16 South 2nd Street
Phila, PA 19106
Philadelphia County
Phone: (215) 627-3132
Fax: unknownWebsite: no website on fileEmail: Send us an emailHours: unknown
by Deborah S. on This place really knows how to get you excited (via ambiance) and then slowly let you down. The restaurant is gorgeous. It is a refreshing oasis walking into an indoor park. The details are clever - from the pewter plates to the park bench seats at the host stand - you felt the ambiance. We sat in the garden portion of the restaurant and it really took you away. That was the peak of the night. There were a ton of empty tables and our waiter was hovering for some time. Yes we were that table of 4 that was indecisive, but when we were ready to at least put in an appetizer order - he was no where to be found. We had the oysters, which were great, and the eggplant bruschetta. The bruschetta was really terrible. The baguette was extremely hard and the eggplant had no flavor. One person ordered the chopped salad, which looked good. The focaccia bread was good at least. I ordered the salmon entree with blood orange and cauliflower. The dish came out with a puree of which I assumed was cauliflower puree, but to make sure I asked our waiter. Granted, our waiter was like a foreign exchange student, but he had no idea what it was. He then found out that it was parsnip puree. It was good, but no where would I have figured there would be parsnip puree on the dish when nothing on the menu remotely mentioned it. I'm still thinking he was wrong. My husband got a burger and they did not serve it with ketchup and mustard - that should be standard, but perhaps the waiter was not strong. Then we ordered dessert. This is when it all went crashing. We kept going back and forth - do we go to a nearby bakery or enjoy a dessert here. We stayed for the $8 desserts and were SEVERELY disappointed. I ordered the sorbet b/c the flavors that the waiter described sounded great. When they came out it was absolutely terrible. We couldn't even finish 1 bite. My husband ordered the cookie plate. IT was the saddest attempt at a cookie plate. It was decorated with 2 cocktail napkins. How sad is that? Don't charge $8 for that. At least present it fancier even if there were only 4 mini cookies on it (the size of quarters). The one dessert that looked normal was the banana wontons. We did ask for a manager and even she was shocked that the cookie plate looked that way. She at least offered to remove it from our bill and offered a round of champagne. I would recommend this place for the atmosphere and for a cocktail (even if you do pay $12 a drink).
by Harrison C. on As a person who's clubbed all over the world, this one rates pretty high on my list. But I do have several reasons why my impression might be a bit skewed or one sided. 1) I have several friends who work there as either sound and video techs, as well as bouncers and bartenders, and 2) I like all music and all crowds, and having worked in the industry myself I usually enjoy a good crowd and crazy time. Compound is a single club that has roughly 6 (sometimes 7 if they open the far back area) parts to it for people to mingle, talk, drink, or dance in, sometimes all 4 at once. Friday is Hosted by The popular hip hop station V-103 with Ryan Camron and Saturdays are now host of the top 40 station Q-100s Saturday Night Q w/ Adam Bomb, just some insight as to what kind of music you can expect, but by no means limited to. So let's take a tour! The First is Tenshi Gardens, host to the live bands, open air patio, small lit pond, and decent sitting area. Usually a band is there, otherwise they pump mainly house or more exotic chill and lounge here, however, later in the night music from MB1 is pumped out there as the people shift to fill in Ride at midnight. The Second area is MB1, also known as the crowded frond room, the glass steam room, etc. This is mainly a dance/lounge with bars on both sides, and due to poor planning, bathrooms on one side that kill some inflow traffic (Trust me, the owner hates it too). Here you can usually expect mash up house/top 40/hip hop/and other styles by a live DJ. Since Ride in the back opens at midnight, and often people don't know that it does, MB1 tends to fill fast before the night begins. On a brief note, there is a Private VIP room that resembles a Midtown expensive Bond style apartment bedroom (equipped with shower and cali king bed) called The Loft that rarely sees action, but for the sake of the review I will mention, it's cool, very weird for a club, and mostly used as a shortcut or meeting room for the club unless it's being rented. It's attached to MB1, next to the booth.... ok, moving on. The Fourth area is Ride Patio, it's self explanatory, but I'll explain anyway, this area opens just before they open Ride itself. Has 2 large bars, a fountain, some sitting areas, nothing too special, but gives a good area to chill, talk, refill on a drink, or get in a conversation with the person of interest you just met and tried to yell your phone number to on the dance floor earlier. This area can get really heavy when the whole club is busy as it gets the most traffic when Ride and MB1 are both full and people go back and fourth. Music here is piped in from Ride where the "main" floor is. The Fifth area, Ride is the back area, the "main" floor, the larger dance floor, and host to the main VIP tables and area as well. Ride has a large garage door entrance, as well as a smaller one off the side bar. This place fills fast when it opens, and plays host to the in crowd displays of the VIP, the main (and sometimes better) DJ, and the higher intensity sound and lighting system. With 16 (I think,, don't quote me on it) projector screens, and too many speakers to count, it's by far the most visually stimulating and exciting room of the club as well as the bigger sound system. Be prepared to be packed in around 1am on when the music is loud, the crowd is at full, and the energy is about at it's peak, this can shift to around 2 am during the active months (summer, spring and early fall). All in all Ride is the heart of Compounds dance and night club experience. Attached to the back, the Sixth area is a smaller room called the Bamboo Room. It is located just behind the Main DJ and VJ booth of Ride. Usually it is open to anyone that can get there, but on busy nights it is used as an additional VIP area for larger groups. Its not too special, has dim normal lighting and softer music still piped from Ride. The steel curtains and theme do create a nice space to chill from the main party and still see and hear Ride in full swing. The Seventh area, and rarely used, is called Rail. It's been used for large shows sometimes, as a concert venue, I have yet to see it used but once and even then it was a large private function. Other than that, it's just the name of the back lot! So there's Compound. If you want to park, be prepared to hunt, and it can get pricey unless you are sneaky and a little brave, or early. Cover is the usual $10 to $20 depending on the nightly events, and drinks are more or less the usual club prices from $5 to $12. It's a nice club, has several millions in tech and sound to keep it popular and up to date, and usually can turn out a great crowd even on the rainy cooler nights of fall and winter. So if you haven't gone, go, if I'm there and I know I'll slip ya in myself, unless it's not your scene, then by all means, get out there and find what you want, never settle for something you aren't comfortable in, but always have fun! Peace! Carter
by Steven Muckley on I thoroughly enjoyed my time at dbar. Very cool atmosphere. Everything is new and fresh and exciting. Although I imagine the space might get a little bit cramped for dancing in the evening, it was perfect for dinner. Comfortable boothes and exceedingly friendly waitstaff. They provide a nice basket of bread with three variations of dippings: a peppery olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and another olive oil with herbs. The mussels appetizer was very generous and quite yummy. The scallops in lobster and mango sauce were good, but I was bit put off by the noodles that accompanied them. While the scallops had a nice mellow and sweet flavor the noodles were served in a sauce that was quite acidic. Edible, but not great. Dessert was excellent. Affordable prices too. If you are used to dining in Back Bay or the South End you will be pleasantly surprised. The scallops entree was $19 and the generous plate of mussels only $8. We also had their hand cut fries ($4) which were excellent. I'd give the place 5 stars if it weren't for that weird sauce the noodles were served it. I'm looking forward to going back and trying something else.
