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Dolphin Tavern
Category: Nightlife Adult Entertainment Adult Entertainment [Edit]
1539 S Broad StPhiladelphia, PA 19147
(215) 467-1752
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Yes
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
47 reviews for Dolphin Tavern
Review Highlights
"...enough about a place that only serves bud and miller lite."
(in 3 reviews)
"Best dive bar ever."
(in 6 reviews)
"Great Dancers."
(in 13 reviews)
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47 reviews in English
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Review from Erin G.
Philadelphia, PA
8/22/2011 ROTD 10/14/2011
You don't go for the beer. You don't go for the liquor. You go because you don't want to stay up late enough to go to The Dolphin, and you're craving a dirty dive with some dancing girls. It's conveniently located right off the Broad St. line (pre-game drinks, anyone?) and within walking distance to a place you might have been eating or drinking at earlier.
Yes, it's smoky, and trashy, and I have both accosted a terrible man there from across the bar and been befriended by drunks who actually called me to hang out the next weekend. Same night. And I always fall for at least one go-go dancer.
If you hate dives, don't go. If you think dives are bars named "The Dive," don't go. If you're interested in some actual Philadelphia history and character, sit yourself down at the bar. -
Review from Jay G.
Holmes, PA
11/2/2011
Wow !!! me and a coworker where working a few blocks away. And after reading some of the reviews. I had to stop in. Holy ship its worse then I thought. To start when you walk in you get hit with a strong smell of a mix of Ben Gay and baby powder ???. second there was patron /bum sleeping at the bar head right on bar as we walked by a even stronger smell of a Sasquatch. Ok we take a seat at the bar interrupting the server from her texting. With a attitude ask if wanted we wanted Miller light bud or yuengling. After laughing so hard looking and seeing the glow in the dark velvet painting on the wall I had to use the rest room.
OMG. If you want to knit a hat for the winter there is enough pubic hairs on sink and walls to make a hat coat and scarf. No toilet seat and sign that quotes if you need soap paper towels and toilet paper see bar made. That's great lol.next a I proceed to pee in the throft a swarm of gnats or ? come flying out of te drain. I got startled trying to protect my manhood. Still peeing swatting and using urin also as bug deterrent and take gnats mid flight. This by far is number one worst bathroom ever. The floor looked brown like the side of a ups truck. The dance stages like like plywood on top of empty beer boxes. Thank God there no dancing girls or I would in hospital from laughing so hard. After seeing the bathroom. We left without finishing the beers. If this caught fire it would not be worth the cost in water to put it. But I'm sure after telling people about it. I will inclined to take them here. Be back soon lolListed in: love me some cold one's
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Review from Adam L.
8/3/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I saw an overweight, scarred crack head dance naked to November Rain standing on a card table here. She was employed by the Dolphin.
The beer sucks. Unless Coors and Yunegling are you idea of tasty. The alcohol sucks. I asked what whiskey they had: Grandads and Evan Williams. The bathrooms sucks. It smells bad, has a trough to piss in, and once, I saw a barmaid hosing it down with pressure hose at the end of a particularly debauchery-filled nite. And in the winter, if you were cold, better hug the space heater, cause thats the only way to warm up in this hole.
And its wonderful.
Look- if you dont like the Dolphin, you're a jerk. You go to the Dolphin for bachelor parties, to see some skanky South Philly girls, and to drink cheap, crap liquor with your boys. If that is your goal, there is no better place than the Dolphin Tavern.Listed in: Go South (Philly), young man
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Review from Kevin H.
Philadelphia, PA
10/27/2011
Face it. It is what it is. A dive bar. And the dancers r working there for a reason. But if u want to go, drink ur beers while women take off their clothes and do their best to seem appealing. And let's face it, no strict rules, no fancy dress code, ur not getting constantly swarmend by dancers. And u actually have shot at nailing a stripper. This place is just what the dr. Ordered! So get over urself!
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Review from Bill D.
Philadelphia, PA
12/18/2010
Wanna buy $5 Miller Lite bottles, piss in a trough, watch strippers with C section scars and electrical tape on their nipples dance to Jay Z, while being surrounded by Cambodians playing pool? HUH????
Then come to The Dolphin.
Note about the bathroom: it is literally 2 feet wide so when you enter and exit, you have to spoon a drunk Cambodian who is taking a piss. Your crotch WILL touch his ass. AGAIN: filthy bathroom; trough urinal; drunk thug taking a piss; you, sidling by, not sure weather to go ass-to-ass or crotch-to-ass; you pick crotch-to-ass because, well, it just feels right. It makes for the kind of moment one generally tries to avoid.Listed in: Philly's Worst
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Review from peter b.
Philadelphia, PA
11/7/2010
Skanky. That's the adjective that springs to mind first when I think of the Dolphin Tavern. Skanky.
The dancers are skanky. The toilets are skanky, the clientele is skanky. the air itself is thick with skank. The entire place is foul, offensive, scabrous and utterly without any redeeming social value. A foul chancre on the ass of south philly. A repulsive reminder of all that is wrong, impure and unwholesome with Our Fair City.
Which is why I go there.
OK, so the strippers can't really move in anything resembling a sexy way. OK so the place smells like ass. OK so they serve you shots of whiskey in paper cups. What did you expect?
It's authentic south philly skank we're talking about here, and it has not, as of yet, been entirely denuded by hipsters seeking their daily irony quotient. Yet.
Look for the aged strippers sitting at the bar underneath their photos from the 50's when they danced there...if you ever wondered what Bettie Page looks like when she's 82, and after she smoked 117,000 cigarettes, then go to the Dolphin and look at the far wall.
The horror, the horror.
Kudos for authentic. Kudos for sexy-cum-skanky. And kudos for I can smoke while drinking and paste dollar bills between some boobies at the same time. Yes, boobies: there, I said it.
A great end-of-the-nite place to get plastered. If I could ever find me a girl who would go there and really dig it, I might be in love.
But not until. -
Review from Amanda C.
1/28/2011
Divey, not so clean, drink prices are super super cheap, and you may feel scared when walking around the bar alone.
On weekends there are ladies dancing precariously on folding card tables, electrical tape and band-aids suffice as pasties.
Unique mix of patrons-underage temple/u arts kids, mexicans, cambodians, old school south philly dudes.Listed in: Dives
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Review from Kelly P.
4/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
now i know where to go when i want to:
- get eyef*cked by a convict
- be offered pills
- smell like an ashtray
- feel creepy (and like it)
- become oddly aroused
- have an overall cheap thrillListed in: divetastic
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Review from Monica S.
4/23/2009
The Dolphin Tavern is where people go to die. I haven't been back in years, but my last experience left a stain on my soul. A little about the place...
The drinks come in glorified Dixie cups, except theirs are glass. If my memory serves me right, the dance floor is made up of large cubes with green neon lights in them. I highly recommend bar crashing with your friends and taking over the dance floor. As people have already mentioned, the Friday Night Revue features amateur ladies dancing with their chest boulders hanging out.
The DT isn't a respectable joint, but it's a good time if you're with friends. I stress coming with friends...and make sure they're friends who won't let you hop in a cab with a team of skeezy men who can't speak a lick of English. Yeeeeah.Listed in: In Search of Hipsters, Philly Vice City, Dive Tonight
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Review from Bill M.
12/22/2009 2 Check-ins Here
How can I possibly begin to best summarize my experience at the Dolphin? I think that go go dancers dancing fast paced to Slayer's "Angel of Death" should suffice (thank you "Sideshow" Danny Borneo!)!!!
It was a good dark and dreary night for a bar crawl, and that's exactly what the epic SNS Beer Crawl delivered upon. But with the exception of Devil's Den which can be a usual go to occurrence for me, The Dolphin was the place that delivered exactly what my piqued curiosity was expecting. Before I ever set foot in it, I had to respect the back story of Mom and all that it offered, and that's why I instantly had to include it in the piece that I did on the Top Dive Bars of Philadelphia (http://culturemob.com/...). And it didn't take long to realize that it was exactly what I imagined it to be.
I can't really tell you what beer they had beyond Miller Lite and Yuengling (if any), and the drinks came from the dingiest bottom of "the shelf". Beyond the incredible vintage style photos of dancers with names like "Eden" and "Rat", The Dolphin didn't really offer much in decor. But if your looking for some down and (to borrow from Josh F.) DIIIIIIIRRRRTTTYYYYYY fun that comes complete with a wacky jukebox, pool tables, and dancers; then The Dolphin is your complete and total salvation.
Everyone's right on about the dinge factor and "interesting" strippers. But what the Dolphin dishes out is a good dose of chaotic fun that goes slightly beyond moderation. What more could a boy ask for? I'm not going to answer that one either!Listed in: The Highlight Reel, South Philly, Philly Bars, Bizarre Philly, He took one guitar, juke box hero, stars in his eyes.
…">Jukebox Hero -
Review from Jason M.
Los Angeles, CA
8/17/2007
I love titty bars (pronounced: tit-TAY) there I said it. Now before every women on Yelp breaks out their rusty razors let me explain my position.
I'm not talking about the slimy places populated by mid life crisis misogynists escaping their suburban wives dreaming and staring a little too hard at the hot bodied 18 year old Puerto Rican girl with the big ass and the uncanny ability to separate said man from his money while he unabashedly sports a screwdriver in his action slacks pocket.
The kind of place I'm talking about the titties are secondary. Almost background. Where tossing a dollar on the stage to a well past her prime stripper is the same as an act of charity. Where a crazy old codger with an eye patch drops the "n" bomb and no one bats an eyelash cause they all know he's a crazy old codger and he'll be dead soon anyways. Where a crock pot full of soggy weiners temps only the most daring or drunk to ever indulge. The gritty unmistakable realness that decent middle America prefers to pretend doesn't exist.
This is the Dolphin, they have a pool table, cheap beer, you can bring a mixed crowd as there are as many girls as guys hanging there. Oh, and did I mention there are tit-TAYS? I think I did. -
Review from Casey B.
Brooklyn, NY
7/19/2011
I've gone here to play billiards. There are two tables in the back, one of which is usually reserved for "good" pool players while the other is for beginners like me. The guys there are usually locals who in my experience are always open to having a good-natured laugh when I accidentally sink the cue ball or miss a shot by miles. The beer prices are good and they have everybody's standby favorite: Yuengling. I haven't been on a night with dancers, but I hear they're pretty ghetto. For some people that's probably a plus!
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Review from Morgan H.
Philadelphia, PA
6/1/2009
What Sondra! nothing that sets it apart!?!?! Need I remind you of the Disco Dance floor that in its heyday lit up Ala "Saturday night fever" stylee! Now only 4 lights remain but its still a pretty bad ass dance floor. Aside from not being allowed to "drink and dance" *i shit you not* and the seedy dudes ready to dry hump any female attempting to dance without a dude already latched onto her, I'd say this is my new favorite place on earth!
The juke box is a wonderful amalgamation of country, 90's, rap, and Def Leppard. (and the Go-Go dancers dance to whatever you put on) The Go-Go girls were sorta hot, but i still think one of those girlies was hiding track marks. The pasties and black tape on the nipples had me sold! While there are some really sketchy dudes at this place but rest assured all they care about is the Ayass and Tittays already dancing on the bar.
The drinks are kinda tiny but cheap enough that it doesn't matter. (a round for 2 cost $7 bucks I think)
Overall its pretty awesome, Not too smokey, neat black light paintings on all the walls, and you will truly feel like you are in your parents disco bar. (seriously bring purell.)Listed in: My Neighborhood, The Places I Go Out
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Review from Susan G.
8/17/2007
Yeah....DIVE bar...and as far as I remember...the ladies wear Pasties.
The last time I was in here to play a little pool and have a few cheap drinks, a girl tried recruiting me for Roller Derby, quite an interesting conversation.
The place is dark, smelly and cheap. -
Review from J P.
Philadelphia, PA
6/1/2009
DIIIIIIIRRRRTTTYYYYYY.
Cheap watered down drinks, crazy dope jukebox, and "interesting" strippers. What more could a boy ask for? Don't answer that.
You might ask yourself "is this place for real???"
The answer is no. You just made it all up in your head. Now go home and take a shower. -
Review from Nash G.
Austin, TX
12/2/2008
Every self-respecting Philadelphian needs a Dolphin story. That said, this is a night-ender, not a night-starter. My own had something to do with a long night of dive-bars. This was the last stop before a house party, and was to be where we met some friends.
I don't think there's any misconceptions about the place once you get a good look at the facade. One of those bars that, thanks to regulars and by dint of reputation alone, seems to have avoided any aesthetic updates since sometime in the 60s or 70s. This is confirmed within.
You walk in to face a long, wide bar and a lot of dark stained wood. Take that however you want. (Pause for effect.) Keep walking back and you encounter a handful of booths, and then... yes - that's right: a multi-colored, under-lit disco floor. And the jukebox.
If you've timed it right, you are greeted at the door by an archetypal specimen of South Philadelphia beauty; my first experience was, by appearances, a heroin-wiry tattooed bulldog of a woman. And lest they betray their working-class clientele, the Dolphin had supplied not pasties but instead those adhesive dots you might see in a child's grade-school project - in a lovely neon orange.
My party edged past her piercing glare (she was doing some kind of stiff take on what I'd call a MTV Grind dance, perched on a plywood platform supported by milk crates) and made our way toward the booths. After buying beers, we huddled in a corner to watch the regulars, most of which seemed oblivious to the dancers. Then we met the cheese steak.
Mixing a tight bun / ponytail and poofy, frizzy bangs the way only Philly can, this woman was about five and a half feet tall minus stilettos, and looked as much the part of dive bar half-nude dancer as I could have imagined. Maybe about 160 lbs, she had minimally decorated herself with some kind of glitter and some extremely heavy eye makeup. I would say that she climbed onto her platform with little fanfare, but that understates it - it was more like a clomp, reminiscent of a horse hesitantly walking up a ramp. When she was situated (having lost a neon sticker during the trip), she yelled to a friend off 'stage': "I ain't even got to eat my f@#kin' dinner yet!"
Hence 'the cheese steak.' I'm sad to say it never materialized, but somehow one of us came up with the plan to go get her a cheese steak, which she could have on one precondition: that someone first stuff it in under the strap of her g-string.
I don't know if any of us ended up back at the Dolphin again, but I think it's worth it even if the story you get is one you immediately regret posting online. I offer myself as a perfect example. -
Review from Shenans ..
Onondaga, NY
10/9/2007
If your mom was going to join a "Dancing Revue" she would probably end up at the Dolphin.
This is a serious dive bar that happens to feature women, mostly a little past their prime, dancing on tables that are set inside the rectangular shaped bar at the top of every hour.
They only carry Bud and Miller Lite, there's .50 cent pool tables in the back, and a mixed crowd that makes you wonder if you're going to get stabbed, or meet a couple new friends. The focus is definitely not on the dancers, they just provide an interesting kitch factor.
The bar is dirty, the type of place where my boyfriend found puke in the urinal as early as 6pm. The dancers don't even have pasties, but opt for bandaids or medical tape instead, and know everybody's names. The bartenders sit around and shoot the shit, apply makeup, and smoke cigarettes like they're in their own living rooms, and the owner is a little old white-haired woman who chain smokes and yells at the baseball game on TV.
The only was to believe it, is to go a check it out yourself. It's definitely not like any place I have ever stepped foot into before. -
Review from Alexandra W.
Philadelphia, PA
12/7/2010
I second Stephen S.'s sentiments.
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Review from Craig N.
Philadelphia, PA
3/11/2011
Cum-skanky, crusted bathroom, cigs w/ lipsitck, empty coke bags, heroin track marks, cambodian gangstaz, crab covered toilet seats and domestic ales. These are a few of my favorite things.
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Review from Gustavo M.
Philadelphia, PA
7/17/2008
Friends came down to say happy birthday and we walked down to the Dolphin. Not a place to get shot at. Not even a place to get a shot of something. The women dancing had brown teeth and pasties and tattoos and a attitude. Girl friend gave one of them a dollar and she blew us off. Bar tender was nice, though. She wished me happy birthday and gave me a beer. "How old are you, babes?" she asked, and then looked at me in disbelief when I told her I was turning XX. Girl friend demanded I should get a lap dance, but bar tender said, "No babes, we don't that here."
"It's his birthday!" girl friend yelled.
"If we do it for him all of the others guy are going to ask for one and we ain't that kind of place," bar tender said as she left to catch two more beers for us. -
Review from Rand M.
Ridley Park, PA
4/24/2011
Great Bar, beers are little over priced though. Staff is amazing.
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Review from Thomas B.
Philadelphia, PA
1/31/2011
$4 terrible beers, ugly strippers, in south Philly, smoking indoors. But hey, you can order a pizza and eat it at the bar and hey you can smoke in the bar.
Patrons and Employees are friendly enough. Stay out of the bathrooms. If you want to hang somewhere seedy, but have it be safe and not get the benefits (cheap beer) the Dolphin is your bar. Come to think of it, I really don't know why am I writing a Yelp review about the Dolphin.
Also, the strict no cat policy needs to be changed. -
Review from Kate C.
Rockville, MD
8/1/2008
I use to live a couple of doors down...
The entertainment value is high... this place is like the bar in Star Wars... The previous reviewer wasn't lying about the use of elec tape. -
Review from stephen s.
Philadelphia, PA
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Review from Tim O.
Philadelphia, PA
3/25/2011
As a dive goes, this is as good as it gets. Christmas lights draped along the walls. Unsteady stools. And the bathroom was perfect. It even had the right color. That pale green tile. It was like i was pissing in a five foot wide sink with that old school trough i urinated in. the drinks may have been a bit on the high side for the neighborhood. $8 for a vodka tonic plus a yuengling. But overall, topless tattooed punk girls are dancing three feet from your face.
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Review from Aaron A.
Portland, OR
4/10/2009
Best dive bar ever!
$3.50 for everything!
50 Cents for pool!
Girls with pasty's dancing on the bar!
You can smoke cigarettes inside!
Bathrooms!
Nothing much else, I think I have been there one time without puking the same night. -
Review from Jason W.
Venice, CA
12/27/2008
You might want to take a cab here. It is a pretty long walk from center city Philadelphia. It is also in a little rough neighborhood. The bar is pretty cool. I saw the owner. She is like eighty years old and looks like she could shoot a shotgun.
The dancers are covered in a lot of tattoos. They dance a little funky. They remind me of suicide girls....sort of.. They do take a break and come out in intervals. I guess they disappear to some sort of back room. There are some strange characters here....pretty fun place...It has a lot of character. The dancers don't take it that seriously at all...nor the patrons. You could probably hustle a little money on the pool table but the guys are pretty good.Listed in: Philly
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Review from Max K.
Philadelphia, PA
3/22/2010
Beer: Miller Lite or Budweiser. $2.50 for a beer. Great Dance floor. Great Dancers. Great Bartenders. Great Claw Machine.
Great Great Great. I go to this bar regularly. -
Review from Sean M.
Philadelphia, PA
2/28/2010
I'll keep this short.
I have not enjoyed going to a new bar this much in ages. $4 for a Bud is a bit much but worth it to sit there and watch my fiancee make it rain on the go-go girls. -
Review from Christian F.
Philadelphia, PA
3/9/2009
Dear Dolphin owner,
Buy a case of Lager or even something "fancy" like MGD or Michelob and sell it. -
Review from Jason S.
Philadelphia, PA
6/19/2009 ROTD 8/8/2009
WOW! This place is great. Come for the two different varieties of bottled beer, stay for the depressing entertainment! One of the gems of the Dolphin that I haven't seen mentioned is the crane machine in the back. Packed to near bursting, the different varieties of fetish porno DVDs (Pregnant, grandpa) scattered throughout the interior are wonderful cherries on top of the smiling plush toys. I will absolutely go again!
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Review from Santana B.
Philadelphia, PA
9/20/2009
One of the few places you don't have to feel bad about tipping a stripper a quarter.
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Review from liza c.
Philadelphia, PA
9/30/2010
You can only really appreciate the Dolphin if you take it for what it is. And from what I see, it's a cheap place to play pool, dance, drink beer (don't get a mixed drink... that's a fair warning), and talk to / be amused by locals. If you can focus on the fact that this is ALL you're getting, you will be immensely happy. If you open your eyes wider, you will probably feel sea sick and nervous.
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Review from sondra l.
Providence, RI
5/31/2009
so, before last night i had never even heard of the dolphin... but i ended up here with a big group for my friends birthday. on the walk from ray's to the dolphin, they lead me to think that there were going to be super trashy toothless pregnant amputee strippers all over the place. obviously they exaggerated just a hair...
i'm just gonna say it... i loved the tits and i loved the asses. i'm a sucker for half naked girls, i could have been content to sit and watch all night. one out of three girls dancing behind the bar was actually highly attractive and incredibly toned. the lack of interest coming from the other two 'dancers' was in itself hilarious.
it's a smokey, dirty bar with shady characters, cheap beer and loud music... all in all, there is nothing that really sets this bar apart from any other south philly dive. -
Review from veronika p.
Philadelphia, PA
1/25/2008
The Dolphin is ridiculous. It looks like it's out of business from the outside. The girls here don't wear pasties or anything, they use those neon colored stickers that people use to put prices on things at garage sales. They only serve Bud and Miller Light, so I'd recommend going when you're already drunk. There are a few pool tables in the back. This is the kind of place where you're not going to want to use the bathroom (i.e. filthy).
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Review from John P.
Philadelphia, PA
2/7/2008
I've only been here once, one of the more unconventional strip clubs one might attend. Girls use electrical tape instead of pasties. Lets just say they aren't exactly professional strippers, if there is such a thing. There is some real good competition here if you like to shoot pool. Quite a few hustlers around when I was there. There's a vibe I just can't explain about this place. If you feel the need for a touch of sleaze, maybe you should try the Dolphin
Listed in: Night Time Fun, Divey Joints
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Review from Omar E.
Philadelphia, PA
10/9/2007
Shit, I almost forgot to review this place! Yeah, the good ole' Dolphin. Used to live right around the corner from this place. Not into overpriced "Gentlemen's Clubs" but the Dolphin is my kinda strip club-- well, not even that, a Go-Go Bar. Last time I was there it's main claim to fame is the local Hell's Angels President got clipped outside of there-- I guess that's the risk you run when you set up in Pagan's territory and start patching over their members. Yeah, Shenans and Jake's reviews got it right in the funniest of ways. Dolphin-- good place.
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Review from jennifer F.
Northern Liberties/ Fishtown, PA
8/24/2009
Embrace the agony and the ectasy.. This place needs to be visited at least once in your life. I live in south philly and NO, it's not in a bad neighborhood. So what if the selection of beer is nothing to write home about, I advise you to get drunk before you go. That way you won't be disappointed with the selection and the girls will look "prettier." Oh word to the wise - do not lock the bathroom door, you will literally get locked in and if there's no one on the other side waiting to use the facilities, you could be in there for quite some time.
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Review from scooter l.
Philadelphia, PA
11/10/2008
Later in the evening , you can often here me exclaiming "thissss is my fvoritee bar in the city" I take all of my favorite people here and if they like it we remain friends if not then they are cut-they just don't understand. This bar was one of the sailor bars when the naval yard was seeing more action. The women in the B&W photos that circle the bar...they really used to dance here. You have a 50/50 chance of having a great time and feeling good about humanity or wanting to take a hot shower and die when you leave. The cleanest ladies room in the city.
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Review from kathleen t.
Bowling Green, KY
1/20/2009
oh, jiminy christmas. another joint discovered courtesy of the ever-fab KW. really, if i am being honest, i think she oughtta host her own tour of awesome philthy spots, but that's a story for a different day.
and a different review, i suppose.
light up dancefloor? yeah...sure. and there's pool. and cheap bud bottles...and some...ambiance. and occasionally, you see boobs. but, should you end up seeing said boobs--make sure you fucking tip, you cheap bastards. the ladies deserve it...
