The Newsroom Philly — Restaurant in Philadelphia

This place is a 4.8? More like a solid 2 — and that’s generous. Read the whole thing before you waste your night.

Let’s be honest: the only thing speakeasy about this place is how quietly people must be suffering through the experience to justify that absurdly inflated rating. Spoiler: it’s clearly fueled by paid influencers and TikTok hype, not actual hospitality, food, or drinks.

We were seated quickly, which gave us hope… we overheard the host muttering, “We’re having trouble getting people to leave, even though there’s a time limit.” We naïvely took that as a sign of a great experience ahead. Big mistake.

First red flag: the smell—an overpowering cloud of burnt kitchen oil billowing from the doorway like a five-alarm fire. The exhaust system clearly quit weeks ago before they opened, and the staff just shrugged and decided to make it a part of the ambiance. You could literally see the haze drifting out of the kitchen like an early-2000s club fog machine. See image. That is smoke. We left smelling like it. Had to change before going elsewhere.

Second issue: This place is packed tighter than a budget airline. Tables on top of tables, with just enough room for servers to graze your shoulder with every pass. Intimate? No. Just claustrophobic. I was hit in the head, shoulder, and arm 5x before I had to scoot the whole table 2 feet up behind a pillar.

Third: The kitchen is lit like a surgical theater, with a harsh white fluorescent beam of light blasting out from behind a sad little curtain that tries — and fails — to separate the space. No door, no wall, just light pollution ruining the vibe. You could literally see the smoke coming out between the curtains. The fluorescent light highlighting the movement.

Fourth (and maybe worst): The service. Twenty-three minutes to order a drink. Forty-eight minutes to receive it. Another twelve for my partner’s to show up. When it finally did, they informed us they’d “run out of martini glasses.” What arrived was a warm mess of too much vermouth, no chill, and zero clue. When we asked for a shot of olive brine to fix it ourselves, they gave us…(I wish I could make this up) more vermouth IN A SHOT GLASS. You LITERALLY can’t make this up.

One waitress was handling the entire floor. She was struggling. At least she was smiling. “This bartender is killing me” made us laugh but out of pity. Predictably, they were flailing. Dirty martinis were made incorrectly. Basic bar knowledge? Missing. For $18 per drink, I’d expect someone who at least knows the difference between dry and dirty. Rather, that dirty is an option and it has BRINE.

Food: Fine. Sushi was decent. But $32 for a tiny, bland portion of fried rice? That’s daylight robbery. Flavorless, forgettable, and absolutely not worth the price tag. Sad.

The music? A bright spot. Solid playlist — until it looped and we heard the same song twice. In a single sitting. You couldn’t drag in a longer Spotify queue?

Final verdict: This place is chaos disguised as cool. A smokescreen of vibes masking fundamental dysfunction. No manager in sight, no training for bartenders, and no excuse for a $245 bill for 3 plates and 2.5 rounds of drinks — in Philly, no less.

Do yourself a favor: skip the smoke (literal and metaphorical), and spend your money somewhere that knows what it’s doing.

We...

Seeing Philly Mag unnecessarily stomp on The NewsRoom for no reason really got me fired up.

I don't see Philly Mag stomping on Fabrika over there in Fishtown. The NewsRoom is essentially a mini Fabrika, with BETTER service and well-crafted cocktails. The vibe is similar, which is the kind we like. SO WHAT they only have one aerial dancer, at least you don't have to pay for admission!

Anyway, this was The NewsRoom's 2nd week of opening, and my husband made a reservation for us to have dinner there. He called ahead of time to make sure if it was okay for us to bring our 3-month-old baby, and they said YES! I was shocked but also very happy that they could accommodate us. FYI -- it is incredibly rare for any respectable cocktail bar anywhere to allow babies.

To prepare for our Friday date night, my husband bought baby earmuffs for our baby's ear protection. Friday evening came along, and we made our way over to the Diet 7Up vending machine secret door to check in with the hostess.

After a few minutes, we were escorted to a corner table by the entrance. We thought this was the perfect table in case the baby cries, we could easily duck out. There was also ample space for our stroller.

It was a busy Friday night, but our server, River was great. He was attentive and followed up on our food/drink orders when they didn't come out as quickly.

For drinks, my husband and I had 4 of the 6 cocktails - The Front Page, The Interview, the Lychee Martini and the Old Fashioned. All were great, except for the Lychee Martini, which was just fine. The Old Fashioned was my absolute favorite though, and I like the use of Japanese Whiskey, which you don't see often used in an Old Fashioned. I will definitely be ordering this again when I return, maybe even two of this.

As for food, I would have to say it's slightly better than the food from restaurants on North 2nd street. If I were to recommend one dish, it would be the Churrasco steak. 3 skirt steak skewers grilled just right.

We were there for the full 1.5 hours, which flew by. During the 1.5 hours, we definitely saw the aerial dancer perform at least 3 times!

Later, River had his manager comp our 2nd round of drinks. Alicia, one of the managers, also came by our table and offered us a glass of Prosecco on the house. The staff really made sure we had a great time. My husband and I enjoyed The NewsRoom so much, we cannot wait to go back.

Northern Liberties could really use some quality and fun spots, and The NewsRoom is...

Disappointment. This place is not it and I was so excited for a Japanese speakeasy. My wife and I moved to NO Libs two years ago from New York and would frequent Karasu, a Japanese speakeasy behind Walter’s in Fort Greene Brooklyn. So we were so excited to hear of a Japanese speakeasy that we can walk to in our neighborhood! When we walked in, it was nice that the ambiance took us away from the street. We were sat at a table for two but the first indicator of the experience that we’ll have came when there were three table settings on the table. Each table setting had been tampered with and didn’t have the correct utensils. One chopstick, another without a fork and knife, another without chopsticks at all…. When the waiter arrived he let us know that they were on a limited menu to “showcase the quality of the food”. My wife and I are the type to order EVERYTHING so that we get a good taste of the restaurant and were so excited about the whole fish and other items in their menu, that we couldn’t order……. We ordered a few rolls, all of which were mid. Fresh fish, sure, but nothing that we couldn’t order from Seiko. Just felt overpriced for what it is. We’re happy to spend a lot of money for great food but if your $24 roll feels too expensive for what it is, you’re serving mid. I’m a huge cocktails person so I left my expectations to the drinks. The drinks came… I ordered The Interview and it came out under a cold smoked glass. Very nice presentation. BUT TELL ME WHY THE DRINK HAD NO SMOKE FLAVOR AT ALL. THE DRINK IS MADE WITH MEZCAL!!!. Just a glass of coconut milk. We paid and left. What’s wrong with restaurateurs thinking Philadelphians are tasteless people that only value ambiance?!?!?! First SIN and then this?! I don’t know anyone in the neighborhood that’s going to leave work on a Tuesday and think “yeah, I feel like getting a drink and apps at Newsroom”. They have everything but substance. Newsroom needs a proper cocktail program. Give me real Japanese food. Umami flavors, noodles, and raw seafood. Give me a cocktail where I’m not thinking of the $18 price and thinking of the next time I’m going to visit to have it again. Newsroom is just not...