New Haven Independent

When the lights would go down on the New Haven shoot for the fourth installment of the Harrison Ford series, which concluded this week, many cast and crew headed downtown to bars and restaurants for a taste of New Haven nightlife.

Sol de Cuba manager Yoon Kim (pictured) said businesses close to the film location have been soaking up most of the action. Groups of crew hands, exhausted from 12-hour shifts on set, ambled over to his Crown Street restaurant for dinner and drinks.

“We’re lucky because we’re a block off,” he said. “But a lot of businesses don’t get that foot traffic.

In part because of the shoot, “we’re running higher numbers than usual for this season,” he added.

Across Crown street, BAR manager Frank Patrick said he has also seen the upside of Steven Spielberg’s arrival in town. Last Saturday, production rented out his bar-restaurant for the night, eating and drinking until closing time.

“It was a private party for cast and crew,” he said.

The party, which was attended by approximately 350-400 people, was intended as a thank-you to the cast and crew from the production, Patrick said. He added that they were a “great group of people.”

Other preferred hang-outs include the Black Bear Saloon on Temple Street and Rudy’s on Elm, according to two production assistants.

Daytime brought less film-related business to the area, as crew members and 50s-era extras flocked to a buffet lunch on the Green. On the menu Tuesday: Chicken stir-fry and noodles. Most agreed it was delicious, but were restricted from saying so on record because of the strict confidentiality rules enforced on the set.

The Californian catering company that provides meals to the crew — Tony’s Food Services — operates on big-budget film shoots around the world. Tuesday’s grub was trucked in from Orange.