North Star Bar is one of my favorite philly music venues. The service is horrible and the drinks are wildly overpriced, but the venue is small and has such an incredible energy that I forget about the bitchy waitress and fat tab every time.
Been here several times for a show, grabbing a beer or two beforehand at the bar - very nice place - welcoming staff - clean too! (I hate that I have to mention clean, but it is Philly... there are some... DIRTY bars - this is not one of them!)
good music....bad service. bartenders are kind of rude and have bad attitudes. they treat patrons more as money bags rather than friends. they dont ever have a smile on their face and they seem more interested in when their shift is over rather than having a good relationship with patrons, serving good drinks and getting big tips. even the barback mean mugs everyone. Service like that makes me really miss the Blockley and the awesome people who worked there. long story short.... good music, unfriendly service.
The only reason i'd ever go to this venue again is if Dick Dale plays here again. The two stars given are only given because of Dick Dale, surf guitar legend. Other than that, I found the staff to be rather disrespectful to their clients, and have witnessed multiple accounts of patronizing and innappropriate attitudes. I'm not saying everyone there is rude, but mainly a select few. Long live Dick Dale, our leader!