Graffiti Bar

Hip, bustling, crowded, secluded bar. Came on Saturday afternoon. The music was loud, the cocktails were cold and the food delicious. There was barely any standing room. After about 20 minutes my friend and I are able to nab some seats. You can enter through the alley way on the side of Sampan or go straight through Sampan and out the back door which puts you straight in the bar. It was hot but a least there is awning to shelter patrons from the blistering sun. Of course like the name suggest graffiti murals on the walls.
My friend and I was there for like 6 hours lol. We came during happy hour. So the Scorpion Bowls (fishbowls) were $ 25. Instead of $ 31. We got the Twisted and the dark & stormy. Both were made very well. The twisted was basically like a adult raspberry iced tea. The dark & stormy is just like the classic cocktail complete with ginger beer. I don’t know if it was the length is took us to drink the scorpion bowl or because we were eating so much. But I really didn’t get any type of buzz. We had 1 a piece. They were delicious though. We also got a cocktail called junmai fizz. It had junmai, champagne & sangria. It was so good, easily one of the best cocktails I’ve had. Would definitely order again and again.
Food overall was good but a few misses. The food comes from Sampan. We had the general tso soup dumplings, shrimp dumpling, xo wings, calamari & kale salad, crispy rock shrimp, crab wonton tacos and the Korean fried chicken.
General tso dumplings were good. Definitely be careful and don’t spill half the broth down your shirt like I did. Worth trying but not something I would regularly order. Shrimp dumplings were good. Wish they added garnishes that gave more of a crunch factor as they were one note in texture. However very flavorful with a kick of heat.
Xo wings were saucy but still crispy which made me so happy. I hate soggy wings. Unfortunately they were extremely salty. I know its covered in oyster sauce which is already salty. Maybe prep has to adjust the salt they use to season the wings to account for the salt in the oyster sauce. We sent them back. I will try again and hopefully they aren’t so salty.
Calamari & Kale salad was literally the best salad I’ve had. We ordered one ate it so fast and then ordered a second one. I would honestly go back just for that salad. The calamari was crispy and tender. The kale was fresh, the cashews added some crunch and depth of flavor. Apple added crunch, a little sweetness and made the dish refreshing. The ginger soy dressing was not to overpowering. The salad was perfectly dressed and well balanced. I could honestly go for one right now.
The crab wonton tacos aren’t worth the $ 13. They basically fry a wonton wrapper shape it like a taco shell and fill it with crab drenched in mayo, avocado, pickled shallots and top with cilantro. It was okay I wanted the crab to taste fresher. Way too much mayo for me. If the skip the mayo or go very easy on it, add a fruit like mango to the mix. It would be so much better. You get 3 tiny tacos.
The Korean fried chicken was some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Let me tell you. I love fried chicken. I eat fried chicken at least twice a week. So this is some serious fried chicken. Tender, well seasoned, crispy, flavorful the list goes on. $ 21 you get a half a chicken with a few strands of garnish and slices of grilled peaches. Doesn’t matter you won’t be worrying about the garnish. If you come here get the fried chicken!
Crispy rock shrimp were bad. We should’ve sent it back. This was another mayo disaster. Fried shrimp drowning in what tasted like chipotle mayo. Though advertised as chili aioli. I did get a hint of yuzu but overall the flavor was pretty one note and uninspiring. I never enjoy rock shrimp anywhere I order it from. So i guess it’s safe to say. I need to stop ordering this when I see it in menus.
Overall this place will definitely be added to my list of bars/​restaurants to go to when I move to Philly next month. The service was very good as well though I didn’t see any women bartenders or servers.

Graffiti is a really fun bar– the outdoor space is great. The only negative is the seating (and standing room at times) is very limited, so it can be very crowded and take a while to order a drink. The cocktails are delicious though, and the fish bowls are fantastic. You can also order food from their associated restaurants (they’re all connected).

Great little alleyway bar with fun drinks and killer Asian-​style bar grub from Sampan next door. Get their early during happy hour because although the location fits more than it seems, it can get packed and you might have standing-​room only. Walking through the alley to get to the actual bar can be a bit claustrophobic and I’m sure there are some individuals that possibly can’t even fit, given the width. But a fun experience nonetheless!

Awesome place. Happy hour is great. Small out door seating area on the sidewalk. Great wait staff. Can’t wait to come back.

Just a little too small and crowded. You can enter the bar by two methods — by walking down a narrow 3 foot wide alley (to the left of the SAMPAN Restaurant), or you can walk through the SAMPAN Restaurant and exit out the back left door.
The Graffiti Bar is a cool, hip local dive. The food comes from inside the SAMPAN Restaurant.
The walls are chain link fence and corrugated metal.
No roof — it’s a converted patio bar with a cool name.

This place is cool as h-​e-​double hockey sticks. I visited Graffiti Bar just yesterday and had such a wonderful experience.
First, the bar is outdoors-​ish. The neatest patio with a beautiful mural is first-​come-​first served and it’s small and intimate. Loved every bit of it. My friend and I opted for two seats at the bar, where we were given menus for their incredible Happy Hour. I had a glass of wine and he had a draft beer; then came the food. Oh my lord, the food!!! We indulged on fried rice (best I’ve ever had – no joke), Kobe sliders, and the pork bahn mi – all flavorful and filling. Seriously, for such a low price, the portions are HUGE.
The bartenders were extremely friendly and talkative, and had some great recommendations for both food and drink. Graffiti Bar will definitely be on my agenda the next time I’m visiting Philadelphia – don’t miss this place!

Im a fan for sure! I love how this bar is set up as a sketch area with fences and graffiti but you walk in and realize you’re in for a great time! I love this place, I went last week and had a great time! I do however would like to bring up how there is seriously no room, especially during happy hour. Its just not as much fun when you’re squished up and can even put your drink down on a table! Besides this part I love this place and would totally recommend it to everyone. Try their fishbowl its 25 $ during a happy and share it with a friend or two, itll totally do the job for you and allow you to save a little bit of money!

When a few of my friends led me down this long, narrow alley, I just assumed they were sick of my bullshit and had finally decided to murder me for my shoes.* I was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty sweet little bar back here instead.
They’ve got a decent selection of booze, good hip hop on the speakers, and heat lamps to take away the mid-​March chill. I was a little confused about the liquor pricing (house cocktails are $ 10, but a vodka soda is $ 11?), but beers were cheap enough, and we were just happy that the bartender had seemingly opened early (3:30 pm or so on a Saturday) because we were there.
Unfortunately, being there prior to the restaurant being open meant I didn’t get to eat those General Tso’s soup dumplings, which sound like everything I’ve ever wanted in life. I guess it’ll have to wait until next time.
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*This makes no sense; my shoes are pretty shitty. But no one said they were smart; after all, they are MY friends.

My go to spot any day of the week. The BEST happy hour in all of Philly!
The top Sampan dishes featured on the HH menu… my personal faves are the edamame dumplings, Brussels sprouts and of course, the kimchee fried rice.
If anyone asks me to suggest a HH spot, Sampan/​Graffiti Bar is what I tell them.
The atmosphere is cool, but its small and pretty much always packed especially in the summer.
Anyways Love this place. I’ve gone a million times and have never had a bad experience.

I can only talk about this place in terms of Happy Hour. And in those terms, I say it’s pretty great! The apps are delicious, very tasty, and a really good price. The drinks are pretty good too. If you’re there with a friend or two, or feeling super adventurous by yourself, then you definitely need to get a fishbowl. The food options are all pretty delicious, so I don’t think you can go wrong.
The atmosphere is… different. It’s very tiny back there, so beware of it getting packed. The outdoor/​indoor feel is… different, but it works.
So with such a good review, why am I only giving it three stars? Because of everything great I said, there’s nothing standout or special about it. The food is tasty, but just as tasty as you would find in other places. The beer selection is on par with other places with a mid-​range beer selection. The fishbowls are definitely cool.

My go-​to happy hour in center city. I seriously can’t get enough of this place. Whenever my friends come to visit, I take them here mainly for the cheap eats, fun drinks, and of course, the cool back alley vibe. It’s always a shock to them when we turn down some narrow dark alley after I’ve promised them a great dinner and drinks.
Although Graffiti is outdoors, it’s still fun to visit in the winter since they have heaters, which makes it warm enough to hang out without a jacket on. It’s best to go earlier for happy hour of you want a seat since it gets super busy around 5:30.
Although the drinks are great (they have $ 5 beers, specialty drinks, and $ 25 fishbowls), the food is definitely the highlight of happy hour here. I can easily grab dinner here for less than $ 10.
Some of my faves:
–Chicken Bao Bun: Sweet and crispy chicken in a bao bun with hint of spice. I always order these!
–Kimchi Fried Rice: You get a huge bowl of kimchi fried rice (with an egg and veggies) for only $ 4. A lot of my friends love this.
–Edamame Dumplings: A unique spin on dumplings. They’re soft and super flavorful.

This place was fun! An extension of Sampan, this outdoor bar is tiny but offers a lot of different things. You can order off the happy hour menu from 4 – 7 during weekdays and there’s plenty of things to choose from. They’ve got drink options ranging from $ 4 – 9 and food options in about the same range. If you’re seated at the bar, I wouldn’t recommend ordering food as it’s likely there will be hoards of people behind you trying to get their drink options in… pushing will occur. Outside of the cheaper house drink options, they have the $ 9 options of their fancier drinks on this happy hour menu and there are so many different things to try that all sound delicious! When we were there this week, we got the ming mule and the lavender sour. Both were delicious. We got the whiskey drink also, but not being a fan of whiskey it was not my cup of tea, however, I can see why people might enjoy it.
Be warned, when the weather is nice this place is packed! So plan on standing, fighting to get a drink at the bar and pouncing on seats/​tables/​table space should they become available.
I’d definitely come back — something about the scorpion bowl is calling my name… just have to find a reason to celebrate!

I went to Sampan for happy hour on a Thursday night, and as it turned out, many others had the same idea and the place was packed. The alternative was going to Graffiti Bar, which is actually attached to the restaurant at the back — you enter through a back door at the restaurant which makes it feel pretty cool and edgy (that also basically describes the entire feel of graffiti bar).
Even though there were so many people, we managed to order our many appetizers and drinks fairly quickly. The happy hour appetizers, at $ 3 – 4 apiece, are true value for money, and I really loved the Asian fusion blend of the flavors. We ordered the kimchi fried rice, pork bao bun, Korean fried chicken wings, edamame dumplings and Korean BBQ beef satay. The standouts were the beef satay (super flavorful) and edamame dumplings (super delicate and surprisingly rich flavors). The happy hour drink special (some sort of vanilla liquor with Coke) actually paled in comparison to the food, but still a good deal all round! Our group of three ended up spending ~$ 10 each for a dinner-​sized meal and drinks, which is not bad at all!

Rock shrimps and a scorpion bowl are must here. We had a couple other dishes but rock shrimp was most memorable. The chicken bao bun was a nice asian fusion twist, kimchi fried rice was nothing special, and tacos were good as well. I loved the vibe and interior, nice chill place with great food and drinks. The raspberry? scorpion bowl was so yummy and is big enough for four ppl. I tried to ask for a to go cup for the remainder of our bowl but the waiter politely rejected my request, so sad… but understandable. Just drink more next time!!! If I lived in Philly, I’d definitely host some events here — such a fun and inviting environment.

Graffiti Bar is located behind Sampan but the entrance is through a dark alleyway that leads to an area that is bumping during the evenings. especially during happy hour! There’s a set happy hour menu where food and drinks are half off. And the portions are the same as the normal menu, so that’s great.
It’s a vibrant environment where you can hang out and have fun.

IT’S IN THE BACK THROUGH THE ALLY — HA!
We saw the Unilocal reviews and wanted to check this place out — we couldn’t find it at first and went into the restaurant … which didn’t look right haha! The place is behind the restaurant and you walk through an ally to get to it. Once there its really kinda cool. It’s open to the elements (keep that in mind in colder weather) but they do have ceiling heaters through out. What really makes this place are the drinks and the cool atmosphere. They have a long list of specialty cocktails. We found a seat at a bar after dinner and hung out for a couple hours just having drinks. The drinks (while a little pricey) where excellent! Seating is limited — maybe 50 people but you can stand throughout.
Worth checking out and popping in for just a drink!

I have always wanted to try graffiti bar after I went to sam pan for happy hour. This place is super hip. I love the vibe. We went during a cold night and they had plenty of heating. I wonder if they close when it starts to snow.
This is an outdoor ally/​bar. I would still come out here when its colder because there are less people here than some other options. Also because the prices are a little bit more expensive you won’t get the college crowd out here. It seems like there are more young adults which is a nice vibe.
I’m a fan: D

When I think Happy hour & Food, I think Sampan/​Graffiti Bar. Today was no exception.
The bestie and I were craving something hot and savory but also a place with drink specials. We arrived at 4:40pm today in hopes that we could grab an early dinner.
We got seated immediately at the Graffiti bar since I have yet to hang out there since it’s normally full.
FOOD:
We got the kimchi fried rice, brussel sprouts and the bahn mi
–Kimchi fried rice: not as spicy as authentic kimchi fried rice, but still tasty nonetheless. There are pieces of shrimp and I loved the fried egg, with the egg yolk oozing throughout the rice… yum
–Brussel Sprouts: very tasty but a bit too saucy for me
–Bahn mi: very creamy, not enough meat. The bread was very crispy, but in terms of the bahni mi itself, it’s nothing mind blowing. I’d rather go to chinatown to get a solid bahn mi
AMBIANCE:
the bar is actually outside & they have heaters above the seats, so you may feel your face heat up over time. The music is upbeat and catchy but super loud, so be mindful of that. Don’t come here for some intimate conversation lol
SERVICE:
we were greeted by other staff as we walked in, which was nice & welcoming. Our waiter was pleasant enough, the other waiter who brought our food was professional and explained our entrees very clearly (probably because he was training someone else) so that was a nice touch.
Overall a good place to eat for HH and trendy atmosphere!

My third attempt to try this place and we were finally early enough to grab seats. Cool hidden gem behind a narrow alleyway. It filled up fairly quickly even on a Tuesday night but don’t let that discourage you because I’m certain food had appeared in front of us by the time I walked back from the counter to our table. It was magical.
In order of preference we got the kimchi fried rice (large portions and quite tasty), pork buns (AHH!), Kobe sliders, (yum but a bit raw for medium rare), beef satays (tiny) and pot stickers (nothing special).
For drinks I tried the Ming Mule and Lavender Citrus. Was really looking forward to the mule, but I tasted neither ginger nor lychee. It was basically a sour lemonade+vodka with mint leaves. I seem to be the odd one out though — maybe bartender forgot the syrup. The lavender drink was better imo, but will pass next time.
Overall 4 for HH food and 3 for drinks. Plus 0.5 for the super speedy service amidst the happy hour chaos.

I’ve passed this alley a million times and finally decided to stop in with a few friends on Friday. I thought it was such a cool place! Not the best if you’re like starving (as they don’t have a full menu), but definitely a BARS bar, which I actually think is kind of nice. I had a fishbowl drink that was iced tea mixed with raspberry vodka and it was REALLY good — perfect for summer. On top of it, the price was $ 27 dollars, which was a steal considering 3 to 4 people could drink it easily — however, as you can see I wasn’t sharing.
Can’t wait to go back!