By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — It’s called The Clubhouse Westport, where visitors can take a swing at a golf simulator, play darts, sing karaoke, eat, drink or host corporate and private gatherings large and small.

“It’s where social space and sports intersect,” said Emily Zobl, who founded The Clubhouse with her husband, Tim.

More than two years in the making, The Clubhouse opens Wednesday at 1620 Post Road East, a space formerly occupied by Pane e Bene restaurant and Innovation Luggage.

But interest is already so high, the Zobls have booked reservations for events and use of activity rooms into 2027. And they expect a capacity crowd Sunday to watch the Super Bowl game.

Despite its name, The Clubhouse Westport is not membership based and “is open to the general public,” Emily said.

Emily grew up in Westport, and Tim, who hails from Michigan, said he views their new business as a Westport community project. “We have a full team of Westporters” who worked on building and opening The Clubhouse, he said, including engineers, the architect and interior designer. The construction crew and others are all from Fairfield County.  

The couple met when they were students at the University of Michigan, and The Clubhouse is an official gathering place for Fairfield County alumni of that school, Emily said. After college, they both worked for hospitality businesses in New York, Tim in sales and Emily at Madison Square Garden as a senior business analyst.

They moved to Westport in 2020, and during the pandemic came up with their idea of opening The Clubhouse to provide a new kind of adult and family social and sports venue. Westport, although “strong on the restaurant scene, had a gap in providing activity space,” Emily said. 

Westport has popular outdoor venues at Longshore and Compo, but for movies, bowling or other indoor attractions such as golf simulators or sports bars, “We would have to go to Norwalk or Fairfield,” she said. 

The Clubhouse offers rentals of differently sized event rooms — a standard bay and wide-screen bay — for about $50 to $60 hourly, depending on the room’s size and the day and time they are booked.

Golfers using the simulators can bring their own clubs or rent them, and the karaoke rooms offer a selection of 10,000 songs in various languages.

Visitors to The Clubhouse also can play games like zombie dodgeball or virtual football. Trivia nights are among the many other activities on offer.

A rooftop terrace, currently under construction, will open for dining in warm weather. 

The Zobls are proud the bar and restaurant are overseen by Katie McKeown, an award-winning chef from New Orleans. “All the sauces and dressings will be made from scratch … made using high-quality ingredients,” Tim said, unlike the fare sometimes found in sports bars.

The Clubhouse is envisioned as “a place where a group of guys can watch a game, or a couple can have a quiet night,” Emily said.

The Clubhouse Westport, 1620 Post Road East, is open 4 to 10 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Tuesday. Walks-in are welcome, but reservations for rooms are recommended and can be made up to 14 days ahead via the website. For more information, email connect@theclubhousewestport.com or call 203-292-3169.