{"id":216163,"date":"2026-06-11T04:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/216163\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T04:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:09:07","slug":"first-round-of-extended-hours-permits-approved-for-philadelphia-bars-ahead-of-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/216163\/","title":{"rendered":"First round of extended-hours permits approved for Philadelphia bars ahead of 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agapios Bouikidis, the owner of 1518 Bar and Grill in Center City, doesn’t hesitate when he talks about America.<\/p>\n

“America is the best country in the world,” Bouikidis said. “I love America.” <\/p>\n

The Greece native immigrated to the United States in 1975 and says he’s grateful for the opportunities he’s found here over the past five decades.<\/p>\n

As Philadelphia prepares to host FIFA World Cup matches and celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Bouikidis is looking forward to welcoming visitors through the doors of his restaurant on Sansom Street.<\/p>\n

“I love soccer, all my life,” he said. “I used to play soccer when I was young.”<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Bouikidis received a Philadelphia 250 permit<\/a> in the mail, allowing his bar to remain open until 4 a.m.<\/a> beginning Thursday. The establishment typically closes at 2 a.m.<\/p>\n

The permit program allows approved businesses to extend their operating hours by an extra two hours from June 11 through July 20, during a summer packed with major events.<\/p>\n

“It’s gonna be good for the city. It’s good for the business,” Bouikidis said. “All these people come to Philadelphia, gonna have a good time.”<\/p>\n

According to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board<\/a>, 17 of 65 Philadelphia 250 permit applications were approved as of Wednesday. Another 42 applications remained under review, while six had been canceled.<\/p>\n

Bouikidis said the extended hours will allow him to serve more customers during what many expect to be a busy summer.<\/p>\n

Industry leaders say the extended-hours permits are designed to help businesses accommodate visitors safely during the major events.<\/p>\n

“We think it’s a much better plan to have all these folks being served professionally than just let loose on the city at 2 a.m.,” said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.<\/p>\n

Customers are also looking forward to the months ahead.<\/p>\n

Amaya Hemmings, who has played soccer since she was 3 years old, said she plans to attend as many World Cup watch parties as possible.<\/p>\n

“Philly is a big sports city, so it’s gonna be crazy,” Hemmings said.<\/p>\n

Her friend, Finley McFadden, says she’s not as passionate about soccer but is still excited about the atmosphere the tournament is expected to bring.<\/p>\n

“The bars are staying open until four, so I’m really excited,” McFadden said. “I’m in college so I feel like I’ve been preparing for this.”<\/p>\n

For Bouikidis, the summer ahead represents more than later closing times.<\/p>\n

“America is built by immigrants, different nationalities,” he said.<\/p>\n

As Philadelphia prepares to welcome visitors from around the world, Bouikidis says he’ll be ready to welcome them, too.<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agapios Bouikidis, the owner of 1518 Bar and Grill in Center City, doesn’t hesitate when he talks about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[43518,1157,69,71,70,2236],"class_list":["post-216163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america-at-250","tag-center-city","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}