Drinker's Pub   

When Avram Hornik -- of Lucy's Hat Shop, Loie and Bar Noir fame -- opened the so-called "uptown" branch of his successful Old City tavern Drinker's, Rittenhouse area residents cried foul. After all, he'd gotten permits and licenses for the establishment under the guise of opening a kosher fish restaurant -- not a bar -- and then changed his plans at the last minute after claiming he wasn't able to get the necessary religious go-ahead. But ever since Drinker's Pub opened it's been more popular than any fish restaurant could've ever been -- and not just because of the $20 Sunday all-you-can-drink brunch ''Thirsty Monkey,'' which is a takeoff on Lucy's ''Drunken Monkey.'' Drinker's has become a magnet for the after-work crowd, who quickly embraced a place where they could kick back and have a few happy-hour beers ($2 pints and $5 pitchers) in a low-key environment, watch the game and nosh on a fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich. Hey, it was Elvis's favorite.