Guests at a new sub sandwich shop in Connecticut get a special treat that can’t be eaten.
Retro Subs is a museum of sorts to eighties and nineties culture: the walls regaled with images of hip hop culture, television shows, music and movies of millennials and Gen Z.
There is merch/memorabilia of the bygone eras for sale and a line of greeting cards. There are classic old-school games to play for free such as Jenga, Tic Tac Toe and arcade box to play Mortal Combat. Four televisions play hip hop videos, old sitcoms, movies of a bygone era on VHS.
“People feel the warmth and they can tell we put our heart and soul into it,” said co-owner Wesley Hopkins, 43. “It’s like a little museum,” he said of the 1,600-square-foot space.
To his point, one online reviewer wrote, “This place feels like you’re just going over to a friend or family members place to eat. Nice home feel to it. Your first visit will feel like you’re a regular. The 80’s and 90’s theme just adds to the nostalgia.”
Then there is the presumed star of the show, the product they likely came for, foot-long and six-inch long subs made with the artistry of a seasoned veteran sandwich maker, co-owner of Retro Subs and Hopkins’ and his girlfriend of four years, Shay Sevimli, 47.
Hopkins said making a sub is like a an “art” and “you don’t just slap meat and mayo together.”
Sevimli agrees and after working at her parents’ former Veggie World for 20 years, “It’s how you place everything” on the sub, she said.
“There is an art to making to sandwiches,” she said. “The way you layer it affects the tastes.”
She said they use a special bread that’s crusty on the outside, soft on the inside and won’t get soggy if you take it home to put in the fridge, unless it’s soaked in dressing.
Retro Subs is located at 269 Beaver St, New Britain.
Coincidently, the two met at the same location when it was a bar, The Frosty Mug, and felt their couple vibe immediately. She was an event planner, he was a videographer for an event that night.
It was instant chemistry, Sevimli said she loved that he looked “straight out of the nineties” and he found himself turning the video camera to her even though it wasn’t part of the job.
The two would talk about starting a business and that space where they met just happened to become available at a good price years later.
The Millennial couple really love their era and so decided to make their together project a vibe. He’s a rapper and she loves the scene, so one whole wall is a tribute/history of rap featuring all the big ones: Nas, Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop, Run DMC and more.
There’s another wall that pays tribute to women, classic rock, Grunge, R & B an other genres of the couple’s two favorite decades. Another wall is for sitcoms, tributes to videos and cartoons. And of course there are the movies – Goodfellas, Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice, Rocky, Superman, ET.
They dug into their own collection of eighties an nineties memorable and also had fun together shopping for more.
“I love walking in here and feeling like I can get away from the world,” she said. “I feel like I’m in the 80s and 90s.”
The couple so far is surprised to find that along with their generation, younger children and teens love the place as well. About 15 days in, they already have regular customers raving about the freshness and quality ingredients.
One guest wrote online: “This has definitely become my go-to spot for a great sub.”
Sevimli added. “I just love the smiles and excitement and I love how they love the food.”
They also carry a variety of secret-recipe wings with sweet chili a favorite and specially seasoned fries.
Four televisions air VHS movies, musical performances and vintage television shows.
“It’s the small little aesthetics like that that make people want to stay and enjoy themselves,” Hopkins said. “Everything is eye catching because they’re things they haven’t seen in a while.”
The creative couple is still rolling out lots of ideas to test what’s popular.
They have four movie-themed sandwiches: The Godfather with four meats; Captain America with three meats; Flight Club, crispy chicken cutlets and bacon; Player’s Club, sweet honey turkey with bacon.
Beginning on Feb 11 every Wednesday they will offer “hip hop” burgers from 6 to 9 p.m. One named for a musician has topper ingredients the rapper mentions in a song: steak, egg and cheese on it in.
The sub shop/museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“What I like about it is it’s ours. I love that it’s our baby, something to build together,” Hopkins said. “It’s a good feeling every time we walk in here. It’s a happy place.”