‘It’s Always Sunny’ Resurrects Paddy’s Pub in the Heart of Manhattan

(Photo: Hello Hello Bar)

There are dozens, maybe even hundreds, of Paddy’s Pubs dotted across the United States. But none can claim to be anywhere near as famous as the fictional dive bar on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Rob McElhenney’s raunchy, grungy and vomit-splattered tavern has graced TV screens for over seventeen seasons and counting, becoming one of the longest-running sitcoms in history behind heavy hitters like “The Simpsons” and “Law and Order.” The Paddy’s Pub of “It’s Always Sunny” infamy is a place of ratty basements and less-than-welcoming staff; the kind of dive bar where your martini is just as likely to be garnished with an olive as it is with asbestos. It’s a comedy institution, but not the kind that any sane-minded drinker would ever want to visit for themselves.

Thankfully, the Paddy’s pop-up at New York City’s Hello Hello Bar & Cafe avoids the ugly side of the hit FX sitcom. In honor of the holidays, the team has put together a boozy homage not only to the show, but to Four Walls Irish American Whiskey, a spirits venture launched in 2022 by showrunners McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day.

We stopped by on a chilly and surprisingly busy Wednesday night. The crowd was a festive cross-section of Midtown Manhattanites pouring in after work: Finance bros bundled up in Ralph Lauren scarves, art students from Pratt Institute and a handful of past and future thrift shoppers on their way from the nearby Buffalo Exchange. We sat down at the bar beside a couple of guests gushing over the Paddy’s Pub decor. Two forty-somethings giggling about a recreation of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system set up by the front entrance.

Suddenly, it all clicked. “It’s Always Sunny” has been on TV for over twenty years, and pretty much everyone in the room was old enough to have grown up around some iteration of the show.

Co-owner and managing partner Luis Hernandez guided us through the menu. We had had the pleasure of stopping by a few months prior and were already familiar with the basics of Hello Hello’s “high-dive” concept. A clarified Vodka Redbull poured from tap; an Espresso Martini mixed with an in-house coffee liqueur; a Midori Cooler ripped straight from the 1970s, with decidedly 2025 additions of Mijenta tequila and wasabi. The Hello Hello bar program leans punchy and nostalgic, elevating each of its well-trodden recipes with at least one ingredient that’s bound to raise some eyebrows. (Case in point, its infamous Green Tea Gummy Bear shots.)

The quartet of Paddy’s Pub drinks played by similar rules. Sadly, we weren’t able to order the coconut-forward Fight Milk Eggnog, which had sold out just minutes earlier when a group of Four Walls brand representatives swung by to check out the digs. Instead, our attention was directed toward the Riot Juice, an ominous mix of whiskey, blue Gatorade, lemon and dry vermouth served inside the bar’s signature beer mug.

It looked like wiper fluid and drank like sunshine. Never in a million years would we have guessed that Gatorade and dry vermouth could work hand-in-hand, but the combination was delightfully tasty, with a breezy, light-on-its-feet vibe vaguely reminiscent of pink lemonade. Hernandez said that the drink was a test run for a Dewar’s Scotch and Yellow Gatorade highball that may soon find its way onto Hello Hello’s permanent menu. Hopefully, another drink that tastes a whole lot better than it looks.

Next on the agenda, the Whiskey Ham. An homage to the legendary Season 7 gag in which Danny DeVito is stranded at sea with his beloved rum-soaked ham, this was the only cocktail that was sure to make an appearance at the pop-up in some form or another. Alas, the “It’s Always Sunny” boys didn’t venture into cane spirits, so Hello Hello had to remix the concept, if only slightly. The Old Fashioned riff combined whiskey, sherry, demerara, banana and bitters with — you guessed it — a slice of whiskey ham shishkebabed onto a cocktail skewer.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your perspective), it wasn’t the kind of savory drink found a few miles downtown at Double Chicken Please. The cocktail played with plush flavors of chocolate, brown sugar and subtle oak, as if a chef had trimmed the glazed edges off a ham and marinated them in Irish whiskey for a few hours. Barely a hint of pork flavor in sight. The same could not be said for the garnish, which had a pleasantly boozy bite and a none-too-chewy texture.

The crowd was beginning to thin out by the time we reached our last cocktail, The Greenman. Presumably a reference to Charlie Day’s failed mascot of the same name, who spent more time getting into fist fights than cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles. The drink made use of whiskey, Creme de Cacao, mint, oat milk and matcha, and was, surprisingly, served piping hot.

If, like us, your favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip, then this might be one of the best cocktails of the year. The frothy, cereal-like vibe of oat milk took center stage, giving way to a heavy pour of whiskey and enough mint-chocolate flavor to make a York peppermint patty proud. Like all of the best drinks at Hello Hello, the cocktail balanced nostalgia with a blast of something new and wholly unexpected. We emptied the scalding hot glass within a matter of minutes.

New Yorkers can visit the Paddy’s Pub Experience at 151 W 26th St from now until December 26th. If you can’t make it before the deadline, we’d recommend Hello Hello for conversation-worthy cocktails and great ambiance any other time of the year.