The thematic evolution of Java Jabbers Coffeehouse has come to an end ... sort of. Once a literarily minded hangout with ties to New Smyrna's Atlantic Center for the Arts, but more recently the home to snarkier events like a Drunken Spelling Bee, the east Orlando strip-mall cavern closed its doors last Saturday. The business is scheduled to reopen under another name; the holdover staff predicts an expanded schedule of live music, plus film screenings and monthly art shows.
Some regulars had recently been vocal in bemoaning Java Jabbers' development, saying that the institution of a small cover and a policy of charging for bottled water had diluted the venue's appeal as a home for struggling artists. They're clearly not the clientele to be courted by its planned successor, which one server foresees as being "everything that a coffeehouse isn't." Tea, anyone?
