Philly musicians, past owners look back at Manayunk’s live music staple Grape Room

If the Grape Room’s walls could talk, we’d hear decades of soulful croons, fist-pumping rock jams, and frenzied chants echoing through the beloved Manayunk bar.

The walls, adorned with portraits of past owners, by famed muralist Joseph Tiberino, have seen many faces. They have welcomed crowds of varying generations and amplified the voice of every musician and comedian who stepped through its doors.

The much-loved Manayunk bar and music venue is now closed after almost 40 years, with ownership changes and location changes along the way. But through it all, current owner Brian “Scooter” Hassinger said the memories endure. From the moment his band, the Dirges, played at the Grape in 1992, Hassinger knew he had found a home.

He started working there as an assistant booking manager in 1995 and took up different roles before becoming the owner in 2010. “It was a dream come true,” he said. “It’s always been my spot.” Even then, the Grape was a musical bright spot in a sleepy neighborhood filled with restaurants, boutiques, and antique shops.

Original owner Stephen Sendzik opened the bar, then-known as Grape Street Pub, in 1986. But years before then, the 105 Grape St. location welcomed doo-wop and R&B artists as the Opus Bar 2, Hassinger said.

Much of the Grape’s design and slew of musical talent didn’t arrive until Barnet Weiss and his sons purchased the place in 1994, Weiss said. “It was a mess inside. It needed a complete overhaul.”

They repainted the walls, built a new musical stage, and began booking original performers instead of the cover bands of old. Most notably, the late guitarist Jeff Buckley. “We were the only bar in Manayunk to have a line outside waiting to come in.”

Guitarist Kevin Hanson was a regular at the Pub in the 1990s. It became home base when Hanson and his band the Fractals started teaming with Craig Elkins in the group that would become Huffamoose. Their debut album came out in 1993.

In those years, Hanson said, the bar was packed every night of the week, and it never cost more than $10 to get in the door. The “loosey goosey” atmosphere attracted live music fans, and the “debauchery” of the club made it feel like a “rock and roll clubhouse.”

In 1999, the Weiss family sold the Grape to Joe Cahill, who moved the pub to 4100 Main St. The space, then renamed Grape Street Philadelphia, saw a notable upgrade in sound, lighting, and size, Hassinger said.

The L-shaped building had a dance club at the front, and a live music space at the back. High-quality amps, monitors, and speakers were installed to accommodate the larger space and crowd, but the new venue closed down in 2008 due to ownership disputes, according to Philly Mag.

The 4100 Main St. location later turned into the nightclub Mad River Manayunk, which closed in 2020.

Hassinger, who was a part of most of the Grape’s iterations, decided to step in as the owner and return the venue to its roots at 105 Grape St. “It embodied everything that was from the 1990s and 2000s, and I brought it along for 2010 and beyond,” he said. “It created a whole lifetime of memories.”

Under Hassinger’s ownership, the Grape brought in Curt Chambers, the Lumineers, Deadfellow, Slomo Sapiens, the Tisburys, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, and others.

While other Manayunk venues opened doors for local acts, Tisburys leader Tyler Asay said there weren’t any that matched the energy of the Grape. “Grape Street felt more like a real venue,” he said. “Losing a place like the Grape really is a big hit.”

Asay said rumors were swirling about the Grape’s impending shutdown, so his band played every gig at the venue like it was its last. Turns out, the March 15 show ended up being just that. “For Main Street, for Manayunk, for the little town we have, it’s a bummer,” he said.

The Grape didn’t close because of overwhelming rental costs or a lack of profitability, Hassinger said. After 30 years in the bar business, he felt it was finally time to step away from the venue.

“I’m disappointed I left the community a little behind because I love the community we created,” Hassinger said. “But I have four kids and a wife that I don’t see a lot. The bar business is arduous. It’s tough and time-consuming, and you have to be there and a part of it. But at a certain point, I wanted to be with my family.”

Kevin McCall, the Grape’s booking manager for a decade, said the Grape was at the center of his universe for years. And it was like that for a lot of people, which he credits to Hassinger’s continued contributions. “Scooter put a lot of love and passion into this venue and is the reason for the outpour of support and the community of local music that surrounds Manayunk.”

McCall said the owners of the building are not looking to sell it, so he and others are forced to move on — at least for now. He’s hopeful someone takes up the Grape for another go but admits, it will feel “weird” without Hassinger at the helm.

It will be an unfamiliar time for Hassinger, too. At 52, he’s spent more than half of his life working at the Grape. But he’s confident someone else will take the torch, and continue the legacy of the historic venue for years to come. “This building has always had music in it. That’s the magic and beauty of the Grape,” he said.