Inside Doom Bar: Philly’s new temple of sound and spirits

Doom Bar’s black brick facade looms beside Franklin Music Hall. It’s impossible to miss, nothing like the humble dive I imagined.

Cross the threshold past heavy velvety curtains fit for a vampire’s lair, and the light dims. An ornate chandelier adorned with bones hangs overhead. With soaring ceilings, stained glass, and polished hardwood floors, the space feels more cathedral than corner bar.

It’s a striking contrast to the former Voltage Lounge, the independent venue that hosted countless shows before closing in December 2020, a casualty of the pandemic. Where Voltage was gritty and intimate, a no-frills stage for DIY shows, Doom feels grand and deliberate.

This establishment is the brainchild of industry veteran Justin Holden and renowned music producer Will Yip.

Worlds Collide

Justin Holden’s path into the restaurant industry began at the age of 14, bussing tables and working in bars around Philadelphia. After years in the business, he found himself at a crossroads. “I thought I wanted to be a director for a bigger restaurant company, overseeing multiple locations,” he says. “But after doing it for a while, I realized I didn’t enjoy it.”

Instead, he started dreaming up something of his own: a neighborhood bar, grounded in a love of food, drinks, and doom metal. While working as the General Manager of Royal Izakaya, he connected with Will Yip, a regular at the restaurant, who helped reignite the energy behind the project and later became his business partner.

Will’s name is synonymous with Philadelphia’s independent music scene, thanks to his work producing records for bands like Title Fight, Turnstile, and Circa Survive. But what many might not know is that his roots also run deep in the culinary world: his family moved to Philly in the 1980s to open Ocean City Restaurant, a Chinatown institution.

Initially, Holden envisioned a small corner bar. But when the former Voltage Lounge space became available, the vision grew along with it. “I fell in love with the idea of an encyclopedic bar, once this space became a reality. It got bigger and better.”

What Holden means by “encyclopedic bar” is that the size and unique character of the new space gave him the freedom to expand beyond his original idea, incorporating more depth and variety. The food, drinks, and music, could all play a part in creating an immersive experience.

Philadelphia was always the obvious home for Doom. Holden knew the market here best, and Yip believed the city’s affordability and strong DIY scene made it the ideal place to build something new.

“We’re all making music in Philly because we don’t have to mortgage our lives to be here,” Yip says. “With that comes community and fans.”

For Holden, Philadelphia’s no-nonsense attitude felt like the perfect match. “We don’t tolerate bullshit here,” he says. “We hone in on what matters—do you feel welcome, does it sound good, are the food and drinks good?” That honesty is exactly what keeps people coming back.

Doom By Design

The concept for Doom Bar was born from Holden’s desire to create a space that blended music with an elevated hospitality experience. Inspired by establishments like Kuma’s Corner in Chicago, famous for its unabashed metal theme, he envisioned a bar that would honor the doom genre while staying accessible.

“I just wanted to do something that didn’t exist yet. A place that’s welcoming and comfortable to hang out in, but where you can get some awesome drinks or just a cheap beer,” he says.

With a heavy music background, Yip was immediately drawn to the idea. He saw doom’s heavy, low-end sound as uniquely suited to a bar environment. “Sonically, it’s the same as jazz,” Yip explains. “It’s engulfing and forward, but it can also live in the background.” That philosophy became central to Doom Bar’s auditory design: the music should enhance the atmosphere without overwhelming it.

The renovation of the former venue was a labor of love, and acoustics were a major challenge. Yip’s expertise in sound engineering proved invaluable as the team ran tests and installed treatments. Visually, Doom Bar strikes a balance between gothic drama and DIY spirit. Nearly everything inside was salvaged, repurposed, or handmade.

“We didn’t have the budget for a design firm,” Holden says. “We got pews for free, broke them down and rebuilt them. We found furniture on Facebook Marketplace.” Each piece was carefully chosen, breathing new life into the building.

Local artists give the room its distinct character, like custom stained glass by Kristin Scholz (aka Sea of Doom), bold door paintings by Doom Future. Upstairs, the second-floor gallery is curated by tattoo artist and illustrator Sue Moerder. A miniature record store curated by Repo Records offers a small but mighty selection of doom-leaning vinyl. Through these collaborations, Doom Bar invests back into the creative community it came from.

Flavors of Doom

So how exactly do you capture doom as a flavor? For Holden, it starts with a kick. “Spiciness is part of doom to me,” he says. “Another element is the primal stuff, like bone marrow and duck heart.”

The food menu, developed with Chef Ian Hunter, reimagines classic bar fare with inventive twists. Dishes like the mapo chili dog and smoked pork nachos lean into bold flavors and playful experimentation, grounded in what Holden calls “bar food with a little more thought.” For those less carnivorously inclined, there are thoughtful vegan and vegetarian options too, like a BBQ jackfruit sandwich and seitan nuggets.

The beverage program features small-batch spirits, creative riffs on classics, and occasional local collabs, like a recent tap from Attic Brewing made with Philly metal band Blasphemous. The Crowbar Club, a spicy take on the Clover Club, is a standout, but there’s plenty of range, whether you want a Bud, a citywide, or a well-made N.A. option. The whole idea is to keep things approachable.

Building A Scene

Opening a bar from the ground up without corporate funding or a blueprint is no small feat. While Holden’s background prepared him for the food and beverage side, much of his current role centers around something less expected: programming.

“A lot of my job is creating reasons to come here,” he explains. “Happy hours, DJ nights, monthly movie screenings, vendor markets. That takes work, but I like what we’re doing. I just want to do more of it and make it feel a little more effortless.”

That momentum is already building. Each month brings new ways for fans to connect and build culture around the music they love, and the community is responding.

Yip isn’t focused on how big Doom Bar can get; he’s focused on why it exists. “I just want to share what’s so special about Doom with others who would appreciate it. That’s why I believed in this place.”

Whether you’re an audiophile, a casual fan, or just someone looking for a good drink and conversation, you’ll find something here that resonates. Next time you’ve got tickets to a Franklin Music Hall show, stop by and discover why Doom Bar feels like nowhere else in Philly.