“If you could shower at Esca, why would you ever leave?” —Jacob Masters ’15

Ever since the Nest, the go-to Wednesday Bar Night spot of past years, closed, we’ve been curious about the Middletown bar scene. While Corner Pocket emerged as the popular new bar night spot, there are many different bar and happy hour options, all with different vibes and not confined to a Wednesday night. So a few of the 21+’ers on the Wesleying Staff (kg, Samira, Astag_rocky) decided to do some investigative research on the Mtown bar options, especially since there have been a surge of complaints about an apparent dip in the Wesleyan Night Life. Don’t say we’ve never done anything for you.

Each bar or restaurant is rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the best), on experience, price, and “familiarity with Wes students” (meaning how prepared the place would be for the onslaught of college kids). We tried to find Celtic Cavern but were unfortunately too drunk to do so. We were also hoping to go to Gatekeeper’s solely because of this Yelp review: “5 of Americas most wanted criminals are usually seated at the bar and there’s a bevy of lovely $10 hookers outside the front door…what more could you want?,” but it’s closed. And… RIP Shadow Room. We hardly knew ye.

Disclaimer: Most of this adventure happened over a two-day period and we’ve certainly missed some places with cool bar scenes. If you have suggestions, please comment with them so that others can check them out!