Spin, the ping pong social club/bar/restaurant originally co-founded by actress Susan Sarandon, is expanding into Philadelphia with a 12,000-square-foot subterranean venue that puts your parents’ basement rec room to shame. The new Center City location, on 15th and Walnut, includes 17 Olympic-grade ping pong tables, graffiti murals, a full bar, a bathtub filled with ping pong balls, scratch-and-sniff wallpaper, a DJ booth, and bleachers for watching the ping pong pros in action. It opens this Friday, September 15, with a party hosted by rapper Schoolly D and the 76ers’ Robert Covington.
The first Spin opened in New York in 2009; there are now outposts in Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Toronto, with several more on the way. As the brand expands it’s adding emphasis to the food and drink component: The Philly location has a large bar and tables on an elevated platform that overlooks the ping pong tables but feels set apart enough that you could conceivably come in for a Fishtown Throwdown cocktail and plate of sweet potato waffle fries and never pick up a paddle.
Of course, picking up a paddle is pretty much the point of coming to a ping pong club. Ping pong tables at Spin are rented by the half hour or hour for $15 to $59 — but why go for a regular table when there’s the aptly dubbed Red Room with its red ping pong table, red floor, red furniture, and red neon sign?
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Outside of the Red Room, Spin is decorated with murals from Amberella, Dain, Fluke & Zek, UR New York, and Philly-based King Saladeen. A mini-store by the entrance sells Spin merchandise, like a pair of sneakers from Vans and a paddle set by UBIQ.
To eat, there’s shareable pub grub, like soft pretzels with cider cheese, pastrami-topped tater tots, wings, and sliders. The flatbread pizzas are also made to be shared, and one probably shouldn’t eat an entire cast iron-baked chocolate chip cookie by oneself. On the drinks side, there’s beer, wine, sangria, and a list of Philly-infused cocktails, like the Philly’s Own (a negroni with Bluecoat gin). That Fishtown Throwdown is a mix of rum, triple sec, peach schnapps, tea syrup, and lemon.
Friday’s party opens to the public at 9 p.m. Going forward, Spin’s hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday, and 11 am. to 10 p.m. Sunday. The entrance is on 15th Street between Locust and Walnut, between &Pizza and a Verizon store.
Take a look at the food and drink:
SPiN Philadelphia Hungry Menu by Eater.com on Scribd
SPiN Philadelphia Thirsty Menu by Eater.com on Scribd