Connecticut Nightlife

At TD Homer’s Grill, families can enjoy classic American eats on two spacious outdoor patios or seated indoors in booths with private HDTVs. As cooks hand-cut steaks, prepare salads, and grill half-pound burgers, patrons feast eyes on 90 screens primed for watching anything from sports to cartoons.

The rural Irish village of Gleann Beithe stands across the ocean from Hartford, but according to the road sign inside Hanafin’s Irish Pub, it's only 18 kilometers away. Built from heavy wooden beams that gleam in the light of hanging lamps, the pub mirrors Ireland's public houses in appearance and spirit. Here, guests socialize, imbibe Irish whiskeys and draft beers, and dine on traditional Irish meals, such as corned beef and cabbage. The cooks add an American twist to tradition with dishes such as Prince Edward Island mussels in Guinness cream sauce and potato pizza topped with mashed potatoes, green onions, and aged cheddar. To entertain guests as they nosh, large screens broadcast football games and bare-handed boxing matches between major-network weathermen. The pub also holds a trivia night that won a spot on CBS Connecticut's Best Bars for Trivia Nights list.

Thirty high-definition TVs airing sports games make Black Bear Saloon a destination for fans, who fuel up for fist pumps with a menu of American pub favorites. Beef, chicken, and salmon sliders, paired with crispy onion rings, are a pintsize alternative to burgers topped with a selection of gourmet ingredients such as roasted red peppers or avocado. Homemade marinara crowns flatbread pizzas and also serves as a sauce in which to slam-dunk deep-fried nuggets of mac 'n' cheese.

Hosted events are still another reason to visit: on Tuesday nights, the voices of karaoke singers wash over the bar's exposed-brick walls, and Wednesday trivia challenges guests to unearth factoids from their cerebral nooks and crannies. On the weekends, live DJs spin records as guests tap toes and shout requests for favorite Raffi songs from the pub's deep-brown booths.

Black Bear Saloon may have all the wood paneling of a Wild West watering hole, but it boasts many modern amenities, including 33 plasma televisions that deliver sports from around the globe thanks to a DirecTV sports package. Cooks keep stomachs fueled for the action with a selection of wraps, sandwiches, and Angus-beef burgers.

After a game has aired, the staff dims the lights and cranks up the volume on the bar’s speaker system and turns the stage over to a live DJ every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Saturday, before the rise of the moon transforms the mild-mannered dining room into a dance floor, the saloon hosts the kid-friendly Cub Club. The club’s staffers lead tykes in crafts, games, and Wii activities, which gives parents time to grab a relaxed afternoon meal or nap on the cool floor behind the bar.

An oversize globe floats above the wine sippers at Beach Gallery & Café, but it is not held up by a freelancing titan. Instead, the sphere perches on a homemade bird's nest symbolic of BG&C's commitment to the environment. Exhibitions of nature photography bedeck the café-cum-art-gallery's warm orange walls, and a portion of each purchase from the menu of frittatas, pastries, and cheeses goes toward environmental efforts. On many evenings, live jazz, soul, and blues music washes down glasses of international and domestic wines or the café's signature coffee drinks such as the corto, a single shot distilled from strong blended beans.

Located amid Mashantucket's rolling hills in the middle of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Comix treats audiences to shows by the country's top comedians. National headliners, up-and-comers, and musical acts all fill the venue's spaces. Performers in the 1,400-seat Fox Theater play to a larger but still intimate audience, while the 4,000-person MGM Grand Theater hosts such hilarity-generating superstars as Louis C.K., Jim Gaffigan, and Margaret Cho. Before shows, guests can take advantage of happy hour, perusing a menu of tasty appetizers such as wings and pizza, as well as a drink selection of beer, wine, and cocktails.