7 Must-Visit Listening Rooms & Vinyl Bars in Philadelphia

Get people together: Check. Listen to records: Check. For 48 Record Bar, that means mission accomplished. 

Nestled above staple Old City watering hole Sassafras, this cozy cocktail lounge does double time as a vinyl listening room. The intimate spot attracts in-the-know music lovers with its top-notch acoustics and high-fidelity sound system, as well as its solid music collection covering a wide range of artists and genres, from Wu-Tang to Pink Floyd. 

48 Record Bar keeps them coming with special events, like regular themed listening parties, album release parties and vinyl record sales, and a carefully curated menu of craft cocktails, beer and wine. Keep an eye on its Instagram for event announcements.

Know before you go: This place gets crowded on the weekends, and they don’t take reservations. To get in, head toward the back of Sassafras (walk by the coffee machine) and look for the hidden staircase. 

It all started as an experiment. Alex Colas was looking for purpose, so, naturally, she transformed her Philadelphia living room into a record store, with a vintage sound system and her personal collection of over 300 LPs and CDs.

After spinning off a local TV show and art installation, Colas landed in a storefront on Market Street. Formerly a summer-long pop up, the music lover’s record store and listening room, Clubfriends Radio & Records, hosts events and sells LPs in its cozy, living room-inspired setup.

Vibe: Just a couple of music nerds geeking out over their favorite artists in a cozy Philly living room

The creative minds at Percy didn’t stop with just their neighborhood coffee shop, restaurant and bar. 

Oh no, they upped the ante, carving out a space in the heart of the retro Fishtown spot for a circular DJ booth, plush seating and multiple vintage Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre speakers. 

Made with real music lovers in mind, the Sound Lounge at Percy is a space to “slow down, listen deeply, connect, dance, and experience the joy and heartbreak of music … together.”

Know before you go: Keep an eye on the listening room’s social media for info on upcoming listening sessions, which range from reggae, dub and dancehall to city pop, J-pop, and J-hip-hop.

Solar Myth is what happens when an iconic honky tonk gets transformed into a haven for experimental music — fitting, given that it’s named after a record by avant-garde bandleader and Philly native Sun Ra. The genre-bending coffee shop-slash-wine bar-slash live music venue offers you something different every time you open the door. 

It’s as if passing under the venue’s famed Boot N Saddle neon — which is on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places — puts a beautiful, musical spell on you. Behind its bar, the Broad Street spot swaps out spirit bottles and cocktail fixings for a staggering amount of vinyl records. Your bartender or barista is just as likely to pull out a Willie Nelson classic as they are an Ethio-jazz LP. 

Don’t miss:  Fresh-roasted espresso and free vinyl spins in the morning

See fantasy become reality at Sweet 45, the Kensington ice cream parlor-meets-listening room from Nashirah Felder (better known as DJ Na$h). 

By day, you can enjoy scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with sweet plantains, mango water ice and strawberry matcha floats, while listening to picks from the shop’s extensive vinyl collection — curated by the founder of the popular Interna$hional Bounce party series herself. 

By night, DJs transform the low-key, lo-fi scoop shop into a grown, sexy and sober nightlife destination, soundtracked by curated tunes, just as rich and indulgent as the desserts.

Fun fact: Your celebrity fave’s favorite Philly scoop shop, Sweet 45 has hosted A-List stars like Hayley Williams, kwn, Kehlani (fave scoop: Golden Hour) and Philly’s own Tierra Whack. 

Music is the heartbeat of prolific Philly restaurateur Stephen Starr’s Fishtown hotspot. With an A-plus sound system and decor inspired by the 1970s and ’80s, LMNO serves up disco-tinged nostalgia alongside Baja-inspired bites. 

But your journey back into time doesn’t end there. Follow the rhythm from the eclectic dining room through a secret passageway funneling guests to the restaurant’s underground cocktail lounge. 

Welcoming you with mirrored disco balls and neon lights, Midori Sours and White Russians, and the decade’s most danceable hits, the retro hideout invites you to release your worries and catch a groove — not difficult with its hybrid analog-digital Funktion-One system.

Vibe: Part bookstore and vinyl listening room, it’s like Barnes & Noble opened up the secret club of your dreams.

Nothing makes us feel more chic than cozying up in a moody listening room — eyes closed, drink in hand — as records spin round and round on the turntables. But sometimes, we wanna dance. 

What gets the party go-going like a throwback vinyl DJ set and dance floor? (Spoiler: Nothing.) Channeling the glitz and glamour of the discothèques of yesteryear, The Trestle Inn is famous for its classic whiskey sours, go-go dancers and all-vinyl spinners playing only the best in 1960s and ʼ70s soul, funk, disco, psych and house music, all night long. 

Know before you go: All vinyl, all the time doesn’t mean all disco, all the time. The Callowhill club keeps a steady rotation of themed nights in the mix, ranging from salsa and samba to soul jazz and afrobeats.

The (listening) party doesn’t end there. Philly has an incredible collection of independent record stores spread out across the city and beyond, and many host listening events both in their shops and out. 

A few popular examples are Latchkey on East Passyunk Avenue, Repo Records on South Street, and Sook Vintage in Mt. Airy, which is behind the traveling AudioPHL series.