Chelsea Lounge

Friendliest bar in town. Great pizza. Ice cold beer. Perfect place to stop in if you want a seat at the bar.
We got directions on how to ride the train from the bartender, then ordered the Margherita pie. The sauce was spicy and delicious with plenty of fresh basil and mozz.
Bathrooms were clean and had tp. Always a plus when you are a girl.
Hubs and I really liked this place. two thumbs up.

The bartender was great, made awesome drinks. Loved the atmosphere there and will definitely be going there again.

you wanta beer pub? whatever, go somewhere else. you want character? grit? a real bar. this is your place. when I want to do my thing and hang out with real peopl, I go here. Doesnt hurt the pizza place next door rocks. Is is a bit weird here? Sure, I’m still figuring it out. I probably never will. But I have figured out this is the place to go in olde city

Chill, friendly, and sweet bartender. Made a great drink. The security (or whatever) dude staring everyone down was a rude ass.
But, for the most part, it was a nice low key end to the evening. The place was not packed, and others at the bar friendly.

Be warned this place allows smoking. Cheap pricing on beer compared to other bars in the area.

Came here on a Wednesday night when nothing else was open. Several points:
1.) Bar is disgusting. They let patrons smoke in the bar so expect to smell like a heavy smoker when you leave.
2.) Couches are old and ratty, you will feel dirty sitting on them.
3.) The bartender and her friend/​bouncer are the RUDEST people possible. I can’t even begin to tell the stuff they said to my group of friends throughout the night.
Would I come back? Absolutely not. I can’t wait for this bar to go out of business, hopefully something worth my money/​time will replace it.
Do yourself a favor and skip Chelsea and head into CC to a bar where they actually treat their customers well.

Chelsea Lounge is a good place for meeting husbands. I met mine here on September 15, 2007. Cue the awws… awwwwwwwww
However, it definitely is not the best bar in Philadelphia, or even in Old City. The beer list is not very good, it sorta feels like someone’s basement, and you can smoke in here… yuck! And the last time we stopped in they had Disney’s Aladdin on the TVs (???).
But if you want to grab a quick beer and avoid some of the more glitzier places in Old City, this may be the spot for you. Or if you are husband hunting like I was and struck out at Plough and the Stars, Mad River, or Lucy’s ;-)

Came here for some NFL one weekend when we were in Philly. Couches were very comfortable and we managed to get a big one all to ourselves in the back — no crowds in there at all, it was actually very pleasant and felt like our own private little lounge. So that is a plus.
Beer list leaves much to be desired — negative. And smoking is a big negative although no one was smoking near us which is a positive. But the fact that they allow smoking left kind of an old smell in the back of the bar which wasn’t my favorite. Negative.
We had an overall pleasant time here though I think there are better places around to watch a game. I think 3 stars is appropriate.

I just moved into Old City and this is my favorite bar in the area. There’s never a big crowd, it’s not full of douchebags, and the music is usually pretty good, along with some televisions to watch if you need a distraction.
You can easily order pizza from Soho Pizza and have it put on your tab, which makes this place even better.
The bartenders are always friendly, and this place rocks.

So this review is referring to the pizza side of Chelsea’s. I’m not being biased because I like the name of it, but this pizza is on my all time top 5 pizza joints ever. Whether it’s plain or topped with goodies, never disappoints. It doesn’t hurt that it’s attached to a bar/​lounge, but I’ve never made it past the pizza.

Great spot to get away from the typical Old City crowd– awesome bartender, comfy couches, smoking (!), clean bathrooms & great booze!

We came here on a Monday night for a round of drinks after dinner nearby. The bartender is friendly and quick. The interior could use some rearranging because there are some daybed type couches along the walls but they are not set up well for groups. We made it work though. The bathrooms are downstairs and it’s clean and there is a good amount of privacy. The thing that makes this place stand out is that smoking is allowed inside. There are also nice big tvs in here.

Love this place. Cheap drinks, good food from their attached Soho joint next-​door, video-​games — both old & new school — giant TVs, movie-​nights, theme-​nights (like LOST on Tuesdays) etc., etc., etc. What more could you ask for? Well… might be nice if smoking wasn’t allowed, but that’s a minor quibble.

Sweet location and an attentive bartender! Two great things. The interior is swanky. Once down side was the fact that smoking is allowed (at least there were people smoking when I visited). The best part is the $ 2.00 Newcastle Ale’s to go. They only sell six packs to go, but that is the best price I have found in the Olde City area.

My first experience with Chelsea was during Equality Forum, when I plopped down with friends at one of their outdoor tables to escape the crush of the crowd. I went inside to order drinks (apparently we weren’t getting table service out there) and asked for a beer. I forget which one, exactly, but something not uncommon. The bartender pointed at some bottles lined up on the wall with a dramatic sigh and said «that’s all we have.» Meanwhile, I could clearly see into the glass-​front fridge behind the bar, which contained several different beers that were not on the wall. Yesterday I went into the pizza side of the establishment and got a slice of barbeque chicken pizza. That experience was better than the previous one, perhaps because I was sweltering in the back of the place while someone else ordered and paid for it. Overall, I’d say my experiences with Chelsea thus far were just kind of «eh.»

I couldn’t agree with Kathleen more about wanting to keep Chelsea a secret. It’s an interesting place. largely because its not particularly interesting. Its right on Market between 2^nd and 3^rd, so its in the heart of all the Friday and Saturday night pomp, glitz, and madness, but it somehow gets overlooked by most passers-​by. Very personable bartenders, ok prices (its still old city), always room for you and all of your friends, or at least me and my friends since I only have like 4 total and they’re almost never all with me. Plus, this place is right next to Soho and even shares a big open doorway with it in the back of the bar. Clean bathrooms too. I think thats it. This place is great… but uh, don’t go there ok?

i’m in a bit of a quandary regarding chelsea… see, on the one hand, i want it to thrive, to flourish and stay open. on the other hand, i want to keep it secret, so that it’s never too crowded.
damnit.
with 4 fantastically large HD tv’s placed in varying locations throughout the bar, i figured i was in for baseball hell. not so, my friend! the bartender is a football (soccer) fan, and the screens were showing varying games in progress! hot damn! $ 2 PBR, man utd on the hd, and ministry on the jukebox made me one happy kid…
will i be back? duh.