A new coffee counter at 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd. in North Las Vegas is serving up more than espresso and lemonade — it’s dishing out real-world job training to hospitality students hoping to land work on the Strip. The 710 Coffee Bar, run by students at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, is now open to the public, giving trainees hands-on practice in daily business operations, specialty coffee preparation, and guest service, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
The coffee bar officially launched with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 10, hosted by Culinary Academy of Las Vegas CEO Bobbi Damrow alongside Culinary Union Local 226 President Ted Pappageorge, Bartenders Union Local 165 Secretary-Treasurer Terry Greenwald, and North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown, according to Culinary Workers Union Local 226. The shop takes its name from CALV’s street address and is open to the public weekdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., serving handcrafted espresso drinks, flavored lemonades, pastries, and breakfast items.
A Two-Week Crash Course Behind the Counter
The coffee bar doubles as the applied learning venue for CALV’s 60-hour, two-week Fountain Worker program, where students get hands-on instruction in point-of-sale operations, cash handling, customer service, food safety, and quick-service workflow, according to the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas. It’s a compressed but structured curriculum designed to move trainees from classroom to counter quickly, with real customers and real transactions standing in for simulated exercises.
The payoff for finishing the program extends well beyond a completion certificate. Employers on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown recognize CALV’s food and beverage certificates as equivalent to one year of industry job experience, according to the academy, a distinction that can fast-track graduates into hospitality jobs that might otherwise require a longer resume.
A Union-Backed Model Dating to 1993
The coffee bar’s mission traces back to CALV’s founding structure. Established in 1993, the academy operates as a nonprofit labor-management trust formed through a partnership between Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Bartenders Union Local 165, and more than 50 participating resort properties across Southern Nevada. Hospitality workers already employed at participating union properties can attend CALV training classes at no personal cost through negotiated union benefit packages, per Local 226, opening a path for current employees to upskill into new roles like barista work without added financial strain…