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Categories: Restaurants, Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Society Hill$1 16oz. Pabst Blue Ribbon pounders every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights 7 - 11PM
Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
I generally avoid the South St area at all costs, but I have found myself at Tattooed Moms twice in recent weeks.
Here's the deal- I wouldn't go out of my way to go here, but if I'm in the area and want to chill with a few friends and have a cheap beer, it's great. I have been to Sugar Mom's many times but I hate how crowded it can get on the weekends. The thing I like about Tattooed Moms is there seems to be less of an obnoxious crowd. Service is good and the bartenders are friendly.
We walked in on Saturday night after a show at the TLA and there was enough room for our whole group to sit down upstairs. Nice laid back dive bar. The women's room leaves a little to be desired, but that's par for the course. Can't speak for the food.
I have yet to have a bad experience here, minus the standard knowing what you want to eat to find out they are out of it (boo since this happened to me twice- IN A ROW!) and having your tastebuds scramble for what they are wanting again. The tots are always A+ and a must have, the vegan burger can't really be compared to any other in the city in my opinion- from the texture to the taste it's really delicious. They cater to all kinds of diets (vegetarians/vegans AND meat eaters) and they do it well on all sides. I have yet to experience the taco tuesdays, but i'm 100% in with the perogie wednesdays (50 cent perogies!).
The beer selection is great, they always have PBR on special from cans (1.00-1.50 depending on the night/special) and draft. I love woodchuck, and woodchuck pear is what I always love to order.
Now, the one downside (for me, not 80% of the people who come here) is the upstairs back room- it reminds me of bars back home in michigan from the smoking. I just hate smelling like old cigarettes and try to avoid it as much as possible but it's one of the reasons a lot of my friends like to come here so i'll never really complain.
The epicenter of the hipster universe.
Fill it with resin now, fast, instantaneously.
And it will go down in history as the first and last word on the hipster phenomenon.
Disclaimer: not that there is anything wrong with that. of course. but will one hipster please stand up and say, "yes, I am a hipster, a perfect beautiful hipster." And then perhaps the others will get the hint that self-loathing is categorically unattractive.
Sure it's a greasy hipster haven, but granted, it's really not such a bad place to grab a cheap drink. One of South Street's better choices.
I like mom's because it's chill, the beers are cheap, and like someone else mentioned, the upstairs gives you more of a house party vibe than a shitty bar on south street vibe. Which actually kind of annoys me because it'd be cheaper to drink at a house party, but since no one's having a house party worth attending at the moment, this'll do.
I also like that I can get a beer by exchanging a few short (polite) words with any bartender, they're not assholes and I don't have to have my tits hanging out to avoid waiting 20 minutes.
I prefer less crowded bars with cheap strong mixed drinks, but that's because I'm curmudgeony so I suck it up since I live nearby and multiple friends work on stupid South St.
This is easily my favorite bar on South but that's not really a fair scale to put them on because when your competition is Mako's it ain't tough to be on top.
Oh and the jukebox is pretty awesome and it's unusual to hear only crappy music.
Since some other reviewers have made the tattooed/sugar moms comparision, I'll say that the biggest difference for me is that almost every time I go to Sugar Moms I spend most of the night saying "UGHHHHH who played this garbage????" while at tattooed moms your more likely to hear awesome old punk rock at best and at worst some so-so background music.
Can't complain about the prices -- but feeling like you have to shower afterwards...not worth it.
Maybe it isn't dirty - - just like the clientele go out of their way to look dirty but probably aren't...however I won't find that out first hand...never stepping in there again.
Its Tuesday night. "Oh Shit! Is it too late to get some tacos?!" Yesssss Taco Tuesdays are so good. You can find me pushing through the crust punks, tourists, and babies momma's that populate south street to grab some tacos and drink PBR. Tattooed Mom's is such a good bar in such an unfortunate location. Regardless this is a must see bar in Philadelphia.
The owner, music, food, drinks, atmosphere, craft nights, and people make this one of Philadelphia's best bars.
I love this bar. The decor, the waitstaff. The grimy upstairs.
The cheap food and beer.
This is the best bar in Philly.
The upstairs is the perfect dive while the downstairs is respectfully cute/cool. The jukebox has everything from Naughty by Nature to the Subhumans. The drink deals are great. The bar food is solid with vegan options. The two couches are comfortable and make you feel like you are drinking at a house party rather than on sometimes-douchey South Street, especially when you have your feet on the coffee table and the couple sitting next to you is making out.
Love it here.. And super psyched that I was given the "Mom's" chip..
Got here purely by chance and as an out-of-towner.
Impressions. Okay food, beer, decor downstairs. The downstairs would rate a 3.5 on this scale. I would do this again.
Upstairs? Toxic slack. These people are to Philly what hippies are to Boulder, only no one cares. Goatees and sunglasses and layers of thrift store dog blankets. Oh, my!
To be fair, I was younger once. Hung with the fashionably outscast. I've seen my share of dive bars and scenes. The Comet Tavern. O'Cayz Corral. Was it really this bad? It seemed so forced and contrite, yet what is a slacker to do but slack, only here it reaches critical mass. Not even worth the morbid curiosity of such a scene.
History lesson. By the early 80's, John Lydon was with P.I.L. and buying a house in Hollywood. Stop the pretension of assocation.
This is the kind of place you can imagine the Sex Pistols hanging out at in the early 80s, it's a really unique spot (especially the second floor bar/lounge area). The first floor is a fairy typical bar and seating area, they've got a decent looking menu, some cheap beer specials, weekly specials and events, and baskets of carnival/dollar store type toys which is pretty funny and adds to the unique vibe to the place. The second floor is completely outrageous with it's graffiti and photo plastered walls, they've got a second bar upstairs, a pool table, and plenty of lounge type seating including a few bumper cars to sit around in. Tattooed Mom is a fun and unique spot and is worth checking out if only for a couple cheap beers and a game of pool.
This place is pretty great. It's a very relaxed atmosphere which is great for hanging out. They have pretty cheap drinks, especially PBR. I thoroughly enjoy cheap drinks. I haven't really checked, but I don't get the feeling they have a lot of beers to choose from. Beer (other than PBR) doesn't seem to be what most people come here for though. The bar tenders and waiters are friendly, sometimes surly and quick. The food isn't the best, but it's not bad either. They have a lot of veggie and vegan options and different food specials everyday (I think). You will find bowls of candy on the tables, usually dum-dums and chocolate at the bar.
cheap booze + cheap food + free candy = WIN
The decor is eclectic and fun, just like their patrons. It's a decent size as well. I'm told there is an upstairs with smoking, but have never ventured up there.
Give this place a go, it's fun!
Yeah, I guess I can give Mom's five majical stars. It's got what I'm looking for in a bar.
Things like: tatted up drunk dudes that I want to bang, fatteningly delicious food, drink specials, sushi-grade jukebox(es), smoking area, filthy rockandroll graffiti, surly cocktail waitress.
They also have some things that I didn't necessarily want, but make other people like it a real lot. Things like: roller coaster cars, carpeted non-sketchy area, pool tables, and toy figures.
An area of contention is a thing that, as far as I know, they DON'T have....ROCK AND ROLL DANCE PARTIES! ROCK AND ROLL DANCE PARTIES! Come on, the smoking room is perrrrfect for that shit! Just think of the possibilities for iniquity!
You could picture sid vicous sitting in one of the bumper cars in with his nancy in the back room.
I mean bumper cars. It attracts all walks of life and ages. It is a younger crowd but nobody really cares. If you like dive bars this is a good one. Say hi to Sparks.
I really like this place for the following reasons:
1. Tater tots -- just like the cafeteria back in school and just as good as you remember them.
2. Cheap beer.
3. Lots of color and weird decor.
4. Lots of colorful and weird patrons.
5. Dum dum lollipops and made-in-China toys to play with -- no one else does this and it is SO SMART. We play throughout the meal/drinks.
The only reason I didn't give five stars is that the service is kind of iffy sometimes. It's never horrific, but it's rarely phenomenal either. Which, maybe amazing service is not what you want from a dive bar, but I do. That said, it's totally livable conditions and we eat/drink here at least once a month.
Well, I feel like a real lush for having back-to-back reviews in which my drunkenness played the starring role, but, as my mother would say, them's the breaks. Sue G., Hunter (my boyfriend), and I stumbled (literally, at least in my case) in here after the incredibly awesome UYE at ZoT last night (thanks to Bill for organizing!). Unfortunately, however, ZoT managed to run me pretty dry, so I was happy to find a cheap dive that was close by. Though I usually turn my nose up at shitty beer, I was too drunk at this point to care. The PBR went down like water.
I enjoyed their decorations. It reminded me of an old ice cream parlor, just with booze instead of ice cream. The people there were... interesting, to say the least. They made us laugh, and not much beats laughing at people when you're drunk.
I don't remember seeing many games, but there was a big bowl of Dum-Dum lollipops in front of us, which brought on a welcome wave of nostalgia.
Extra star for the mouse-friend that scuttled across the floor, which drove Sue to push her beer as far away from her as possible and yell at the bartender. Good times.
Nested amongst the print shops and cheesesteak joints along South Street is this great little dive. The first thing I noticed was the decor, which is unlike any bar I've seen. First off, carpet?!? In a dive bar? Are those action figurines on the shelves? Are the walls seriously this disgusting sea green color? Are those G.I. Joes on the bar, with little jumping frogs and spider rings? Are those Buddah statues guarding the liquor? Is that a naked lady painting above the bar?
Confusion soon turned to awe.
I was handed a $1 PBR Tall Boy by the disgruntled and tattooed (who would've guessed?) bartender, and started up a conversation with a tattooed regular (see a theme here anybody?). A sports discussion came up and I jokingly brought up how the Penguins (my team) were playing in the Stanley Cup, and got the full wrath of two Philadelphia sports fans. Wouldn't recommend doing that. We reconciled over our multal love of Yeungling and the naked lady painting.
The next day, I awoke with 2 G.I. Joes in my pocket. It made me smile.
"Punk's not dead, punk's noooot dead" at Tattooed Moms.
Great place to get pissed... I can't speak for the food, although I've had the veggie wings (pierogies) over at Sugarmom's and those are always good. I usually go upstairs when i'm there, just because I love all the punk nostalgia plastered all over the walls. It's a fun place to start or end your night... the beer is cheap enough, and it seems the bar food selection is decent. If you're into gritty bars, and appreciate the legacy of the punk scene, you must experience Tattooed Mom's.
Mom's is the perfect example of how a South Street bar should be (or at least how they all used to be!).
Downstairs is a warm and comfy lounge/bar area to converse, drink and eat with your friends or complete strangers. There is nary a bad vibe every in the building. The menu is tasty bar fare including cheese fries, chicken fingers and possibly south Philly's best pirogies.
Upstairs is a different world altogether. Upstairs looks of the long, lost dream of Punk Rock. 2 pool tables surrounded by old couches and walls littered with graffiti welcome you as you come from the downstairs lounge. There's a jukebox on the wall that is sure to have even the most tightassed of music critics favorites listed. To your left are a few steps leading to the bar, which is always packed, but everyone is nice enough to let you through. The bartenders are also very aware of the area and will often yell over the crowd to get you a drink if you can't get to the bar. Drink pricing is standard Philly style. Imports seem to run upwards around $4-$6 while drafts and domestics are cheaper. There are always specials going on, mostly involving PBR's for a couple bucks.
If you keep walking past the bar you come to the upstairs lounge. This is classic South Philly Punk style and reminds me why I love this city. A few ratty couches and low tables are interspersed with tilt-a-whirl and bumper-cars. Lets not forget the graffiti here either. Everyone from Elvis to Joey Ramone to Jesus is drawn or hanging somewhere on the walls. This room also has access to the upstairs bathrooms which people seem to have a hard time finding.
So come down, bring your sharpie, your friends and a good time. Tattooed Mom's is one of the last bastions of what South Street used to be.
Tmom's scores big on bar food. The burgers are awesome because they use potato buns, the fries are awesome because they're waffled and the corn dogs are awesome because they're corn dogs. Mom's also has a vegetarian/vegan menu to boot! There's almost always a drink and food special, so you're never really missing out.
2 pool tables upstairs and a back room where you can smoke. At Tmom's, you can do drunks 'n' crafts and they let you graffiti on their walls. It's a throw'em back establishment and they typically play great music (The Smiths meets crust punk). It's a weekly refuge for me.
A truly great Philly dive!
I've been going to Tattooed Mom for years, and there's a reason I keep coming back. First...they have a good mix of beers on tap...including a few local Philly beers, they have good service. Anyone who says they don't...probably doesn't know what a dive bar is. They have a sneaky-good menu. There are lots of veggie & a few vegan friendly items....and you can't beat the pierogi special!
The crowd tends to lean towards the tattooed, punk culture...but don't let that mislead you...this is a great drinker's bar. There is no pretense...despite what a few mis-guided people would have you think. Everyone is welcome here.
Also...kudos for the whoop-ass jukebox.
Tattooed Mom is a great dive where one can rock drafts from PBR to Sierra Anniversarys. There were some fine ladies, friendly locals and a lot of texture in atmosphere. Works for me.
I've been going to Mom's for over ten years, and it's generally a great place to hang out, have a beer, and get some good bar food. The burgers, tacos, nachos, and waffle fries are always very good, and they almost always have cider on tap.
I avoid Mom's on the weekends, though, because the hipster quotient is way too high for my taste, and people are usually crammed in the place like sardines. Weeknights are the time to hit Mom's
Fact or Crap?
The game Fact or Crap is awesome and needs to be played while enjoying inexpensive beer and standard bar food enhanced to awesomeness by the game Fact or Crap.
Fact, although redundantly
Tattooed Mom: frequent this bar when in the mood for an escape into childhood games, inexpensive beers, standard "fast food" bar food and a simple charming dive meets hipster atmosphere.
I take everything I said back, (except the part about terror sucking. they still suck.)
I had never been to the bar, and so a bad first experience on behalf of my significant other left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and the desire to never really go here.
But! He took me here on pierogie night, and once again on cheap burger night and the food and the cheap beer made up for everything. Plus there was a lack of douchebags, so that ruled.
And I love the little crappy toys and dum dums everywhere!
Also their veggie burger was fantastic.
I will come back to you, and I will come back to you often.
Some beatdown hardcore douchebag in a terror shirt (seriously dude they suck) stole my boyfriend's… Read more »
Mom's is a dirty dive bar upstairs (which allows smoking) and a charming colorful saloon downstairs. The place also has really good bar food. My favorite is the vegan BLT with extra vegenaise (I don't know why, I'm not vegan, but I like the fake mayo way better than the real stuff), always with a side of waffle fries. Taco Tuesday is a great deal with half-price margaritas and dollar tacos, as is the pierogie Wednesday with pierogies for a quarter each. I like to come here with my friends and act cool with all the punk rockers upstairs. Just kidding.
I'm the 88th person to review Mom's, so you don't really NEED me to tell you about it, but I love this place so much, I just feel compelled to tell you anyway.
This is pretty much my favorite bar ever. Yes, it can get a tad hipster/scenesterish, depending on when you're there, but I think what I like about Mom's is that it's not a fashion show, it's not a popularity contest - pretty much all walks come here, and they're in too good a mood while they're here to judge you, because it's such a fun place. People who don't like hipsters can go to Mom's and inadvertently befriend one. And hipsters may walk out with a new "bro" pal or "dude" friend. You never know.
In addition to good vibes and nice staff, TM's gets an A+ for the deliciosity of their bar food and kitschy, weird, dirty garage band/basement vibe decor.
The epitome of a dive bar, but in a good sense. Small but cheap selection of beer, some finger food, pool table and bumper cars - what else does one need??
Taco Tuesday makes my week better. The food at Tattoed Mom is cheap and delicious. You could make most of this bar food in less than 30 min in your own kitchen, but the fact that someone else made it, makes it so appealing. The Spanish fries are great.
The food is super cheap, making it a great place to go in the summer after work. There are great specials each weeknight. You don't spend much money, but you sit in AC with your roommates and enjoy yourself.
Nobody loves you like the Mom's.
Whether it's Taco Tuesday or Sunday Afternoon Arts and Crafts, it's Good Times at Tattooed Moms. Super involved in the communiy, they come out to or host events, and they give back! (Geeks Who Give just had a Game Night there for Philadelphia Futures, it rocked, and we have the pictures to prove it http://www.flickr.com/...) Whenever they show up in my twitter stream, I actually get a craving for a peirogie & a lionshead - Now that's some good marketing! On my birthday, they actually brought out Birthday Pierogies, with birthday candles that I had to blow out. http://twitpic.com/1xb5h Only one word for that kind of love: Epic.
I am probably biased because I am a huge fan of dive bars in general, but who cares.
I love this place because it is big, it's cheap, and it's everything you would expect. The bartenders I have experienced have been great and the entire atmosphere has been comfortable.
I love a good hole in the wall and it delivers. If anyone is traveling from Chicago and sees this review, it is highly comparable to Delilah's in Lincoln Park!
Cons:
Creepy dolls behind glass that may haunt your dreams
Rushed unfriendly service that will have you clutching your half-full beer as they breeze by.
Pros:
on Wednesdays...
2 dollar 16oz bud bottles
Delicious 25 cent fried pierogies.
9 pierogies and a bud please. I'll take the nightmares to go.
love this place for a chill drink. it's trying a little hard to be a dive bar when it isn't. the decor is eclectic. you can meet a lot of interesting people there. the bartenders hook you up.
Went yesterday afternoon for the Philly Sewing Collective Sublime Stitching event.
Service was great. Only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is because my sandwich was burnt to a nice, rust color (fish sandwich). I could barely eat it.
Met the owner for the first time, he was really nice and just wanted to make sure we were enjoying ourselves.
So I had to come back and change my review because my experience last night was really pleasant!
Horray for good reviews!
sorry I am just not a fan. The bartenders have been rude every single time I have been there,… Read more »
i love this place. it's just a chill, laid-back, fun place. I don't know what it's like on the weekends, but on the weekdays, it's just been a great place to hang out - quiet enough to be able to converse with your friends and laid back enough that you can laugh so hard that you snort. bud and pbr are pretty cheap, but other beers aren't (a strongbow is $6!) i also love all the toys that they leave on the tables. maybe i'm easily amused, but i can spend all night spinning plastic tops or putting fortune fish in my friends' palms.
pierogie nights are now 50 cents each (up from 25 cents). still delicious!
I have been frequenting this place lately and have decided to give it a review. I have tried many things on their food menu, tacos, pierogies, cheesesteak, hummus, burgers, etc., and everything has been pretty great. My absolute favorite menu item is the chicken steak, it is simple but really good (and half price fri, sat, and sun @ lunchtime :)). Every day they have some sort of special going on so you can always eat and drink for little money. My boyfriend and I just got tacos and two drinks for dinner for less than $10.00! The service can be a little slow and unpleasant but it almost brings character to this place. The decor is also cute and you get cute little party favors to play with!
MAJOR props to Bobby and Tattooed Mom's for taking such good care of us last night. Me and my crew had a dissapointing time at Center City sips prior to coming to TMom's. This was my first time here and I knew from the first moment that I walked in that I was going to have a great time there. The interior has so much character to it, with its graffitied walls, old school memorabilia, and plastic toys scattered all over the place.
We were also pretty much starving once we got here. Good thing it was pierogie night, which means they were $0.25 each! The piggies that we are, we were able to scarf down 15 of these in a matter of minutes. And that comes out to a total of $3.75!!! mmm and are they delicious with sriracha sauce! I don't remember the last time I've had pierogies, but now that I know about TMoms, I'll definitely come back for more.
And to top it all off, we got a free round of drinks on the house! Good company, good service, good food, good drinks. Makes me let out a happy sigh just thinking about it.
So I ventured here with a few friends one night and I really enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed most of it. The drinks were cheap (around 5.50 for a single mixer) but they weren't big at all, which was a down fall. I downed two Soco and Diets and wasn't feeling a thing. It's nice that they have a smoking section upstairs in the back, and I didn't even mind the death-metal screamo music playing, what I did mind was the wealth of creepers sitting alone staring at me and a group of guys who thought it was a good idea to teach each other the proper way to "scream." I would've enjoyed sitting one the first floor, where the music was better and the crowd was a lot less to handle, but I guess when you go into a place looking the way it does, what are you suppose to expect?
1/2 burger and veggie burgers on Monday and Thursday!
Taco Tuesday!
Pierogie Wednesday!
$1 PBR pounders on Friday and Saturday nights!
Crafts day and other theme events on Sundays!
Tattooed Mom is indeed a bar that gives you an abnormal excuse to be happy everyday of the week! Grant it Sugar Moms does too, But I feel that Tattooed mom does it with less smoke and pretentiousness. It also doesn't do it in a basement and brings out a better crowd.
I should have bought that up in the last review. But hanging out with 20 plus of the Yelp crew, eating Unicorn cake, basking in all the incredible figurines and artwork, and encountering an incredible server named Bobby has helped me up my love for Tattooed Mom.
One time when I was in the bathroom I put my friends band sticker on the toilet plunger. I did it… Read more »
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