Subway Cafe owners to host job fair in Bridgeport

Bridgeport’s coming Subway Café is hiring.

Owners of the eatery are planning to host a job fair at 855 Main St. on Thursday and Friday to fill several part and fulltime roles at the downtown restaurant.

“We are looking for the best and the brightest,” said Shari Landa, local market strategy and growth coordinator for Canadabased Restaurex Developments Inc.

The restaurant group headquartered in Alberta owns and operates a network of brand name quick service and fast casual eateries within target urban areas in Western Canada and the U.S.

Company owners Alex Melikian and Paul Sarlis are opening the new Bridgeport location, according to Landa, who handles marketing for Restaurex in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

The job fair will be open for people to apply in person from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days.

Landa said the new Bridgeport restaurant will be looking for a mix of sandwich artists and managers with “amazing customer service skills and the right personality.”

Though an opening date hasn’t been made clear, Landa said the franchisees are waiting to have their staff filled before announcing the launch date.

It’s been more than two years since the Subway banner hung in downtown Bridgeport. The last Subway, at the corner of Main and John streets, operated from 1989 until a fire closed the business in 2017, leaving a hole in a prime downtown location.

The new Subway Café is preparing to open two blocks from that site in McLevy Square, inside a longvacant storefront near the Mechanics and Farmers Savings Bank building and the Landmark Apartment complex.

Subway Cafés have been around for almost 10 years and are reportedly the Milfordbased company’s attempt to capitalize on trends for casual, coffeeshopstyle restaurants. There were reportedly fewer than 100 locations of the cafe concept in 2016 as Subway looked to appeal to a corporate crowd and compete with other chain cafe brands.

The cafes serve traditional Subway menu items while also offering espresso drinks, lattes and frozen blended beverages, along with amenities such as WiFi and DirecTV, according to reports.

Landa said the café will also include pastries and more.

Subway Cafe will be joining a mix of local businesses that already offer a cafe setting, including the Downtown Cafe, Leisha’s Bakeria and the recently opened Bean N’ Batter, less than a block away.