As an industry worker zipping around on your feet for hours, the best part of the day is enjoying a shift drink: a post-work alcoholic beverage to decompress, take a load off, and yes, enjoy a nice buzz before heading home. In this series, we’ll explore the many fantastic bar programs of Philadelphia where you can treat yourself after a hard days work. This time, in honor of the PyeongChang Winter Games, we stopped by a modern Korean-American gastropub called SouthGate, located on the corner of 18th and Lombard Streets.

After a long, busy weekend this ideally located bar was just what the doctor ordered. Modestly sized and modernly decorated SouthGate boasts an impressive cocktail menu, plus a carefully-selected craft beer menu. Sake is featured in a few cocktails, however, with SouthGate being a Korean pub, I decided to try out their house-infused soju, a Korean rice wine. Soju and sake are sometimes mistaken for each other, but soju is closer to vodka in both the production process and taste. While sake is brewed, soju is distilled from not only rice but sometimes also barley and sweet potatoes. SouthGate has many soju flavor options including cardamom -coconut, and grapefruit-hops-lemongrass.

Also, SouthGate has some Korean and Korean American dishes that are simply delicious. From bibimbap to dumplings, SouthGate has all the Korean staples, but perhaps their most popular dish is the “KFC” wings – “KFC” as in Korean Fried Chicken. These chicken wings are double fried and come with your choice of soy garlic sauce or spicy gochujang sauce. The skin was extremely crunchy yet the chicken was tender and juicy on the inside. A cold beer and these wings would make for the perfect happy hour or late night pairing.

And what better place to get in the Olympic spirit, so head on over to cheer on Americans competing in Pyeongchang!