TV Restaurants

What Happened to Venture Inn After Mystery Diners? (Philadelphia, PA)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Venture Inn has closed — confirmed via epgn.com, November 27, 2015.

Primary source
epgn.com ·
Secondary source
ilovebricks.blogspot.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Philadelphia Gay News and a follow-up blog post document the Center City gay bar's closure in January 2016, a different Venture Inn from the one the packet's Google Places match placed in Jersey Shore, PA.

  • Season / episode Season 4, Episode 12
  • Original air date
  • Address 255 S Camac St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Interactive map — loads when you ask for it.

Everything on this map is also in the list below.

© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

Note on this show: Described as staged/scripted by Wikipedia's article, citing a 2012 realityblurred.com report. Surface this note on every record.

What happened after Mystery Diners?

Mystery Diners' Oct. 2, 2013 episode "What a Drag" (Season 4, Episode 12) featured Venture Inn, a longtime LGBTQ bar and restaurant in Philadelphia's Gayborhood. According to an episode overview on TheTVDB, owner Bob asked Charles Stiles to investigate after both regular customers and the bar's cross-dressing clientele complained that its weekly quiz night was rigged; the sources reviewed for this entry did not include a full recap of the on-air investigation's findings. Separately, according to Philadelphia Gay News and a follow-up post on the Philly Bricks blog, the Camac Street bar — which the Philadelphia Inquirer reported was bought and revived by new owner Bob Berkowitz starting in 2007 — closed permanently, with its last night of business on January 17, 2016. Wikipedia's article on the series, citing its sources, notes that the show carries a credits disclaimer stating that events may be re-enacted for dramatic purposes, and cites a television critic who described the show's scenarios as implausible and its resolutions as staged. The address Google Places matched to "Venture Inn" in this packet was a same-named business in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, roughly 150 miles from Philadelphia; this entry instead uses the 255 S. Camac St. address of the Center City bar the episode actually featured, standardized through the Census Bureau's geocoder.

Featured on Mystery Diners

Season / episode
Season 4, Episode 12
Original air date
Episode title
What a Drag
What was featured
Regulars' and drag-night customers' complaints that trivia night was rigged
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Venture Inn

Frequently asked questions

Is Venture Inn still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Venture Inn has closed — confirmed via epgn.com, November 27, 2015.

What happened to Venture Inn after Mystery Diners?

Mystery Diners' Oct. 2, 2013 episode "What a Drag" (Season 4, Episode 12) featured Venture Inn, a longtime LGBTQ bar and restaurant in Philadelphia's Gayborhood. As of September 2026, Venture Inn has closed — confirmed via epgn.com, November 27, 2015.

Is Venture Inn permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Venture Inn has closed — confirmed via epgn.com, November 27, 2015. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Venture Inn located?

255 S Camac St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Mystery Diners featured Venture Inn?

Season 4, Episode 12 of Mystery Diners, first aired October 2, 2013. The episode is titled “What a Drag”.

What do reviews say since Mystery Diners?

According to an episode overview on TheTVDB, owner Bob asked Charles Stiles to investigate after both regular customers and the bar's cross-dressing clientele complained that its weekly quiz night was rigged; the sources reviewed for this entry did not include a full recap of the on-air investigation's findings. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

More from Mystery Diners

Every Mystery Diners restaurant we track

Other TV restaurants in Pennsylvania

All Pennsylvania locations

Nearest tracked restaurants

Visit info

Address
255 S Camac St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

See something wrong?

We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.

See something wrong? Tell us →

Share this page

Record md-046 · last verified .