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Mad River Manayunk
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Roxborough, Manayunk
4100 Main St
Philadelphia, PA 19127
(215) 482-2666
4100 Main St
Philadelphia, PA 19127
(215) 482-2666
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Music:
- DJ
- Best Nights:
- Wed, Sat, Sun
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- Yes
10 reviews for Mad River Manayunk
You just have to know what you're getting yourself into.
Weekends are overfilled and compacted, so you must buy drinks double-fisted (or you can forget about drinking beyond sufficient or permitted limits). The music is loud, it's dark, you can't converse, and every other person is attempting their best dance moves, which makes for an interesting scene. You'll be witness to the spillage of multiple beverages as peeps perfect their bump and grind skills -- heavy on the bump. And, you will stick to the floor as if it were coated in adhesive.
In short, if you like to drink and don't like to dance. Don't bother.
(Oh, and for those of you who remembered when it was Grape Street. It's like the same exact thing only less thug).
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
the place doesn't hold a candle to grape street's ghost.
they serve mediocre lunch now, however I was the only taker on the particular afternoon I went to see the new place. the usual grape street entrance was closed off and looked like ghost town so I almost left, but then worked my way around to the front of the establishment and found that the renovation had caused a total makeover of the place, for the worse. the place was dirty and desolate and looked like a cardboard box. I had seen pictures and expected improvements to the existing structure, whereas they actually have gutted everything. I reluctantly ordered an appetizer so I could have another look around. the bartender told me that the new brand didn't plan to be a music venue, nor need to be. I wondered if she had ever even been to the grape street, which often was a destination on Main Street for 20somethings and 30somethings. always pretty full of people on the outdoor deck, in the live music room, and in the DJ area. It was one of the premier live music venues in Philadelphia for several years! she also had the gall to tell everyone in the room via a not-too private conversation with the barback what brand of birth control she endorses, and with that info I decided to take my appetite elsewhere.
Holy crap I haven't been in this establishment since it was last called Chemistry and I was a senior in college, so walking into the bar last Thursday was nostalgic for me. So here's the breakdown:
Food: B - Average bar food, reasonable prices. I got the turkey sliders (3) - cute as heck and actually quite filling and good, but I was disappointed that for 8 bucks it didn't even come with fries. And the wings were decent.
Service: C - We ordered 2 entrees and 2 appetizers at the bar and it took them about an hour and alot of nagging for us to get our food. Lack of response from the waitress we ordered from would have given them an F, but one of the bartenders was a little bit more helpful and eventually they ended up giving the 3 of us free beers.
Decor: B+ - Because every corner I turned brought back good memories of double-fisted, college nights, and seeing the original "club" turn into a dining area. One thing that was annoying was there lack of seating... was there to watch tournament games and couldn't grab a table at first, and noticed the amount of wasted space between their existing tables.
People thought this was:
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The owner is a jerk. I went looking for a job bartending, as a part time thing, an they explained to me that I didn't fit the profile. I said: what do you mean I have years of experience?
Apparently you need to be a 110 lbs, skanky, half-dressed girl to work there.
I am pretty sure they don't fall under equal opportunity employer
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Funny (1)
Mad River in manayunk just opened last weekend in the building that used to house Grape Street, and I had the pleasure of attending on Friday, the first night they were open. They did a great job of publicizing it - word of the opening spread everywhere, and they certainly had a large crowd on Friday (and I'm sure an even larger crowd Saturday for the official grand opening party.) No line when I went over around 9:30, but a huge line by the time I left around 11.
It's a weird combination of Mad River in old city and what Grape Street used to be. The decor and look is very similar to Old City Mad River, but you can't escape the fact that you're in the old Grape Street. The rooms are laid out the same (two large rooms downstairs and small room upstairs), and the whole time I felt like I was at Grape Street, only with way crappier music. The music was sing-a-long cover band type stuff which is fine, but I would have liked something to dance to.
2.5 stars for now... hard to judge what this place will be like after opening weekend. I'm hoping it will add a good spacious place to dance which manayunk is sorely in need of.
People thought this was:
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I was contacted via yelp email by an orange-question-mark-head named Stevie B., who claims to be the Mad River Manayunk DJ. According to him, because of MY review, he is now booking weddings at $1200 a pop! Go Stevie B.! Can a sister get a finders fee?!
People thought this was:
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
12/7/2008
After my last Mad River experience in Old City, I never thought I'd set foot in one again-- that is,… Read more »
maybe it was the crowd, but the place had no heart...and while the wait staff et al were friendly, there was something about the attitude...if I had to call it something, it was that there was some sort of superior attitude, and that just doesn't fly for this kind of place. I will probably try it again, but they need to do a little work with me to get to the next star.
We went to the new Mad River that used to be Grape Street that used to be Chemistry for a friend's birthday. The decor seemed odd, the music even stranger. In our 3 hours there, the dj switched from Pearl Jam to Beyonce to playing drunk college girl favorite's like Jesse's Girl and Shout. Odd.
They did add some neat booths to the front of the bar that each have their own TV. Might be a fun spot to watch a game if you can get there early enough to snag one of the booths. All in all, I'd rather stay home.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
Ok so the review gets bumped up because of the now fixed bathroom situation and the nice people working at the door that evening. I went to a private party here last week and cannot complain at all because we were in a seperate room so it was away from the long lines and or massive crowd. Around 11pm the room opened up to the rest of the bar and it got substantially more crowded but not to the point it was last time I was there..thank god!
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
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- Cool (1)
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/17/2008
Well this was a huge disapointment. Keyword is waiting--You will be doing a lot of this here.
WAY too… Read more »
since this used to be the old grape st i thought it was my duty to check out what they did with the place. we ventured in after strolling the manayunk arts festival to a very large sports bar looking area. huge booths with their own LCD's. thumbs up there. we roamed around the place checking out the room where grape st used to have bands. now its just a big open room with a bar. eh...that doesnt seem like to much fun. we went out the deck for some drinks. the bartender was very nice and on top of the empty beers so the service was right on. we also orderd some cheesesteak eggrolls that were way overcooked. i was hungry so they did the job but they could have been cooked correctly. not a bad place but there really is absolutely no character the the spot.
