by Jason T. on If some out-of-towner who's never been to our fair city gripes about it being dirty, or dangerous, or any of that oher crap that can go part and parcel with most any frickin' big city on the planet, then be sure to tell them that they are, in fact, correct, and take them straight to The Gallery as soon as their precious safe and clean feet step on the Philly asphalt. I probably don't NEED to reiterate what so many have said here, but hell, it's fun, and I want to offer my take. This is about as bad as downtown Philly gets, which to me is actually saying quite a lot. As soon as you step foot into The Gallery, you instantly feel like you need a shower. It just has that imposing grimy feel to it that you can't quite place, but you know if you held one of those groovy UV lights up in it when it was all dark, you'd see the most disgusting proof of humanity's existence splashed all over everything. Sure, there are stores like Old Navy, Burlington Coat Factory, and Kmart (see accompanying review for that turd as well), but you don't really want to go into any of them at The Gallery. All the versions of those stores at this weirdo excuse for a mall (really it seems more like the reality of some lousy urban planner's lunch that he vomited up one day) came straight from Hell. If you've ever seen the movie Jacob's Ladder, you'll instantly know what I mean. This place is just skeevy beyond belief. Of course, seeing the big mural thingy smack dab in the middle featuring Bill Cosby's likeness is well worth the free admission. Hell, if you're going to go see the Rocky statue, you may as well see the painting of Bill at The Gallery! He looks down at you and smirks, knowing that you are wading through a cesspool of the lowest common denominator of mass consumerism. The only reason I'm usually at this place is because one of the trains I take plops me off at Market East Station, which is featured in the very bowels of The Gallery. But it's actually the nicest thing there, because you know you'll be getting away from there soon when heading outbound. There's a terrible excuse for a food court down there as well, featuring such craptastic selections as Subway and Popeye's and some weird-ass Asian joints serving up smoothies and chicken wings galore. What is it with the Chinese places and chicken wings in this city? Someone needs to look that up. So just remember, take all your pals to The Gallery to scare the hell out of them and make their big city fears come true. Then escape to street level and show them all the truly great stuff there is in Philly. Although, you might not make it out of The Gallery alive yourself if you don't wear some sort of Haz-Mat suit.
by Jesse Rustin on The place was packed when I came here for my birthday. It's also HUGE and I got lost in the many different rooms and stairways. The outside patio area is gorgeous at night with lots of lights strewn on the trees and ample seating. The unpretentious vibe of the place and the no line to get in makes it a place that I would go back to.
by G J. on This place is small and cozy but the quality is worth it. If you are interested in spoken word, poetry slams, chill music like hip hop or better yet neo-soul, you need to check this place out. Usually its seven to ten dollars to get in, doors open at eight or later. I have been there twice and the experience was gratifying. The spoken word artists were amazing. I don't write poetry but I love listening to it.
