Thursday, October 30, 2008

24-hour party people


We all know what Stamford is: a nice (if kind of vanilla) place to live, work and play. If there's one thing Stamford is definitely not, it's a 24-hour town. With that in mind, I present to you, just for fun, the CTW's 24-hour businesses (not counting ATMs and vending machines).

Newfield Avenue CVS


When you get a craving for cheddar cheese Combos at 3 a.m., there's only one place to go: CVS. Mountain Dew, beef jerky, cheap plastic appliances from China. They've got them all at your local neighborhood 24-hour CVS. I wonder if the one-hour photo counter is open all night, too.

Bull's Head Diner

With the demise of the venerable Stamford Diner on Summer Street, Bull's Head might be the only 24-hour restaurant in town. Bull's Head has you covered at 3 a.m. when you want burgers, salads, pies and Greek specialties like moussaka, baklava and papadokolokodopolous.



Grove St. Dunkin' Donuts/Hope St. Donut Delight



Coke vs. Pepsi. Nike vs. Reebok. Super Nintendo vs. Genesis. Some brand rivalries destroy friendships and tear families apart. The Great Donut War of 2010 might be the most devastating one yet.

Anyway, if you need a Bavarian creme fix at 3 a.m., stop by one of these
Double-D's.

High Ridge FedEx/Kinko's


The last time I needed to print or copy anything late at night was back in college when I had a paper due or something. Since then, I haven't had to make copies at 3 a.m., but it's good to know that I can. You can print, collate, bind, enlarge, reduce and do all the other fun paper things you want at any hour of the day or night thanks to our 24-hour Fedex/Kinko's. If they offered late-night origami, I'd be there.

Stamford Florist


OK, it's technically a vending machine, but I think this thing is simultaneously hilarious and awesome. When your wife/girlfriend/mistress kicks you out at 3 a.m. (probably because she found out about the other two women) and you need to make nice-nice, your only salvation is Stamford Florist's 24-hour flower machine.

So to recap: If you live in Stamford and need a dozen roses, a Hallmark card, a cruller, color copies and a feta burger at 3 a.m., you're in luck (and quite possibly pregnant). Anything else, tough cookies.

16 comments:

Julie said...

Thanks for the update ;) Too bad Bull's Head leaves a lot to be desired on food quality and tastyness (at least for bfast)....

mr overnight said...

Then there's Curley's, the Mickey D at exit 9, stop and shop on Bedford, DD on Main and Atlantic, the Grocery Store on Washington near the y

Mr. Z said...

Also the Dunkin on East Main...

Streets of Stamford said...

Oops, I "forgot" about Curley's...ecch. I think the Stop & Shop on Bedford closes from 11 or 12 until 5 a.m., but I could be wrong. I didn't realize how many 24-hour Dunkin' Donutses we had in town!

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Goodness! That Stamford Florist vending machine has been around since I was in high school! I just noticed that it is still in use last week. So funny.

Stamford Talk said...

Oh yeah, props to my local CVS, which you featured first.
It is so true that there is something very reassuring about places that are open 24 hours.
I remember that about college- feeling very taken care of because there was always somewhere you could go to eat/type/study and at least a few other not too sketchy looking people would be there too.

Anonymous said...

There's also Food Bag on Hope St.

Anyone know if the new E. Main Walgreen's will be 24-hr?

Anonymous said...

The above was me (I forgot to type in the name before posting).

Anyway, I e-mailed that question to Walgreen's, and they replied that the store would be opening in February, but they didn't make any mention of the hours. They probably haven't decided yet.

Anonymous said...

I would suggest a post on Stamford politics and the incredibly high property taxes, both which can be squarely traced to that behemoth white elephant on Washington and Main and directly to that plush and comfy office by the most ineffectual mayor in the history of Stamford, Dannel Malloy.

More and more people can't afford to live here, housing prices are slumping, city hall employees are out busy having a continual smoking break in the garage (think we don;t notice? oh and no wonder the public can't buy a meal in the cafeteria, because they are busy chit-chatting instead of doing work.)

What has Dannel Malloy done? Nothing? He has done nothing, but played politics and hope for a state senate seat. Has the budget been aligned with the new reality facing us all? No. Has the workforce been trimmed? No, they are hiring. Have city funding been brought under control? Of course not! Using hard earned tax dollar, Dannel Malloy is doling these out to win election to another office. Way to go Dannel!

Streets of Stamford said...

To the commenter who requested a political post:

This is not a political blog; it's a blog about what's happening in our city. Also, I don't feel the need to air my political views here; I'm not going to convince anybody to see things my way, so why bother?

As far as Mayor Malloy, I don't agree with everything he and his administration do, but it's hard to deny that he's done good things for this city. Yes, taxes are high, but I don't think they're out of whack; this is an expensive area and the costs of the services provided to the public only increase. Compare Stamford to the other cities in Connecticut: Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hartford, etc. How many of them have a safe downtown, a pretty fun nightlife and jobs, jobs, jobs?

As far as affordability, yes it is getting out of control. I have a feeling that prices have been "artificially" boosted by the fact that people have been living beyond their means using credit cards and over-their-head loans. Perhaps once this latest crisis passes (which will take a few years), rental and home purchase prices will accurately reflect what people here can afford.

Our city and its leaders are not perfect and have their problems, but I think this is a pretty nice place to live. If you have a real gripe (not a personal attack) with the mayor or anything he or his administration have done, then I encourage you to contact him directly. You can email him on the city website: http://www.cityofstamford.org/content/25/50/default.aspx

Manager Mom said...

This is good information. How did I miss the vend-a-flowers?

jupiterone said...

we're recording our next album at The Carriage House here in Stamford....i found this posting when i googled 24 hour joints...definitely helpful...thanks. we're hungry...

J-1

Anonymous said...

Got an answer from Walgreens.

At the moment, it's not planned to be a 24 location.

"Thank you for taking your time to contact our Corporate Offices. We
appreciate hearing from our customers and value all comments received.

Unfortunately, the store in Stamford, CT will not be a 24 hour location."

Dang.

Anonymous said...

I leave near the new Walgreens and was just googling to see when it would open, and came across this site. I could have sworn that I saw a sign that said "24 hour" up.

Anonymous said...

Yup, I just drove by, and saw the "24-hour" sign propped up against a wall, came to report here, (and saw the above message of someone beating me to it).

YES!!!

(You mean their customer service gave me wrong info? [sarcasm]Nnnnnnooooooooooo![/sarcasm])

superman said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.