Stella Blues — Restaurant in New Haven

I’ve been here a couple times and kind of purposely avoid it because it feels like whoever “designed” it put together two halves of two different bars that are two completely different themes. It is so incredibly loud in both sides of these bars of you can’t hear yourself think. It also seemed unfinished? Like no one had ever thought to continue a construction project. There was only one usable bathroom the last time I went and we spent the majority of the night waiting for it and then as we were getting kicked out at the end of the night we were told we couldn’t use the bathroom… The main reason I’m reviewing though is because Stella Blues recently made a social media post about how they’re “not racist” online which in and of itself is suspicious. The person who had the negative experience with them was in the comments and it seems like she was never reached out to directly; another bizarre choice. They doubled down instead of taking accountability and asking what can we do better as an establishment in this community? I’ve managed a business where we had a situation similar to this and we reached out directly to the affected party and asked how we can make the situation right and if and how we can make them feel comfortable coming back. It’s not about PR, it’s about your community and being part of a city full of diversity, you should...

BANDS BEWARE. This is a very unprofessionally run venue. Terrible communication between bands, talent buyer, and management. Our show was cancelled because the talent buyer failed to find a third band on the bill and the bar insisted that music MUST go on until 12:30 am. We were prepared to play our set from 10:15-11:15 as agreed upon with the talent buyer, arrived on time, set up, and were ready to soundcheck when the manager told us to "get the $%&# out" if we weren't willing to play from 10:15-12:30. This was only an issue because an unrelated band (booked entirely by the talent buyer) dropped and didn't show up. This "set time requirement" was not made clear until after we were already loaded in and set up. Sadly, the manager's ego and the talent buyer's incompetence completely stopped a show from occurring. To bands considering booking, I urge you to contact Manic or cafe nine regarding booking nights at similar venues in New Haven, as they behave professionally. I have performed live music for 10 years and have never in my life witnessed anything as bizarre and...

definition of dive bar. specialty drinks are 10 bucks and you will be guaranteed to be lit with two of them. Tuesday night open mic, no cover. they only check ID at bar if u look sketchy. pool table in back. you get variety and cool locals on Tuesday nights. other nights are pretty busy, but Tuesdays are best bet.

bartenders are Ok. nothing spectacular, more concerned with talking and are slow to make drinks. if you talk em up , I'm sure you can get a drink or two out of em, they are young and inexperienced.

place is unapologetically what it is. bathrooms are filled with graffiti and people do coke in em every other time I'm here. but it is a taste of what white/local new haven is like in downtown. local bands are dope and take requests sometimes. $5 busch is a favorite thing to yell out.

I always come back to this place because it is authentic and unapologetically divey, a place to just get away from pretentiousness and any...