The M Room

This is my favorite bar in Philadelphia. It is what it is, this is a dive bar that sometimes will have live music. The bartenders are as good as it gets. They’re very personable, attentive and interesting.

Got to love a bar when the bartender asks if you know where they can score coke! Keep it classy M Room with your bland bar and bartenders that talk on their cell phones rather than work.

It’s a decent bar for drinking, yet an underachiever in the music scene. There’s not much in it for a performer, which is why nobody likes the M Room anymore. You’ll need to bring your own crowd, and then use their door money to pay for the sound guy. There’s a room for the bar, and a separate room for music. Nice stage, cool bar, great location, and a good place to watch a show, but a hefty cover keeps the street traffic out.
Wouldn’t recommend for a band, but maybe for someone just trying to get a drink and head somewhere else.

Just visiting this bar and we came to see Robert and Issac, a reggae/​rock band that is super chill and so lovely to sway to. The bar pours good drinks and hosts local musicians, which makes me happy for humankind. They are very inexpensive and will introduce you to young local talents. Come and check it out!

sweet! the taps are back at the m-​room! i can’t seem to get enough of philly’s best beer, kenzinger! and only $ 2.75. just right for my budget conscious, beer drinking self! i don’t even think any of the draft beer was 4 bux. a great way to spend a few bucks and fill your belly with local beers.

I think what the M Room is known for is loud music. Not being one for the metal that was on stage the night I was there, maybe I am not the best candidate to review them. But I would hope that other than metal music, they could swing a clean bar and tables and good service.
Service was decent — the bartender actually was very nice about getting both beers and waters for us. And my friend ordered some hummus and pita, which I think ended up being pretty good!
The bar on the other hand was dingy and didn’t seem very well kept. If this is your destination for a great band, you may have found the jackpot, but if you’d just looking for a beer and a clean table to sit with friends, you may not have found your mecca.

I’ve only been here to see/​play shows, occasionally stop in for a few brews when I’m bar-​hopping in the Northern Liberties area, but every time I’ve been there I’ve enjoyed myself.
The staff is generally very hospitable, didn’t have to wait to be served for too long a period of time, even on busy nights.
They have decent selection of bottled brews and beer on tap at reasonable prices, $ 4 citywide is a plus as well.
And when I’ve played music there, the sound guys they have running the show are top-​notch and make you sound really great on stage.
Despite the racist graffiti some idiots scribbled all over the bathroom wall (has since been removed), M Room brings a diverse, mixed, crowd, especially when compared to the pretentious, gentrified, cesspool of hipsters and other like-​minded cliché countercultures places like The Barbary attract.
This would be the type of bar I’d take someone to on a second date or something, M Room is lively, but not obnoxious. It’s got a comfortable laid back setting to it.

The bartender was legit. He was quick, he was cool, and he knew what he was doing. He made me a delicious drink which, he reassured me, would be what I wanted. The beer list is wonderful too. I hadn’t appreciated the prices in my earlier days here, but I can fully embrace them now. A little cash can go a long way here.
The con? It’s tiny. If all the tables and the bar seats are occupied, there isn’t a lot of room to stand around. We got lucky though because as soon as we decided we would probably have to leave because there weren’t any empty seats, a couple folks got up to leave and offered their seats. Also, I have a feeling they’re cash only.

Tuesday nights have an open mic night that is pretty awesome! You can’t beat $ 3 city wides and $ 2 PBRs specials either. Its a cool place to listen or participate in some music or comedy.

My visits here have only been for shows, to see various friends’ bands. I like the separation of the stage area and the bar. It’s been a while since I had food there, so the details are fuzzy, but I do recall it was pretty decent, better than standard bar fare. They didn’t have any draft beers available last time I was here a few weeks ago, and reading other reviews, that appears not to be the first time. Unfortunately, they also seemed to have a heating problem. The main bar area had space heaters around, but the stage area did not (or they weren’t working if they did). It was really cold in there! I felt bad for the band, who had to get those fingers moving precisely in that cold.
The sound quality has been mixed over my visits. On this last visit, I noticed that the instruments really just blended into a fuzzy mix. While I suppose that could be the band, having seen that band in other settings and knowing the style they play — a sort of pop rock sound — I just can’t blame the unclear sound on the band. Given the other problems they had, with the heating and draft beers, maybe the sound equipment wasn’t working all that well either. Whatever the cause, I hope they get it fixed because it’s a pretty good size stage area.
I’d give two stars for the last visit, but ones prior to that were ok so I’ll keep it at an average of three.

Felt like an awkward space. The music is in a side room and feels very disconnected from the bar. We arrived early then someone came in later to collect covers from all of us. The bar had no draft lines, only bottles. Definitely prefer Johnny Brenda’s or Kung Fu necktie.

Haven’t eaten here, just saw a show. It’s a good space. At first, I was a little apprehensive because it’s surely a dive bar if I’ve ever seen one, but it’s the best kind because of that.
Pool table, easily accessible bartender, and stage area set apart from the bar make it easy to come listen to a band but step away when you need to.
Cheap beers don’t hurt either!

Come on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
There’s no DJ’s those nights so the bartender plays punk and rock n roll all night.
There’s a new Greek menu and the specials are always delicious.
Try the «Graped by your uncle» shot and don’t forget to tip!

**Nightlife Review**
Great place to grab a drink and chill, play some pool, and listen to a cool DJ. I didn’t want to go home since I still had a lot of energy so I came in here on a Sunday night. Great drink specials and joined in on a great game of pool with people I had just met there.
I had a great time; I love coming to chill spots like this :)

the thing that maybe saved a pretty bad brunch experience: their breakfast potatoes.
they advertised a brunch today with a live swing/​rockabilly band and even though i haven’t been much of a fan of this place in the past, i’ve never eaten here and decided a nice brunch with live music might be a change of pace. i also felt like they were trying to turn this place around… so a second change i give. one chance too many.
we rolled up and the band wasn’t even set up to play yet… ok…
then it took us almost 15 minutes to get our drinks. they had to ask us almost 3 times what we wanted to drink. there were a lot of people here but seriously… not enough people to have had to wait that long for the bartender to even say hello to us. when we were ready to order they interrupted us and wandered off to get a pen, which is fine, but it seemed sort of rude.
the band was soundchecking while we were eating, sort of unprofessional. and by the time we were done eating after 12, they STILL hadn’t started. don’t advertise a start time and then not stick to it.
as far as the food… the bloody mary was good, $ 2 kensinger at brunch which is nice i guess. i got the tofu scramble which definitely wasn’t the best i’ve had but it was certainly tasty enough with some pretty awesome potatoes (that i mentioned earlier) and a fresh little side salad.
needless to say, the m room didn’t do a good job of changing my mind about it. sorry guys.

Have only been to the M Room a few times for shows, so I can’t say anything about the food but it is a nice low key place to hang out. Drinks are cheap, bathrooms are clean. Not too overrun with hipsters.
I’d like to go back again for a non-​show night to see what it’s like.

They just started serving brunch on sundays & its amazing! A nice change of pace from the usual brunch scene.

I’ve been to M Room twice for brunch since they started this a few weeks ago. It’s been consistently great. Today I had eggs over pasta — a great dish and new fave. Check it out!

Touring bands: Don’t play here. The owners are very unfriendly especially when there is a «DJ» night added at the end of the night. They hurry you out so 5 people can dance to really bad music coming from a lap top. Bar tenders are very rude and would not give out internet password. Sound guy was hammered. Food is terrible. No lock on the men’s rest room and this sucks if you have been in a van for 6 hours. Try and book shows at the Unitarian Church.

The M room is a great spot for a beer, some food and a live band! Haven’t frequented this place too often but everytime I have it left me with a story to tell… Meeting Ron Jeremy there for one, got him to give me one of his own branded rolling papers and autograph it for me ;) can’t of course you’ll have an experience like mine but I do suggest giving the place a shot along with getting a shot from this place!