Sugar Mom's: Philadelphia Bar Makes Drinking in Old City a Little Sweeter

"It was impossible to find this place, but I'm glad we did - this is definitely my new favorite bar," Elle said.

The 22-year-old had just gotten off work at one of Old City's art galleries and had spent 15 minutes circling the streets with her friends for a bar called Sugar Mom's. They finally parked their car on Market Street and wandered down a nearby alley, and there it was: a homey glow nestled behind some trees, like the candy cottage in Hansel and Gretel. And when they got inside, they saw that that comparison wasn't far off.

Sugar Mom's is a brick-walled basement bar. The lighting is dim: this isn't the type of bar you frequent to see and be seen. The room is only lit by plastic strings of lights scattered around the walls and the subtle glows given off by pinball machines and old-school arcade games.

And, of course there's the jukebox - filled with the most eclectic selection of any bar I've ever been in - with artists ranging from Weezer to NWA; the Clash to James Brown. The music filters throughout the bar at a moderate volume that allows patrons to actually hear one another when they talk, whether they're seated at the bright blue bar up front or in one of the carnival-ride cars in the back. I spoke to manager Ken Perry on a Friday night, shortly after his shift started - and one of the first questions that I had to ask was about that crazy jukebox.

"The guy who runs the jukebox is Robert Perry - no relation," the manager tells me. "He's kind of a partner with the owner - not financially, but he runs our sister bar, Tattooed Mom's [on South Street]. So he takes care of both jukeboxes."

And that's not the only thing the sister bars have in common. Everywhere you look in both bars, you'll find a little piece of something that makes you smile - whether it's a plastic party favor toy, a Dum Dum's lollipop, or one of the many random objects that serve as ashtrays (that's right - the Mom's are some of the few bars left in Philly where 'blowing smoke' isn't just an expression used to describe a guy's pathetic attempt at a pickup). And this fun-filled décor is no mistake.