Chris Mullins

Owner, McGillin’s Olde Ale House

Philadelphia, PA

“McGillin’s is way too special to our family and to the city. It is Philadelphia’s bar. I could not let it slip out of our family’s hands…and slip out of the city.”

Photo by: Hadiya Gaiters

Abraham Lincoln becomes President.

The Liberty Bell Cracks.

Philadelphia City Hall is built.

Prohibition ends.

All major events in history that are still younger than the birth of McGillin's Olde Ale House.

But what does it take to operate a bar like this?

For our 10th Owning It Feature, we sat down with Chris Mullins, owner of McGillin’s, who takes through the tavern’s history, and what it’s like owning the the oldest bar in the city.

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A sneak peak into our convo:

“McGillin’s has only been run by 2 families in 160 years which is I think part of why we’re still here. We’ve always been family owned, family run, family managed, and has been in my family since 1958.”

Chris imagined he would take over the family business when his parents were ready to retire, but took the plunge into McGillin's about 15 years sooner than he planned.

"While I was in Costa Rica, it was getting harder for my parents to run the business, and they were considering selling.  McGillin's is way too special to our family and to the city that it would have been painful to watch them sell it.  

So even though it was very premature, I knew I had to come home--I couldn’t let McGillin's slip out of our hands...and slip out of the city."  

Through fires and floods, McGillin's has stood strong.  And the pandemic is no different.  Chris and the team are committed to providing the best McGillin's experience to guests and staff alike.

One of our missions here is charity begins at home.  We have staff here 40, 50 years.  They’re our family, and to us, that’s important.   So now, any employee that is able to come back, we’re taking them back; we may not have full shifts, we may be training in different positions, but we’re taking everyone.