Wells Tavern

Swung by for a quick drink last night on a Friday night at 6PM. Lights off and nobody is home. Checked their website for clues and the domain name is not renewed. Me thinks Wells is officially closed for good.

Wells Tavern is the latest incarnation of a long line of «tries» at this location. As other reviewers have stated, it’s a bit hard to find, and is actually on Beaver Road (as is the post office in Wethersfield, as a point of reference).
Four of us decided to give the location yet another try, since we were at a wake at a funeral parlor on the same street.
This was on 7/​19, one of the hottest days of the year. We walked in through the bar area, which hasn’t really changed. It’s a nice bar/​pub atmosphere and look (flat screens, wood, big bar, high tops), except it also had the overwhelming odor of mustiness, like you were walking into your uncle’s notoriously damp basement. The odor was decreased, but still there, in the dining area. There was no hostess and the bartender said to «sit anywhere».
The air conditioning was either broken or not working well (on a VERY hot and humid day): it was warm inside, musty smelling, and there were buckets catching dripping water under the AC units. Probably should have walked out at this point, but, for some reason, we didn’t. It was after 8 PM and we wanted a drink and a quick bite.
Our waitress came over right away. Since we were in a TAVERN, we asked about what beers were available. She said she didn’t know (!), but could get a list from the bar, and when we said «OK», she seemed annoyed, but did oblige. Beer list is not large, the basics in bottles (which is the verbatim description our waitress gave us!) with an additional 5 or so on tap. It would take very little effort to memorize the list and also put it on table tents on the tables.
Beers were delivered sans napkins or coasters, we did ask for and got bar napkins. We hadn’t decided on dinner, and the waitress came back twice for our order, and was, again, visibly annoyed. The service in general was below average: unfriendly, not knowledgeable about beer choices, not checking for what we might need. It was a very slow night as well.
The food was good: large salads were quite large (albeit COVERED with onions, and not enough dressing), calamari was good, pizza was very good (although thin crust was ordered and the crust was very thick, unsure if this was an error [we were not willing to wait for an order change]), fish and chips were very good, but the fries were stone cold (fish was hot).
The temperature/​lack of air conditioning and musty odor and cranky service was a one star, but the score was bumped to two star because the food was good. We would likely not return, however, because there are too many choices for dinner to accept these issues.
Suggestions: hire friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, attentive wait staff. I was a waitress for a long time, the restaurant needs to set and uphold these standards.
If the AC is broken on the hottest night of the year, call a repair guy or don’t open.
If you have a challenging location (that has failed multiple times), you have to get everything just right for people to bother to spend there money.

excellent wings, excellent fried mozz (best i’ve ever had), excellent ribs on the happy hour menu, excellent garlic bread with cheese. good pour of house wine — only $ 3 happy hour cost as well as 2 $ drafts. owner was present and attentive. service was outstanding; female bartender was on the mark. wasn’t crazy about the onion rings but i have to have fresh, never frozen. interior lighting was nice ambiance. four tvs at the bar will make the stanley cup desirable. we’ll be back. it’s good to see a new place open up there (again). looking forward to sitting outside on the patio — as long as it’s not the place smokers congregate. if you’re a wethersfield native you’ll know that you head to the post office and bank a left just before. other people may be confused on the location. came home stuffed and satisfied.

Went last night because we wanted to avoid the valentines day crowd at the upscale restaurants… had a burger and the chicken parm grinder and both were good. Sat at the bar to enjoy the 4 flat screen TVs hanging.
Would definitely go back and try some other items –love to support the locally owned places.