Midway On High

This place stinks. Nobody is there except for underagers with their newly minted Illinois IDs. Will not return

The three times I have been to this location, was for thump on Wednesdays (good show, but they have to find a new venue.). The place is flushed with sausages, it’s located right by all the frat houses on campus, the floors are very sticky, the bar chairs look like Freddy Krueger and Edward Scissorhands had a death match, the woman’s restroom floors are sticky yet always covered in beer, broken beer bottles scattered across the floor, the toilet paper and toilet seat are on the floor. The third time is the charm for me I will never be back.

My friend and I had and incredibly negative experience here. We arrived at around 11 pm and were promptly refused entry because my friend had a valid international ID which the bouncer refused to accept because it was not American. Being an international student of legal age, this is the only ID my friend has and he has never been denied at any other establishment. Our request to speak to management over the issue was hastily denied and the bouncer quickly found any excuse to not let us in, even saying our attire was not up to par which was not true at all. We were made to feel very strongly that the actions of the staff we were interacting with were racially motivated. Overall a very disappointing experience and I would never give any more business to this place.

It’s not Bento, which will always have a place in my liver, and I didn’t bother to see if they serve food here, as I popped in for pre-​concert beers before Mushroomhead.
$ 7.50 for three bomb shots. The prices are fantastic, the bartender was quick and attentive.
It may be a campus bar, but damn, I’ll be back before the next show I catch at the Newport for a cheap beer and shot.

It’s not Bento but It wasn’t bad during the day. I’d stop by again for day drinking. Night time though… hrmm Not my kinda of scene anymore.

The beer is cheap, and so is some of the sushi during happy hour. The sushi is about grocery story quality. It won’t kill you, but it isn’t the best you’ve ever had either. The service is pretty terrible. Took 10 minutes to get a menu even. There are too many TVs– at least 10 of them downstairs, all of them tuned to sports.

Besides the relatively high alcohol prices I love Midway!
I couldn’t stand the attitudes of the chefs that would take orders at Bento Go Go, and now they work in the kitchen. Service now is by college kids and is average… They’re generally pretty friendly and efficient.
Midway still has the same tasty pan-​Asian fare as before, with some new menu items I believe — but it’s great that you can have a nice brew with your sesame chicken, now. Also, I love half-​price sushi Wednesdays!
I love the refurbished patio as well. Overall, this is one of my new favorite happy hour food joints.

I realize this is a campus bar, but I’m just not willing to let it slide. I thought this place was just horrid. My husband and I were early for a concert, so we stepped in for a quick bite and a drink. We stood at the entrance for a good 5 minutes hoping to get someones attention. Well, we did, they looked right at us, and then just ignored us.
Finally we decided to just seat ourselves. The first table was covered in what I’m hoping was water. No biggie, we moved over. We waited another long five minutes. We saw the waitress chic, who wasn’t really that busy. I believe there was three other tables. Eventually she decided we were worth visiting.
At this point we were even more short on time, so we just ordered drinks and two appetizers, both the Crap Rangoon. You would think since they weren’t too busy this wouldn’t be a very difficult order, yet they were burnt. Not enough to complain and ask for another order, especially considering that we didn’t have time, but still not what they should have been.
The ONLY reason we even came here over Chipolte was because of the very long line at Chipolte. Sadly, we would’ve been better off waiting in the line. I think it still would’ve been quicker.

A refurbished Bento Go-​Go with an interesting setup. Upstairs is a small club-​type atmosphere with loud music and dancing. Downstairs is a lot more chill and features some booths. Between on the ground floor outside is the patio, with a lot of outdoor seating right on High.
I’ll be honest, I was skeptical of this place, but after going to Midway to check it out, it’s definitely more than adequate for getting your drink on. There’s a little bit for everyone, so the bar itself is aptly named. If you’re from out-​of-​state, just a heads-​up that the doorman wanted two forms of ID from me. You’re also right across 13^th Avenue from Formaggio and its incredibly cheap upstairs bar, so if this isn’t really your scene, you can at least drink cheap close by.
Midway won’t be my first choice on the weekends, but you really can’t beat the location and the crowd is pretty colorful. In our 20 – 30 minute foray into the downstairs half, we saw the typical college crowd, a bum that looked like Santa Claus wandering around, and the big sorority-​fraternity party upstairs get busted by the cops. Just saying, don’t put your arm around a cop’s shoulders when you try to talk yourself out of an underage ticket. They don’t like that.

Wee-​ooo-​weee-​oooooooo cops are here!!! Yep, every night. Busting those with fake id’s and underage consumption. Literally, every night. Beware students.
— — —
I had heard that the good ‘ol folks at one of my favorite campus spots took over this space, so of course I was excited to try it out! 4^th St. owners made their way to High! This space is formerly known as Bento Go-​Go, which had been a lackluster spot for students in the recent months.
They have specials similar to Fourth’s menu, and it has a pretty stellar happy hour. The first floor is basically like a chill hang out spot to get some grub and drinks, whereas the second floor is kind of like a mini Big Bar with dancing and crazy college kids. If you really want to try out the «restaurant» part vs. the «bar» part of Midway on High — I recommend going for lunch. Great patio for the summer and their have a different special every day. Most dishes have an «Asian fusion.» This place is miles better than Bento used to be… but still not a place I’ll stop too often.
They got their name because it’s basically a right in the middle of the campus nightlife scene! Perfect mid-​location whether you are a North or South Campus junkie. So start your bar crawl at Little, and work your way to Midway before you end up at Charlie Bear!
Seriously…check out these specials… 3.50 Long Island night? That night will never end well, in a good way. ;P