Philadelphia Weekly

DRINK

Mad River

Mad River Bar & Grille is something different from the Old City lounge scene. There’s no ropes or private rooms for bottle service here. Instead, you’ll find a welcoming atmosphere with a good-looking crowd of young professionals who are either meeting friends or making new ones seven days a week. Mad River is Old City’s only place with drink specials every day and serves our upscale pub menu for lunch and dinner daily.

Happy hour and live acoustic music with local performers on Wednesday nights are popular during the workweek. On Fridays and Saturdays, Mad River is packed until last call, filled with a high-energy crowd who rock out to ‘80s, rock and hip-hop. Groups meet to watch the game on Sunday on one of our six TVs, including three plasmas and a projection screen.

Named after a famous ski run in Vermont, Mad River opened on October 8, 2004, and has all the familiar trademarks of this popular East Coast concept, from the copper-top bars to pairs of skis on the wall. Philadelphia is the fourth Mad River location, which originated on the Upper East Side of New York City in February 1998, followed by Albany, NY, in September 2002 and Baltimore, MD, in November 2003.