November 22, 2023
GAB BONGHI/COURTESY 48 RECORD BAR
48 Record Bar, a hi-fi vinyl record listening room and cocktail bar, will open at 2nd and Chestnut streets in Old City in the coming weeks.
A new bar is coming to Old City that caters as much to music obsessives as it does to cocktail enthusiasts.
48 Record Bar, a 37-seat vinyl listening room and cocktail lounge, is set to open above Sassafras Bar near 2nd and Chestnut streets in early December. It will pair a menu of 16 cocktails, beer and wine with a high-fidelity sound system for vinyl records.
The new cocktail lounge will host events like DJ sets, record-release parties, live podcast tapings and vinyl listening sessions. Things kick off Dec. 2 with a low-fidelity electronic music set from South Fellini’s Tony Trov, who released the Philly-inspired album “Hoagiewave” this summer. A vinyl listening night celebrating the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” will take place on Dec. 7.
Event programming at the bar is the brainchild of creative director Joey Sweeney, the founder of local culture blog Philebrity and an early-2000s alumni of Philadelphia Weekly’s editorial staff. The founder of 48 Record Bar, Donal McCoy, also owns Sassafras Bar and Tin Angel, the music venue that used to operate above it.
“Coming to 48 should always feel like a place you're going to check out something new or hear something a different way than maybe you've heard it before — like an impossibly beautiful house show,” Sweeney said in a release.
The bar will offer an optional tiered membership program with perks like a record-of-the-month club, early access to ticketed events and access to members-only events.
In addition to drinks, the bar also will serve small-plate foods like deviled eggs, finger sandwiches and Welsh rabbit.
48 Record Bar is located at 48 S. 2nd St. in the second-floor space above Sassafras Bar. It will be open every Wednesday through Sunday from 5:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m.
