try." Jamaar Julal runs the upstairs fermentation projects, which include miso made from stale tomato pie. The Infatuation singled out the roast pork dip as "un-put-downable."
You can stop in on a Wednesday for a $15 drink and a sandwich, or set aside a whole evening for the Field Guide. Since the bar seats can't be reserved, the quick visit is always an option for whoever walks in.
How it fits the Second Street evening
Here are the posted hours at Field Day and at Terra Grill, the steakhouse at Piazza Alta:
| Field Day, 923 N. Second St. | Terra Grill, 1099 Germantown Ave. | |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday–Thursday | 4 p.m. to midnight | Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Friday–Saturday | 4 p.m. to midnight | Dinner 5 to 10 p.m. |
| Sunday | 4 to 8 p.m. | Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Extras | Reservations on Resy for non-walk-in seats | Happy hour 5 to 7 p.m. Wed–Sun; brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat–Sun |
Field Day opens an hour before Terra Grill starts dinner and stays open well after Terra Grill closes on Friday and Saturday. Its Sunday close at 8 p.m. is early, so check fielddayphilly.com before planning a Sunday night around it.
Field Day also joins a bar scene that, by the Inquirer's account, has been anchored for decades by Ortlieb's and Standard Tap, with Pietramala, Pera and Apricot Stone among the neighborhood's standout restaurants. The same article said Northern Liberties' food and drink scene has been "dwarfed" by Fishtown and Kensington, where high-profile openings are routine. Field Day starts to close that gap. Eater Philly's heatmap of the best new restaurants, updated November 3, lists it.
Girard Avenue is heading the other way
On Girard Avenue, the recent changes point toward smaller, planned nights instead of drop-in ones.
The Fire, at 412 W. Girard Ave., announced in late September that it would close after 27 years, with a final show on Wednesday, September 30. The Inquirer reported that the Philadelphia Bar & Grille, the bar that housed the venue, would close permanently too. PhillyVoice noted that the club, next to a busy firehouse, gave early stages to artists from John Legend to Alex G. For nearly three decades, it was a Girard Avenue room where you could catch a show without much planning.
At 161 W. Girard Ave., the team behind Emmett has been building Jean on the restaurant's second floor. According to WhatNow Philadelphia, Jean seats 15 guests around a 7-foot live-fire hearth in a room designed to feel like a converted living room. It serves only a 12-course tasting menu of Southern French and North African dishes, including a seasonal tagine, and the team targeted late fall 2026 for the opening. In July, The Inquirer reported that the menu was expected to start around $225. Updates are posted on Jean's Instagram.
Fifteen seats, a set menu and a price that starts in the hundreds make Jean a dinner you book weeks ahead for a birthday or an anniversary. That's a good thing for Girard to have. With the Fire closed, Field Day is the neighborhood's newest room where a bar seat can't be booked ahead, so you can decide at 7 p.m. and just walk over.
The rest of November around it
From publication day, the neighborhood calendar through the end of the month works well with a 4 p.m. bar opening. The Northern Liberties Neighbors Association lists these dates on its calendar:
- Saturday, November 14, 9 to 11 a.m.: Neighborhood cleanup, meeting at the NLNA Community Center yard.
- Saturday, November 14, 11 a.m. to noon: Compost drop-off at Liberty Lands, right after the cleanup.
- Thursday, November 19, 7 to 8 p.m.: NLNA Education Committee meeting at the Community Center.
- Saturdays, November 21 and 28, 11 a.m. to noon: More Liberty Lands compost drop-offs.
A Saturday cleanup ends at 11 a.m., and Field Day opens at 4 p.m. An afternoon at Liberty Lands followed by a $15 Holler cocktail and a pickle plate makes for an easy Saturday. On weeknights, the Education Committee meeting ends at 8 p.m., and Field Day's bar stays open until midnight Thursday through Saturday.
If you've already found your Field Day order, or you're still deciding between the Holler list and the Field Guide, I'd love to hear about it. Knowing which Second Street spots have room on a Thursday night is part of what Conchetta Park shares with clients who want to know how Northern Liberties actually works week to week. Let's Connect.
