It isn’t just the Best 50 Restaurants in Philadelphia on the pages of Philadelphia magazine this month. There’s also a profile by Jason Fagone of Fergus Carey, the man who made Fergie’s and Monk’s legendary.

Almost every night, Fergie is on the premises of one pub or another, sweeping the floor, hyping the band. He greets his repeat customers warmly, asking after their wives and parents and cats, and if he doesn’t know a person’s name, he makes sure to learn it. Other pub owners do that, too, but Fergie is just better at it. His mental Rolodex includes many hundreds of Philadelphia drinkers. And it’s reciprocal: Thousands of Philadelphia drinkers know who Fergus Carey is. He isn’t the most famous person in the city, but he may be the most uncomplicatedly beloved. When he walks in the city, it takes him 45 minutes to go two blocks, because people are always shouting his name, stopping him, telling him stories and jokes. It drives his two young kids nuts.

Fergie Carey Would Like to Make a Wee Toast [Philadelphia Magazine]