The origin of the Philadelphia dive bar’s name is a bit hazy, research suggesting that Oscar Weiner purchased the bar in 1972, threw his name on the wall and promptly sold it in 1974 to Harry Chodak, who bought both the business and the building. The decorations and architectural elements found inside Oscar’s Tavern largely date to the space’s 1972 opening, including the ornate, vintage lamps that hang over the space and bathe everything in a dim, red glow.
Red is very much the color of choice here, first seen painted halfway up the Philadelphia dive bar’s front wall and replicated across nearly every surface, light source and decoration inside. Even the placements found on each red vinyl-lined booth are red, depicting a retro-style cheat sheet on cocktails and their appropriate drinking vessels. The lamps overhead are matched by fixtures that jut out from the Oscar’s Tavern walls, the red light coming from them paired well with the wood paneling found through the space.
The red bar is backed by a red wall lined with intense shelving that display’s the bar’s liquor and beer options. String lights hang over the bar and from the air ducts overhead, adding to the dive bar glow felt throughout Oscar’s Tavern. Faded and stained drop ceiling tiles hang overhead, presiding over walls filled with posters and the occasional burst of beer sign neon. Spindle-style wooden partitions separate some of the booths in back, breaking up what is otherwise a single room into slightly secluded drinking snugs.
