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Chris' Jazz Café 1421 Sansom St., Philadelphia, PA 19102 |
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Location: Center City, Phila, PA
Phone: (215) 568-3131 Overall Rating (1 to 10): 8 What I’d Do To Improve the Place: The location of the band is a bit awkward. The live act is located in the corner of the front section of the bar. Regardless, it's still a very cool place to take in a jazz act. |
| Believe it or not, I was introduced to Chris' Jazz Café
by a 60something Scandinavian whom I've know for almost 6 years. He's a big fan of Jazz music and he's been to all of the major Jazz/Blues clubs in Philly (if not the world), including: Zanzibar Blue, Warmdaddy's,
Ortlieb's Jazz House and of course Chris Jazz Café.
The Café consists primarily of three rooms: front, middle and back. The back room is merely a smoking room for the staff (it's adjacent to the kitchen) and a full sized pool table. The middle room is filled with tables and chairs for the dining crowd. Along the walls of the café are paintings of African Americans playing musical instruments which add to the ambiance of the Jazz club experience. The front room overlooks Sansom Street. If you're here to see the live act, aim to park your ass somewhere in this area. The bar itself is in this front area and is probably the second best view in the house to see the live act. The bar can hold about 10 Jazz goers. Sitting at the bar also is nice because you can turn right to the bartender in the middle of the Jazz act and order up a refill. Flagging down a waitress when the live act starts putting on an exhibition can be a little difficult and somewhat rude to the performers. During our visit to Chris' Jazz Café the hostess was a Leggy Blonde, probably 6'2" who kept the cover charge monies between her jumblies. It's always a good play when the establishment puts a nice looking honeybaby at the door - two words: yum yum. On the other hand the bartender must have been having a bad night because he blew me off for a good ten minutes before he took my drink order... and the damn bar wasn't even busy! I made eye contact a few times, but he seemed more concerned with washing the glassware. But I have to admit that the house Merlot was excellent: nice bouquet. Chris' offers some nice wine selections and 4 brews on tap that run the gambit from bad to good: Coors Light, Boddingtons, Guinness and Cherry Hill's Flying Fish. Chris' Jazz Cafe is one of the finer places in the city to take in a live Jazz act. It's nestled around the corner from the Bellevue hotel and only 1/2 block from Broad Street. If you are ever stuck down at City Hall for Jury Duty, Chris' is only a block and a half from Billy Penn. Keep that one in mind the next time you are wasting away in City Hall. Bars in the area are Nodding Head, Oscar's Tavern, the Sansom Street Oyster House and Zanzibar Blue. |
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