Mint Lounge

You know how there are certain entry level foray in to cuisines of another culture? This is the entry level foray in to the HS/​College Asian-​American scene. I’ve never seen another place in Philly like this on Saturday night. Its basically the go to spot for when that high school girl has a crappy fake ID, or is just too lazy to hit on the bouncer to let her in.
Most of the people here are simply standing along the wall, groping people as they go by. Now that wouldn’t be a problem if it was the girls groping the guys, or guys only groping the girls. But this is a free-​for-​all of groping, and borderline molestation. Then when you finally make it to the bar, the place is entirely comprised of far too few Bartenders trying their hardest to fight the urge not to pull out a shot gun and start a slaughter fest on the insanely amount of immature idiots that frequents this place. Be prepared for insane amount of toe stepping, drink dropping, and cologne induced comas.
Why 3 stars? Because knowing my more non-​asian friends, they always want a place to satisfy yellow fever and they do a pretty good job congregating the Twinkies & Pencils. Whether its good advertising or marketing, there’s more Twinkies & Pencils here than a 7 – 11 warehouse.
So if that’s your thing, go for it. Just wear a hat…

For the most part, most reviews for this place are correct. Many People still complain, and I feel represents many cases of expecting too much. Located in the middle of Olde City’s clubbing district, Mint consists of a small clubbing/​bar area, with a DJ that spins on the weekends. Nothing special here, but every time I tend to go, my experience has been fun. Within the vicinity there are quite a few spots, so Mint is a nice place to make a stop by and check out. Its also one of the few bars around that allows smoking inside. Don’t expect a huge club or even a sprawling bar, it’s simply a nice pit stop for a great night out in Olde City.

So I decided to head to this place for the first time for Dubstep Mafia’s $ 3 Holla. Seeing as one of my favorite local DJ’s was spinning (Unicron), I figured it’d be somewhat poppin and a good time.
I walk in and there was stuff a tad off with the picture:
–leaking ceiling
–lack of patrons
–few drink specials with a $ 20 minimum for cards
–rude and minimally attentive staff
It’s a shame, too. I really liked the music and the décor. They also allow smoking which is a plus.

On its best nights this place is maybe a 2 star at best. I was a regular for most of the fall. Usually Mint was a last resort, its nice how its usually free but despite being free its still usually pretty empty. The place went from being mediocre to down right terrible. Less and less people were going. On one occasion I was arbitrarily turned down for my clothing despite wea

It looks like it would be a cute lounge, but they haven’t quite got it all together. The décor is nice. The music was old school r&b. They had a $ 4 martini special (Saturday night) which we took advantage of. Unfortunately the bartender didn’t know how to mix well (but she was nice at least). Dirty martini tasted more like a dry martini. Apple martini & my french martini were way too sweet. I guess we can’t complain since it was only $ 4.
What was an extreme turn-​off was that they allow smoking in the establishment. No thanks.

I have been inside Mint twice and neither experience made me want to return.
The first time, my friends were looking for a place to dance, and with no cover, Mint seemed like a good idea. Nope. As soon as my girlfriend and I walked in, we immediately noticed that it was a huge creeper sausage fest, used the bathrooms, and escaped. Eek.
The second time, again, my friends and I wanted to dance so we decided to give Mint another chance. Maybe the other night was just bad, right? And if there were creepers, we had a lot of guy friends to help us out.
We barely made it in the door. The bouncer checked one of our guy’s ID and asked him to step aside and wait for a moment. He then let all of us girls inside. We looked back and he wasn’t letting any of our guys inside because they were wearing sneakers. Now, it’s fine to have a dress code, but at least be nice about it. What was the point of asking our friend to wait aside if he wasn’t going to let him in anyway? Did he think that letting us girls in first, we’d somehow abandon them for the creeps inside? I think not.

This place is a gamble on any day of the week! I always say, «i hate MINT» but i end up going here because most of my friends meet here and we know the bouncers.
I will admit, MINT is an asian hot spot on fridays and saturdays (mostly saturday). This is probably because its no cover and that they allow SMOKING INSIDE the lounge LOL. do not go into the back room if you have breathing problems.
cons:
1. music is so bad. its the SAME PLAYLIST each week!!! come on… me and my friends make bets on what time a certain song comes on.
2. smoke… its just A LOT OF SMOKE…
3. crowded. i will admit, i’m the person that walks back and forth looking for people, but damn, it can take 5 minutes to walk 30 feet on some nights.
4. bathroom lines get long.
pros:
1. nice bartenders and shot girls. i never have a hard time with ordering drinks, closing tabs, or any of that.
2. for the size of Mint, there are seating areas (but they go real fast).
i guess my 3 star rating is out of my long history of the place. i had great nights years ago, and also horrible nights in the recent year…

Me: I’ve got a problem with you, Mint.
Mint: What’s your beef, jerky?
Me: SMOKING! That’s a two-​star demerit! *slaps venue*
I don’t care if smoking is allowed inside or not. If it IS, I no longer want to go there. If it ISN’T, their no-​smoking policy needs to be enforced. Ugh. (UPDATE: Turns out it IS allowed… what a shame.)
RANDOMNESS: This past weekend, my friend dropped her cell phone behind a lounge seat; I have no idea how she accomplished this. Ten guys — including one or more bouncers, bartenders, and the cool coat check guy — worked together after closing time to retrieve it for her. Now that’s service.