The Faces of Fante’s by Bilal Qazi

After working as a barista for over four years, no matter where I’ve worked or in what capacity, the one thing that always sticks with me is the regulars. The faces that you see every morning, afternoon, or evening. The person who knows your name, orders the same classic drink, and brightens your day simply by showing up. And if regulars are what you’re looking for, Fante’s Coffee House is the place to be. 

One such regular is Meg Perkins. Meg brings a special kind of joy into the coffee house whenever she steps through the doors. Her wide smile and bubbly demeanor are always infectious, and baristas and customers alike are sure to get stuck in having a conversation with her or listening to her excited rants about last night’s University of Kentucky game. Meg brings in her own giant coffee cup, which was gifted to her by one of the baristas some years ago. “Maria, the manager at the time, she bought me my cup,” Meg said. “She was like ‘Meg you’re always in here getting two coffees, it’s time we set you up with something bigger.’” Meg always stops by Fante’s in the mornings, which means that she also tends to mingle quite a bit with other regulars, such as Gary Hibblen.

Gary spent his life working with organizations such as the WHAS Crusade for Children helping introduce Louisville to the concept of assisted technology. Now comfortably retired, Gary is, as I like to say, “the most regular a regular gets” at Fante’s. His day starts without fail at 8 a.m. grabbing a cup of decaf coffee and spending anywhere from one to three hours sitting and chatting with friends or working on the morning crossword. “It really is the best coffee in Louisville,” Gary said. Walking into Fante’s to see familiar and friendly faces is a big part of what makes being a regular there different according to Meg and Gary. “I always say it’s like my cheers,” Meg said. “We even talk about when we go out of town what are we gonna do without Fante’s. It’s that serious. I gotta have my Fante’s.” 

Ben Blake likes to think of Fante’s kind of like Cheers as well. Ben walks 12 miles along a set route every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He does this to keep his body trained for his pilgrimages on the Camino de Santiago or “Way of St. James.” The goal is to eventually arrive in the town of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Though there are multiple routs, the trail Ben traditionally chooses to walk begins in Southern France and is roughly 500 miles long. “When I walk the Camino, I’ll leave my hostel at around 6 a.m. and then walk for a couple hours before stopping at a café for breakfast and espresso,” Ben said. “So, stopping at Fante’s on my walks in Louisville really mirrors that.”
“When I go to a place regularly, I like to know the people’s names and connect with them, and Fante’s is really receptive to that,” Ben said.

Diane Kyle concurs with that sentiment. A retired UofL professor, Diane says Fante’s feels welcoming, and as long as she’s been a regular she’s felt cared for. “When I come here, I’m not anonymous, and I think that matters,” Diane said. All the regulars at Fante’s agree that community is what keeps them coming back. A good cup of coffee goes a long way; but feeling like you belong in a place and that place belongs to you in some way fills it with much more meaning. The faces of Fante’s are so integral to what Fante’s is. And likewise in any coffee shop. Since we are all regulars at someplace, I hope we can all try to build stronger communities in those places and make them the best they can be.