Home > Connecticut Bars & Clubs > Bar Review > Stonewall Tavern

If you thought Dr.Jekyll led a double life, wait until you visit Mansfield’s Stonewall Tavern.

The restaurant and bar, hidden amongst tall trees and a winding Route 32, is a cozy, wood-paneled retreat that can satisfy the hunger of any resident or passer-by with its large-portioned comfort foods served in a quiet, just-like-home atmosphere for lunch and dinner.

Once the sun goes down it’s a different story.

The stage sits empty during the daylight hours, but come nightfall the colored lights are shining and an audience is dancing to jams by the likes of local favorites Shakedown and Otherwise while enjoying quality drinks and good company.

Every Wednesday through Sunday night the tavern turns into a hot spot for live bands and a welcomed casual atmosphere among the crowded UConn bars.

The designated motorcycle parking outside the picture window that displays neon signs for Samuel Adams and New Castle Brown Ale is a tell-tale sign of what’s to come when you enter the bar, and it’s not that snug, warm feeling you got at lunch time.

Décor: The small touches are what make the Stonewall Tavern a truly enjoyable dining experience, from uniquely engraved wooden booths to the chalkboard-clad bathroom doors. The wooden interior and fireplace in the dining room make meals romantic, and for those looking to enjoy a beer and watch a game, the bar area offers four televisions.

Eats: If you’re on a diet this may not be the best place to go, but for some well-portioned, hearty comfort food it is worth the trip. The menu includes enormous appetizers of nachos and potato skins guaranteed to clog your arteries, and if you save some room, cheeseburgers or wraps loaded with crispy French fries and entrees of ribs and pasta round out the options.

Booze: Bottled beer, beer on tap and three bars stacked with liquor to fulfill your every drunken fantasy await you at the Stonewall Tavern. The quality mixed drinks are one in a million for bars near a university, and with the moderate price of $6 they are a best bet.

Crowd: The crowd here has more ingredients than its Long Island iced tea, encompassing college students and locals ranging from 21 years old to mid 50s. The best way to determine the crowd is to see what band will be playing that night.

Service: Unlike other Mansfield and Storrs bars where you wait 10 minutes to get the bartender’s attention, the servers are very attentive and the lunch and dinner crowds can expect truly genuine waitresses.

Dress code: If there were a dress code that included jeans, tie-dye shirts, mini skirts and leather boots, it would hang on the door of The Stonewall Tavern. On any given night, you can find men fresh off a work shift wearing ragged jeans enjoying a drink next to a girl who is dressed to impress.

Bottom line: Stonewall Tavern is a diamond in the rough in a land of cheap drinks, premade food and lack of live music.

Stonewall Tavern
847 Stafford Road, Storrs
860-487-9785

Add a comment