By I’m going to be honest, hate the exclamation point in “Xfinity Live!” Locations shouldn’t have puncutation. Just sharing my opinion, moving on.
“Xfinity Live!”, or what I from here on out will refer to as the Xfinity Center, is the entertainment center in Philadelphia located in the South Philly Sports Complex where the Spectrum used to be. The grand opening is actually happening as I type this, but it’s been open since this past Wednesday for the Bruce Springsteen shows. I attended Thursday’s and spent some time there.
The venue was crowded, as to be expected, but not so crowded as to be annoying, once you branched off from the main room and tried the bars. The best way I could describe the set-up would be an alcoholic food court. Once you enter, there is a main room/lobby aptly named the Philly Marketplace (I learned this just now from the website). It contains local Philly food stands (think Cheesesteak and Water Ice), several bars (and customized draft tables) places to sit, and a stage (whiich wasn’t being utilized when we were there).
Additionally, there are five full bars/restaraunts at the complex: Victory Beer Hall, Spectrum Grill, NBC Sports Arena, Broad Street Bullies Pub, and PBR Bar & Grill (which I’m dissapointed to find out stands for Professional Bull Riders Bar and Grill, and has no affiliation with PBR itself).
We spent all our time in the Victory Beer Hall, which is reminiscent of my beloved Hofbrauhaus. The staff was extremely energetic, good at recommendations (they only serve local microbrews, so I needed some explaining done), and gifted with a free shotski. I’ve never been to Victory’s Downingtown location, but my friend assured me it’s the same set up, for those of you who are familiar.
All in all, the Xfinity Center seems like a good addition to the sports complex area. It’d be a great place to go for game days and was a good concert pregame.
PA Weekend Fun 