Palizzi Social Club

For nearly a century, the Filippo Palizzi Social Club cranked along quietly behind a heavy unmarked door, a time-warp hangout exclusively for immigrant men from Vasto, Italy (Philly features a large population from the region of Abruzzo). Now, chef and South Philly native Joey Baldino, a descendant of the late proprietor, has updated the space and opened it to the public—sort of. You need to hold a membership card, or be buddies with a card-carrying patron of the place, to get in. Once you do, however, everything behind the cash-only bar is all yours—the menu features unfussy and masterfully executed renditions on classics, including the espresso martini, Aperol Spritz and the Negroni (in several forms).