Fishtown is about to get a tiny new kind of night out: a 15-seat bar where craft cocktails, small plates, and full-album listening share the same room. Top Dog Vinyl is set to soft-open in September, giving Philadelphia another answer to the increasingly popular question of what to do while a record spins.
Top Dog Cocktails owner Ken Smukler is behind the concept, which extends the Pennsylvania-born brand beyond its canned products. The company’s own Top Dog Cocktails story says its drinks are built with premium spirits and real ingredients, while WhatNow Philadelphia reports the brand launched in 2022 and sold more than 1 million canned cocktails in its first three years.
A Former ATM Space Gets An Analog Makeover
The Fishtown room will occupy a former Chase Bank ATM space, but the planned mood is more hi-fi hideaway than financial-services annex. Smukler described the project as an “analog move in a digital world” in an interview with WhatNow Philadelphia. The design is expected to blend black-and-white kissa-bar-inspired interiors with amber lighting, neon touches, and mirrors made by a local artist.
Top Dog Vinyl is not being pitched as a jazz museum with a cocktail menu. The space will play music across genres, host DJ nights, and build playlists around guests’ preferences, while a small-plates menu is still in development. That puts the concept in conversation with Philadelphia’s growing collection of vinyl-focused bars, listening rooms, and music venues, a trend documented by Philadelphia magazine.
The Concept Will Also Land Beneath The Flash
A second Top Dog Vinyl is planned beneath The Flash, a live entertainment venue in Kennett Square. The downstairs space could serve as a music-school classroom during the day and a green room for performers at night, giving the cocktail bar a useful backstage connection rather than just another place to park a turntable. Smukler has also floated partnerships with nonprofits and WXPN as the concept develops.
The expansion is a notable next step for a Philadelphia-area beverage brand that has built its business around ready-to-drink convenience. The Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Smukler sees Fishtown as “ground zero” for the brand’s young professional target audience. If the small-room format works, the company says additional Top Dog Vinyl locations are planned for Manayunk and Conshohocken.
