Is Philly’s hottest nightclub a ball pit under Suburban Station?

Being slowly swallowed whole by a wave of soft plastic balls should be on everyone’s bucket list after aging out of Chuck E. Cheese. There’s certainly nothing like swimming through a pool of neon-lit balls while Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” plays. Luckily, in the heart of Center City, spitting distance from Billy Penn, is Concourse Dance Bar, the city’s only nightlife venue with an adult ball pit.

It has something for everyone, said one guest, Christine Barnabic, during an interview in the Concourse ball pit.

“It’s a really great environment to choose your own adventure, which is always super fun,” Barnabic said after finishing salsa lessons offered at the dance bar before the club opened. “Especially when it comes to people that maybe want that nightclub scene but also want to be able to take a break and do something else.”

Before it became a Neverland for adults, Concourse — named so because it’s right next to Suburban Station’s concourse — was a below-ground off-track betting parlor called the Turf Club until it closed in 2016. Two years later, Concourse opened up on weekend nights (now just Friday and Saturday) for Center City partygoers and was soon a popular spot to celebrate birthdays, bachelorettes, and the end of the workweek (along with special weekday events, like hosting garage punk band Bass Drum of Death).

The adult ball pit — a 25-foot-long and 3.5-foot-deep pool filled with thousands of neon-lit plastic balls with enough room to fit 15 people — was always part of the plan, Concourse general manager Rylan Murphy said.

“The goal of Concourse was trying to make a place for people where they could just be who they are and kind of celebrate being alive,” said dance bar owner Avram Hornik. “You’re with your friends, you’re being silly and pulling from these moments of childhood joy — I don’t think anyone’s ever been in a ball pit, and not smiled.”

Don’t worry — the ball pit is sanitized. According to Murphy, Concourse uses a machine every week that sucks each ball out of the pool to be rinsed in a bleach-water mixture, washed, and dried before refilling the pool again for the next weekend’s guests.

Make sure to leave any important belongings, like phone, keys, or wallet (“PKW” anyone?) with the ball pit staff because if you lose any items in there, they can’t drain the pool to search for them until the night is over, and you’ll have to pick up your belongings a day later.

But the ball pit isn’t the only amenity. There’s the Ice Bar — an actual walk-in freezer kitted out in neon lights, Philly sports logos, and ice sculptures. Even the furniture is made of ice. Bring a jacket — it gets cold!

Concourse’s Infinity Room is an entire room covered in mirrors casting your visage in a dozen different angles and bathed in a mix of neon and black light.

“They’re both places where you can go to have a sensory experience, the Infinity Room is very visual, while the Ice Room is very physical,” said Hornik. “I think that kind of opens you to more pathways to fun.”

On the second-floor bar and balcony, the entire level is covered in Victorian-era portraits and vintage furniture tucked into corner coves, perfect for a funky, retro selfie.

Check out the photo booths. One old-school photo booth prints out a strip of frames of you and your friends and costs $5, or use the free digital photo booth that will send the photos to your phone.

Concourse is located at 1635 Market St. Enter through the back entrance around the side of the building; doors open at 9 p.m. The club has tiered pricing for the cover charge depending on arrival time.

Cover charges:

The dance bar hosts special events outside regular operating hours, like salsa dance lessons, live music, and more. Follow the bar on Instagram at @CONCOURSEDANCEBAR.