Rittenhouse Tavern Potato cannons and classic Sazeracs off the Square

It's not often you get to spend time in an old mansion, at least not since you, your dog, and that redhead with the great rack totally foiled Old Man Johnson's scheme to defraud his nephew's rightful will claim. Helping ensure you Scooby-Doo it more often: Rittenhouse Tavern.

Occupying most of the ground floor of the historic Wetherill mansion, RT's a brasserie-cum-bar from an ex-Le Bec chef, serving up a delicately seasoned set of proteins in a garden-wrapping pair of dining rooms that sport enough wood and leather, it's a wonder Halle Berry and the four horny dudes who actually watched Catwoman aren't involved.

Like Lou Williams' Butterfinger bar whenever he's spending time with Spencer Hawes and Elton Brand, the menu's also split three ways: snacks (crispy frog legs & cream cheese...), starters (sweetbread salad, radish & peppercorn fluke crudo…), and mains, which include an NJ-sourced striped bass w/ hedgehog mushrooms and a hanger steak w/ (boom!) potato cannon.

And because, according to the most recent studies, drinking has been linked to "fun-ass times", you'll down a curated list of menu-complementing reds & whites, a ton of beers (from Twin Lakes Greenville ale to Full Pint White Lightning wit), and reinvented classics like a brandy & Herbsaint-free Sazerac (replaced with rye & absinthe), plus customs like a "lemonade" full of rum & mint.

But wait, there's more: they're also doing further food-coma-ers, like caramelized white choco bread pudding, a dark chocolate tarte w/ milk crumble, and blueberry red wine soup -- though if you have room for one of these too, it's your stomach that might be the Mystery Machine.