FOOD . Watering Hole

N. 3rd Bar & Restaurant

It's Where We Drink


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Published: Oct 11, 2006

801 N. Third St., 215-413-3666, www.norththird.com

Walk into N. 3rd, and you'll get the impression that they're gearing up for Halloween. The skulls strung over the bar and the Day of the Dead-style iconography give the joint a morbid ambience. But look closer, and you'll notice hearts, shamrocks and multicolored Christmas lights as well. That's because N. 3rd celebrates all holidays, all year long.

"We started putting up decorations for the seasons, and just never took them down," says owner Mark Bee. Mix this with eclectic knickknacks (some donated, some found), and you've got one unusual approach to decor. Collector items include wooden masks, a crocodile head, a flying pig and a foot-tall statue of a painter crucified on his easel from Ashley Gallery director Diane Ashley.

The most noticeable adornment is the giant eagle kite (pictured) hanging directly above the bar in the front room. It's been a ceiling fixture for more than three years. "I saw it, and thought it was just crazy and I had to have it," says Bee. "I had no place to put it, so I nailed it to the ceiling."

What's more, Bee's had artists put the final touches on the interior: Scott Johnson added stained glass plates, and Marc Brodzik contributed a large portrait --of breasts—that hangs in the back dining room. Unlike the photographed mammaries in Love Actually, these are unfortunately not capped with tiny Santa hats to coincide with the holiday theme.