Former Cooley’s Bar in Whitman to reopen as Otis & Pickle’s Speakeasy
The owner of the Spring Garden-based bar The Institute is planning a new concept for Whitman.
Owner Charlie Collazo is in the process of renovating the former Cooley’s Bar location at 3rd and Porter. This new bar, called Otis & Pickle’s Speakeasy, is expected to open in January of 2017.
From Eater:
So, of course, Otis & Pickles Speakeasy is the name of his new bar. “Speakeasy” because the bar will be cocktail-focused with a draft tower pouring six cocktails, plus, given Collazo’s extensive experience serving craft beer, a custom-built 11-tap tower will do the same. And no, it won’t be a real speakeasy by any means—no secret passwords, no hidden doors, and especially “no douchebaggery.”
Inside, he’s building out the bar himself using his new Kennett Square friends as inspiration: walls will be made of rough woods and galvanized metal, custom lighting will be fashioned out of mason jars and copper colanders, and he ripped out Cooley’s drop ceiling in lieu of the building’s original tin-work (pictured above). There’s a full kitchen, too. He and his wife are planning a super-casual menu of White Castle-style sliders, pickles in all their many ways, and, something he’s especially excited about, a riff on the Hungry Man platter.
Looks like a old timey bar in old man bar territory
Just saying…It’s Coley’s not “Cooley’s”. That was a local South Philly born and raised patron bar…now, it’s going “Speakeasy”???!!! Wow, that means the neighborhood will be gentrified, too. Geez, the hipsters have finally come all the way south ! They’re like cockroaches! R.I.P South Philly.
There are plenty of local South Philly, smoking-type bars in the neighborhood that you can still go to. Obviously, they are not doing well enough to sustain and there is no point in opening more of them. You can always support your favorite ones instead of hoping for more competition for them in a dying business area… It’s not just “hipsters” that like new bars but also local youngsters who have grown up to be of drinking age. At some point, old locals die or move to Jersey and some of us would like a non-smoking bar that is accommodating to local young men and women and even some of our friends.
I was born and raised in South Philly and I want to stick around. Sometimes we like to try new things or want to be able to invite our friends from work or college to our neighborhood bar without being looked at like we don’t belong. Stop giving everyone a hard time because they’re different from what you expect.