After experiencing a couple Philly bars, we were just looking for a nice place to sit back and relax and not deal with any attitude or staring or drunk guys. "The Blarney South" was calling our name from across the street. Looking in, it looked like there were a few people inside, but not too many. So, we went in. No cover - yay!
As we were quickly learning, most places in Philly seem to have the narrow bar in the front, and the larger, more open space with tables in the back. As was the case with this place. The "people" we saw were actually about 8 guys, sitting and drinking at the bar. The bartender was really friendly and nice and made a very good cosmopolitan. The drinks were reasonably priced at $3-5. Being an Irish bar, they, of course, had Guinness and Bass on tap.
Past the bar, we immediately walked past several empty tables and straight to the large booth in the back. The "room" in the back consisted of a vinyl-lined booth that surrounded the whole room and then tables next to them and chairs on the outside of the tables. The decor was all green, shamrocks, irish flags, irish beer signs, 70s mirrors, and a broken cuckoo clock. You could tell the bar was initially designed in the 70s with the vinyl booths and mirrors, but the other decor had been added recently (probably a bar that changes names a lot). Also, the whole bar was really well-lit.
We ended up meeting a large group of crazy, fun people and having a really fun time, and the bar kind of filled up with people looking for a place to unwind. Most everyone there was dressed up, but it wasn't because their initial plan was to come there. It was obviously a "hey, how 'bout that place?" kind of bar.
Overall, we had a really good time there. It may have been the nice bartender, it may have been the good drinks, but I'm pretty sure it was my friends and the people we met that made it really fun, which should be true of any bar.