On an ordinary Thursday afternoon, the atmosphere inside Middletown’s Mezzo Grille is not particularly thrilling. The front doors stand open and inviting, but every table is empty; only three or four patrons sit at the bar, each dining alone. There’s a game on. A bartender with “Assholes Live Forever” printed on the back of his sweatshirt is rummaging through empty liquor bottles under the sink.

For an ordinary visitor on this ordinary Thursday afternoon, Mezzo Grille might be the perfect local watering hole: a spot to enjoy a cold beer and a burger without having to talk to anyone at all. But if that visitor were to hang around for a while—say, until after 10 p.m.—the scene would begin to change. 

Ask any University student about “Bar Night,” and they’ll give you a knowing smile. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a night—Thursday—when everybody goes out to the bar—Mezzo—for a grand old time. As soon as classes end and shadows grow long, students flock down the hill from campus to an alley off Main Street, where the illuminated Mezzo Grille sign is waiting for them.

“It really is the best night of the week,” Nicole Schully ’25 said. “I just think it’s so fun to be there with everyone and to dance and to sing. When else in your life do you get to go to a bar with literally everyone you know?”

Other students echoed Schully’s enthusiasm.

“I think Bar Night is one of the most consistently enjoyable ways to go out on campus,” Eleanor Kanengiser ’25 said. “Because you always know there will be dancing, there will be music, and there will be people.”

According to the owner of Mezzo Grille, William Fox Sr., Bar Night is an occasion even he and his employees look forward to.

“It turns into, you know, a big nightclub,” Fox said. “It’s just a nice way to fill in a Thursday evening. I’m grateful for it, grateful [the students] come, and I’m glad that they’re here, and it runs really, really smooth. It’s just a fun moment.”

Fox opened Mezzo Grille 14 years ago, about 26 years after relocating to Middletown from his hometown of Jersey City, N.J. According to him, the Bar Night phenomenon at Mezzo as we know it today only started four or five years ago. Before that, there were other bars—namely Vines on Church, which closed in 2017—and other nights that took the title; “Wesleyan Wednesdays” were once the name of the game, according to a 2019 article by then-Social Media Editor Jane Herz ’20. 

Following the economic and social shake-up of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mezzo gladly stepped up to the plate.

“It’s not this huge gangbuster evening,” Fox said. “[The students] come down, have two cocktails, maybe have three, and then they walk back up the hill. And that’s fine. I’m totally content with it, and it’s a fun night out. Never an issue; there’s never a problem.”

However, Fox doesn’t typically stick around long enough to witness potential problems. 

“I’ll show up once a month at around midnight, but I’m usually in bed by 10 p.m.,” Fox said. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years. I pay my staff well. If you train your staff correctly, you usually never have an issue.”

One of those staff members is Pablo Canal, the Argentinian-born general manager, who works every Bar Night shift from start to finish. In his tenure at Mezzo, Canal has enjoyed a front-row seat to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“They are young kids,” Canal said. “We were all young, and sometimes they do things that I would not agree [with], but still, I understand them because I was young too. It’s nothing really bad that they do. Sometimes we have to put a limit on the drinks, on the behavior, which maybe they don’t understand, but it’s still nothing that we can complain [about] because they don’t fight, they don’t look for [anything] crazy to do.”

Canal went on to emphasize his sense of understanding and camaraderie with the students.

“It’s nice being connected with young people, and it’s nice that they have fun when they can come over here,” Canal said. “I think they like the place. I think it’s close to the University, to the campus, and I think we treat them well. So that’s very important for them and for us.”

As with any bar that caters to college-age patrons, one of Mezzo’s principal concerns is ensuring that all individuals consuming alcohol on the premises are of legal drinking age.

“I don’t want to use the word strict,” Fox said. “We are very good at it. One of the machines that we have—I forget the exact name, but it cost me several thousand dollars years ago. I still have to pay $50 a month for a service fee. And it [identifies] every single potential fake ID. It’s better than TSA at the airports. The state police and the local police departments know that’s what we have here. So it takes some time [when we check IDs] at the doors.”

More recently, Mezzo staff have added an additional layer of security: comparing IDs with the birth dates on students’ WesPortal accounts.

“A lot [of students were being turned away],” Canal said. “At the beginning [of the year] it’s always a lot because they think they can go in. But no, they’re not allowed. It’s a big risk for us.”

Among students, trying to get into Bar Night as an underclassman comes with its own risks. The Thursday night extravaganza has long been considered a tradition for upperclassmen only; for evidence, look no further than the satirical Bar Night Instagram page, @barnightwes. 

“Take up space!” a post titled “How to slay bar night for the class of 2027” reads. “Bar Night is a new horizon for freshmen, so don’t be afraid to remind seniors of this fact. They’ve had 3 years of fun at Mezzo, so you should tell them to leave and make room for you! They’ll be very understanding.”

This semester, Fox, Canal, and their coworkers introduced an 18+ entrance policy for the first time. Everyone is allowed in, but only students over the legal drinking age of 21 get colorful wristbands, and security ensures that non-wristbanded students don’t buy drinks.

“[Patrons between 18 and 21] are not allowed to drink, so when we see them drinking, it’s ‘Sorry buddy, you gotta go,’” Canal said.

Despite initial unpopularity, some upperclassmen are coming around to the 18+ line.

“I feel like when the underclassmen are let in there are way more people and it’s way more fun,” Schully said. “Unless you have to wait in line behind them.”

Others understood the desire to participate in tradition.

“I was too chickenshit to try and get in [as an underclassman],” Kanengiser said. “I feel like it changes the energy when it’s intentionally 18+, but I also would do the same thing if I were them.”

The 18+ line means that Mezzo has to gear up for an even larger crowd, but that is no concern—they’ve got busy nights down to a science.

“Usually a college night is around 400, 500, 600 people at the most,” Canal said. “But during the summer, Fridays [and] Saturdays are around 600, 700 people.”

With their 4,000 square foot patio space, outdoor Tiki Bar, indoor restaurant, and upstairs dance floor, Mezzo is built for parties. They regularly host live music, theme nights, and happy hour events—plus, University staff and faculty are offered a 20% discount. Bar Night is only a slice of Mezzo’s day-to-day business, but it’s a fun one. 

“I think I have a good engagement with [the students], and we have a good time,” Canal said. “They’re very, very, very nice.”

 

Sophie Jager can be reached at sjager@wesleyan.edu.