At High Stakes in Fenwick Island, one bar is better than two

Brian DeLuca is pretty sure this is his last construction project.

“It’s stressful,” he said. “A lot of stress.”

Though this kind of stress is sometimes welcome. It usually means business is good.

A little over a month ago, DeLuca’s High Stakes Bar & Grill in Fenwick Island reopened with a new look, finally combining its two-bar setup into one. It’s the third expansion for the local hangout that started in 2005 as Philly’s Finest, a modest sandwich shop.

By 2008, the business moved into the newly vacated storefront next door and added a bar. A year later, a second bar was added to the adjacent open storefront. Philly’s Finest became High Stakes, and DeLuca, 35, a native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, had much more than he originally imagined.

But two separate bars in two rooms made things a little difficult.

Now there’s one big bar and a distinct difference between bar seating and a dining area, something DeLuca was looking for. More importantly, the whole business has been streamlined to make service run more efficiently.

“It feels new. It doesn’t feel like an expansion,” DeLuca said. “It’s a lot to take on. But it’s worth it and it will be worth it.”

Even if some of his regulars were averse to change at first.

“Some of the locals are kind of used to the old way,” DeLuca said. “People are a little scared of change, as are we. But everyone seems to be adapting to it quite well and people’s faces when they come in – they’re in awe. They’re shocked when they walk in. Especially because they didn’t know anything was happening.”

That’s because if you happened to not stop in during a three-week switch, you’d have missed the construction. The carry-out portion of High Stakes remained open while renovations were made.

“We don’t close,” DeLuca said. “We didn’t close, before this, unless we had to. We’re open for the workers. People need to eat.”

As far as other changes, there aren’t many. High Stakes is obviously still serving the Delaware Today 2014 Best Cheesesteak Downstate and its many other sandwiches and bar food items. The staff, DeLuca said, hasn’t changed. There’s still the not-too-long happy hour menu from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., which features cheap eats and drinks.

The drinks just come out of one bar.