Coffee from the new Jumping Bean has an extra kick: alcohol.
The new cafe and bar, which replaced the ill-fated O-Bar at 40th and Spruce streets this weekend, features a variety of top-shelf alcoholic and non-alcoholic coffee to enjoy while watching live musicians.
The establishment held its official grand opening last night.
But forget the Friends coffeehouse; the Jumping Bean will have no artsy, goofy poetry readings or mundane acoustic music like cafe in the popular television show.
"We're not having that here," said Shane Zack, Copabanana assistant general manager, who helped develop the cafe. "This is a rock joint."
It is open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. every day but Sunday and welcomes patrons ages 18 and older.
Manager Laurie Troppito said the opening was "better than I expected. Grand openings are scary, and when we got here everything was wonderful. ... Everyone's been really supportive of us."
Local hard-rock band the Jealous Type played at the opening, and photographer Hunter Willis' photos will be displayed in the first of many anticipated art shows.
Though the first three nights featured two solo acoustic acts, the cafe is intended for full bands -- even a mariachi band.
If a band is "really good and it doesn't really seem to fit in anywhere, I'll put it in here," Zack said.
College senior John Erickson, a guitarist for campus band Truce for Tonite, said there are not enough local venues for original bands and that he would check out the cafe for his band.
The cafe is geared toward students, and thus far customers are mainly "the elder student body ... very sick of the current scene," Zack said.
College junior Jaime Leithead, a bartender for Copabanana and the Jumping Bean, stressed that the cafe is good for groups with drinkers and nondrinkers.
"Living in a big city, you'd think you'd be able to find a lot of places like this, but you definitely can't on campus," she said.
Zack said the cafe fills a void.
"To be honest, I don't know anything we can compare ourself to," he said. "Students here must be bored out of their minds."
As to the fate of O-Bar, which failed partially due to competition from other venues such as MarBar and Smokey Joe's, Jumping Bean employees are not worried that the same will befall their cafe because of its unique qualities.
"You can come down here in your favorite pair of jeans and a hoodie. ... I think it's just the intimate setting," manager Kim Kreusling said.
"And there's excellent drinks," Leithead added.
Nonalcoholic beverages start at $2, and small dinners and desserts cost about $6. Alcoholic coffees include "Peanut Butter and Jelly" and "Chocolate Corvette."
"We're really trying to have fun drinks for both [drinkers and nondrinkers]," Troppito said.
And, there is no cover charge -- "We don't want to do that, ever," Zack said.
