I'm a Jersey guy that works in NYC, but I used to date a South Philly Italian girl from the neighborhood a few years back and I spent a lot of time in South Philly and got to see the lay of the land first hand from someone from the neighborhood. How does this happen? I was in town to see the Knicks play at Sixers with the guys and met her that night out in South Philly after the game (dating a south philly Italian girl took probably 5 years off my life BTW WOW)....

Anyways-Basically, Go to any corner bar in South Philly and you will see some guys (A lot of them are heavy drinkers). Phil Narducci owns Philip's steaks (best cheese steak stand in Philly in my opinion). I saw a few guys from time to time at Philadium Tavern and funny story one time we were out drinking at Quattro in South Philly and I saw Sonny Mazzone throw a stink bomb into the mens room there and then proceed to run away giggling like a school girl....I have even seen some guys at the Chickies and Petes on Packer Ave in South Philly as well, which for anyone who is familiar is a major, mainstream commercial bar in South Philly (its not a typical corner bar). They're just like anyone else, you will see them out and about in South Philly (which is a tight knit community were everyone gossips and knows everyone and talks about everyone's
business)

That's my Jersey guy outsiders experience of South Philly from my 6 months of my life were I was spending almost every other weekend there, hope it answers your question.