Sean Corbett photo

Checking out the mid-day musicians at the Las Vetas opening

Las Vetas Lounge
276 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, (203) 330-1920, www.lasvetaslounge.com

“Andrew, it’s almost 3:00. I have to get going,” says Las Vetas Lounge employee Cassie Baxter, 17, from behind the new cash register that doesn’t exactly work yet.

She’s on the phone with a couple suppliers and it looks like she’s building something out of wood, too.

She and most of the other employees have been working with owner Andrew Servetas non-stop all week (and for months before that) to open the new Las Vetas in downtown Bridgeport, and today, the day before the grand opening, the place is empty of tables but full of character. Just like the Fairfield location, there’s a tin roof, monkey chandeliers and a penny-candy section at the register. There’s also an area set up as a stage near the window.

“3:00 already?!” says Servetas.

“Guys, it’s actually 4:00,” someone says.

“Time doesn’t really exist in this place,” Servetas says.

Dark Side of the Moon is playing in the background while construction guys and coffee shop girls build tables, hang mugs, get the cash register open, figure out how to handle a grand opening without being able to accept credit cards, purchase groceries, find a working refrigerator and — on top of everything else — make coffee.

A quaint little coffee shop should remind everyone that downtown Bridgeport can be safe, groovy and adorable, but Servetas thinks the “whole ‘revitalization’ thing turns people off. I’m from Trumbull and I’ve been hearing about it for 25 years. It’ll obviously be nice to be a part of it, but I don’t know what it is, really. You know what I mean?”

Instead of hype, he’s paying attention to facts. And the fact is he operates a twin coffee shop four miles away in Fairfield and he’s paying less than half in rent here. “I’d love to say, ‘Hey, all you struggling restaurateurs in Westport, Fairfield or wherever, this is what happened to me.’ But I don’t want to jinx it.”

Servetas and his team seem to be using a sort of “vibe check list” to make sure this store is as similar to the Fairfield one as possible. The staff will be the same, the menu is the same and the imagery is very similar. For instance, they’ve marked the mileage to Graceland on the wall. There’s hand-painted trippy art all over the place and the snack rack says “Mrs. Wagner’s Pies” on it. (You know, from Simon and Garfunkel’s “America.”) But he admits, “There’s some indefinable thing that makes people feel good about [the Fairfield location]; something you can’t put on paper.”

We talked about staffing, store hours and crowds, but Servetas is trying not to have expectations for things like that.
“I decided to be open all freakin day, every day,” he says. “So, let them decide what the hours are gonna be. If they come out, they come out. If they’re not coming out, we’ll change it.”

Vanessa Karam, 28, only wanted to work at Las Vetas in Fairfield because she knew she’d eventually be working in Bridgeport. She is responsible for some of the art on the walls. “This is going to be such a huge part of the renaissance of downtown Bridgeport,” she says. “It really is, man! I feel like this is going to be where everyone’s gonna go.”

The grand opening party was a ridiculous success. With local acts like Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Tom Tom Club, Caravan of Thieves, Saint Bernadette and the John Burlinson Trio playing all day, it was too packed to move around at times.

Well, Bridgeport, Las Vetas’ evolving store hours will be posted on the door and their future is up to you. Coffee served in a coffee shop has the fresh-roasted ability to inspire, energize and unite. So as far as we’re concerned, it’s about time there’s a coffee shop downtown.
— Sean Corbett

Blue-Z-Coffeehouse
127 S. Main St., Newtown (203) 364-0631, www.blue-z-coffeehouse.com

Those of us up north need our coffee fix as well, and for us, the newest option is the Blue-Z-Coffeehouse in Newtown.
The place took about as long to put together as the Las Vetas in Bridgeport. For a good chunk of late 2008, travelers on Route 25 saw the “free wi-fi” sign in front of disappointingly dark windows.

Once opened, it did not disappoint. The wi-fi is reliable. The snacks come from American Artisan Food & Bakery, a few miles away, and have a fresh, non-delivered taste. And the coffee is of the always-reliable, Newington-based Saccuzzo brand.

But a place like this is best judged by its ambience, and Blue-Z’s antique-y furniture and table of magazines have a comfy feel. The tables each have a single small lamp, keeping the lighting subtle. Proper vases are on the table, replacing the flowers-in-coke bottles the owners had put there when it opened. (Good redecorating call.)

If you come in and alt-rock is on the stereo, the kids are probably at the counter of this family-owned business. If it’s a more commercial radio mix, the owner, Stephen Baluzy is probably in the house. Baluzy is absolutely animated, checking with each customer that their order is okay. I gave him a thumbs up, as my mouth filled with scone.

Maybe it’s the generational balance that makes Blue-Z a needed middle ground between the snoozey Last Drop in Monroe and the artsy Molten Java in Bethel for us in above-coastal Fairfield County.
— Nick Keppler