The spot used to be The Cambridge restaurant, but the couple decided to do a pandemic pivot, "kind of funk it up a little bit," and embrace the outdoor space.
"We enjoy thrift shopping. We enjoy drunken online shopping that has soul," says Chris Fetfatzes who co-owns the place with his wife, Heather Annechiarico.
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The place is named for Chris' mother. "My mom could hang out in a room with a governmental dignitary and at the same time a homeless person," Chris says, and that high brow meets low brow sensibility applies to everything here.
"We're throwing caviar around a little bit," says Executive Chef D. DeMarco.
D.'s version of chips and dip adds caviar to the French onion dip. There's caviar in the spicy crab roll too.
"It's basically just a play on like spicy crab roll or Kani salad," D. says, "but like sandwich-ized."
The tartare toasty is a grilled cheese sandwich meets a classic beef tartare, and you can have an adult version of Dunkaroos for dessert.
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"We serve it with an Old Fashioned cocktail buttercream," D. says.
And because it's Sonny's cocktail Joint, there's a hefty drink menu.
"26 cocktails," says bar manager, Jordan Gulick, "You have some tequila cocktails. You have some bourbon cocktails, some gin cocktails."
And a rum-based tiki cocktail called Drink of Fortunes. The Real Green Dress, made with Asian liqueur and infused with green tea, is like an "alcoholic green juice."
And there's an electric blue rum-based Hawaiian Shirt topped with an umbrella that Jordan describes as "tacky and interesting."
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Chris and Heather opened their first restaurant in 2009, they now have five, three within a single block on South Street.
With Sonny's, they're hoping to raise the bar on your classic dive bar.
Sonny's Cocktail Joint | Facebook | Instagram
1508 South Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19146 (next to Wine Dive)
Open Wednesday-Saturday, 5pm-2am.