Mory's comes back

Bob Handelman

The new Mory's renovation added a bar, open late, an effort to attract more undergraduates to the club. Our Yale College reviewer deems the changes a success, describing the building as a place that can "host a conversation someone under 70 might actually be interested in." View full image

The student

I visited the old Mory’s exactly twice. The first visit fell during the fall of my freshman year, when I briefly flirted with the idea of joining the Yale Political Union. By any measure, the lunch was a disappointment. The stairs felt like they might collapse if I stepped down too hard, the chicken Caesar wrap was long on dressing and short on flavor, and the conversation, to my disappointment, was more about Hume than Hillary.

At least the YPU paid.

I only made it back to Mory’s once more before it closed; that time, the Whiffs sang and, though the food was no better, the night still felt more special. A club, though, shouldn’t succeed on its a cappella alone.

The new Mory’s no longer does. During three recent visits, I’ve been impressed with the careful renovation of the space and the dedicated staff. The food is better, even though the hamburger isn’t worth $9.50 (and the Caesar salad suffers from many of the same flaws the wrap did). It’s fun to see the waitress who serves milkshakes at Yorkside each night taking orders for Welsh rarebit during the day.

Most important, though, the building now feels as if it can host a conversation someone under the age of 70 might actually be interested in. The new bar in the back is by no means fancy, but it’s also for that reason that students enjoy it and today’s Yalies feel we can make it our own. A friend is having his birthday party there; I can’t imagine anyone doing so at the old Mory’s.

On a recent Saturday night, as hundreds stood on York Street waiting for Toad’s Place to let them in, several dozen more stood at the new Temple Bar in Mory’s well into the night. The drinks were good, and as the conversation turned from Taylor Swift to the Mets’ dismal season, a martini glass fell to the floor. We all looked around, laughed, and said Mory’s finally felt like a real bar.

Now if I could only get the YPU to buy again. 

Paul Needham ’11 just finished his yearlong term as editor in chief of the Yale Daily News. He’s now twiddling his thumbs.