'Stranger Things' Theme Comes To Center City Beer Garden

PHILADELPHIA — A popular Center City beer garden is getting strange.

Center City's Uptown Beer Garden is transforming into the Upside Down from the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things."

For the first time ever, the Halloween pop-up beer garden will transport visitors to 1983 Hawkins, Indiana.

The beer garden, located at 1500 JFK Bouelvard, is open from 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m to 2 a.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays.

Families are also invited this year to visit Uptown Beer Garden for spooky season.

Children and teenagers under 21 are welcome with a parent or guardian, any day of the week except Fridays and Saturdays after 8 p.m.

Guests at the Uptown Upside Down will see Max levitating high above the SEPTA station, Demogorgons, Demodogs, Joyce's couch, Vecna guarding City Hall and, of course, all the victims.

Additionally, there will be iconic scenes, custom-made props, authentic art pieces and hand-sculpted monsters.

The pop-up design features over a dozen life-size monsters and set replica photo ops (including the portal to the Upside Down) brought to life by lead artists Zeneca Thompson and Jason Miller.

As for drinks, there will be Stranger Things-inspired cocktails and potions, such as the Mind Flayer Shot and the Chrissy Wake Up cocktail.

For food, the beer garden will have a new menu of fall favorites from the kitchen.

A curated soundtrack that brings together the best of Uptown Beer Garden shuffled with top hits from the show's soundtrack.

On top of Uptown Upside Down, look for the entrance and tunnel adjacent to Uptown to feature nods to Halloween classics, and don't forget to look below the lower SEPTA courtyard for the ghosts and ghouls of SEPTA's past.

Admission to Uptown is free, with exceptions for special and private events.

The beer garden comes from the same minds who brought about the popular Tinsel Christmas Pop-up Bar and Nightmare Before Tinsel.

"After the instant success of Tinsel Christmas Pop-up Bar and Nightmare Before Tinsel, I always wanted to have a giant outdoor Halloween pop-up at Uptown Beer Garden," said Craft Concepts Group and owner Teddy Sourias. "Over the pandemic we moved to a larger and more unique space with more room to get creative. We hosted our first Christmas pop-up with U-Ville during the holiday season. Now, the time seemed right to take the space at 15th and JFK and evolve it for Halloween. The theme was an easy choice, as our team at Craft Concepts Group are obsessed with the show. We engaged with local artists to really go for authentic pieces and go above and beyond anything we have ever done before. Uptown Upside Down joins Nightmare Before Tinsel and our new Little Blume of Horrors as the city's three premiere Halloween pop-up bars and attractions for spooky season. We can't wait to see everyone out this October! And yes, Tinsel Christmas Pop-up Bar is already being built and U-Ville is definitely coming back - both with new designers, new art pieces and new surprises."

Learn more about Uptown Beer Garden here.