Main Street Coffee Expanding Bar Area

Main Street Coffee & Toscana Lounge owner Steve Cinquegrana has leased eight parking spaces behind 58 Main St., a half block north of his coffee shop, to cover parking requirements for a planned expansion of the bar area. The EG Planning Board said that fulfills the requirement and has given him approval.

Cinquegrana, who opened the coffee shop in 2003, added a bar in 2006, taking over space he had been leasing to Spardello’s for a small men’s clothing store.

This addition will be into an area that is currently a small apartment. 

With the additional room there will be space for five more people at the bar, plus additional seating for another seven or eight people. 

The idea is to open up the wall into the former apartment, creating a single room. However the inspection to determine if that is structurally feasible has yet to be done.

Cinquegrana says he is undertaking the expansion due to customer demand and to continue to grow his business.

When Cinquegrana first opened, he set out sidewalk tables and chairs in front of the coffee shop, starting a trend that spread to other Main Street businesses and, according to some of his neighbors, changed the look and feel of Main Street.

At the end of his first summer in business he put the tables and chairs away, but customers wanted them back, and now they stay in place year around, including right through blizzards.

His first love is coffee and Cinquegrana spent three years researching that business before he opened. While the coffee shop did well, that traffic was not as strong in the later part of the day, which led him to add the bar area, where he says he continues to experience growth.