Conspiracy — Restaurant in Middletown

Conspiracy

If you have never been here and are intrigued by the mystery of Conspiracy… cat’s out of the bag. The Conspiracy is the restaurant itself, because the staff seemed to be nonexistent. We arrived at 8pm, party of four. Decided to sit on the patio. This is where we went wrong. Apparently sitting on the patio means waiting an hour for a cheese plate with 3 slices of cheese. Advertised as the “Five cheese plate” we were baffled at the thin slices of cheese that resembled grocery store samples adjacent to a pile of pistachio dust stuck on a dollop of inedible honey (as the dust and honey created a hardened concrete like paste). In addition to the charcuterie board we ordered an Ahi Tuna Bowl & Flatbread. This was our second major mistake - ordering food at a restaurant where the conspiracy is whether or not they employ a staff. We waited for an additional hour and a half for our entreès. Two waitresses simultaneously took our orders and did not communicate which led to major delays in our orders. To add, we received two sets of the check demonstrating once again their inability to speak to one another in order to create a dining experience in which the customers get fed in under two hours. For the entire two hours we ordered one round of drinks and were never asked if we would like refills. I was excited to go out with my best friends on a Friday night, but left hangry, sober, and disappointed. Spoiler Alert: The conspiracy is the...

As others have said Conspiracy's biggest failing seems to be the service. We'd been a few times before and it does feel like the drink complexity is at odds with the number of bartenders. It always takes a long time to get a drink, and I'm sure they're feeling overwhelmed constantly.

Beyond that there are head scratchers that feel like this is a hobby project instead of a professional establishment. Recently a small group of us were interested in a post about NYE festivities. We replied to the post to get details (what time, the cost, etc), but we didn't get a response. We decided to go in and have a drink and ask. The greeter and none of the bartenders had any details, but they took our number and said they'd reach out. They never called or texted. I did notice a social media post about a week before NYE with details, but by that time our group had made other (more reliable) plans.

Beyond that, the drinks are interesting, but never really elevated to "amazing". It's a shame because the atmosphere is great, and I feel like the staff may even play into the idea of mystery and pretentiousness, but I can't say that it's ever been an enjoyable experience. Maybe it's all on purpose, Conspiracy feels upscale, and if you want to impress your friends I could see taking them there. If you want to enjoy cocktails/drinks there are better places to go...

To be completely honest, I was not a fan... Distilled water isn't free which was kind of weird. They pitched it as overly filtered super water or something. Their straws are paper which I hate but I'm sure it's good for the environment or something. I ordered a drink and they had a small drink menu. Their alcohol selection on the shelf also looked pretty empty and small. I also went here shortly after they first opened, but I imagine you wouldn't open until all of your ducks are in a row. It looked like it could have been cleaned up a little nicer. I ordered a drink and it was the smallest cocktail ever. And I don't just mean a little light. The glass was probably half the size of a normal cocktail. I drank it, and the drink itself was good. Also, it was super expensive and cost $11 for this tiny cocktail. It was worth about $6. They had a "story time" event going on, which I thought was super weird and corny but decided to participate in. We sat in the lounge area and listened to people tell stories about drugs they've taken and other war stories that seemed childish. As soon as I finished my little baby drink, I was out of there and haven't returned since.

I do not recommend this place and I think that it's overrated. It's super hyped up because it's "hipster" and fits the Wesleyan theme but honestly,...