Though there are windows here, the front door can look a bit foreboding when closed, little suggestion readily apparent on whether McCusker’s is open that day or not. The vintage sign is marked by large green letters spelling out the name of the bar on a corrugated, white plastic background. The exterior is an exercise in radical dive bar simplicity to be sure, the interior a bit of contrast in its dense array of signage and memorabilia.
The formica bar sits in the center of the bar’s lone room, wooden spindle-style chairs lining the ridged bar rail. An ancient-looking beer tap sits in the middle of the counter, a handful of beers on tap mirroring the overall beer selection of McClusker’s Tavern in the availability of domestic standards and a handful of craft beer varieties. In keeping with time-honored dive bar tradition, an illuminated Spuds Mackenzie can be found perched atop the beer cooler.
The wood-paneled walls are well covered with beer signs, framed photos, sports memorabilia and the occasional neon sign. Noteworthy is the glass display case in the corner of McClusker’s Tavern where some of the more interesting pieces of sports memorabilia can be found, many of the selections bobbleheads depicting members of Philadelphia sports teams through the years. The blue stadium-style seats that sit along this front wall are remnants of the old Veterans Memorial Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Eagles before it was replaced.
