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Community Corner

Family Tradition

It's all in the sauce, the salads and the chili - irregardless of the weather, the Bartliks offer tasty treats for beach-goers.

In Greenwich there’s a common lament that mom and pop shops have gone the way of the dinosaur, but at Tod’s Point and Island Beach, the concessions have always been mom and pop operations. In fact, it’s probably more accurate to describe them as family businesses, employing moms, pops, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

At Tod’s, husband-and-wife team Shawn and John Bartlik met 27 years ago when Shawn was in college and John was running the Island Beach stand. “I dated a lot of nannies back then,” confessed John.

These days Shawn, married to John for 17 years, runs the stand near the Queen Anne Building, while John runs the year-round stand just past the flagpole. At Island Beach, John’s brother William and his wife Christina run the single concession together.

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The Bartlik boys grew up with concessions work in their blood. They learned the gig from their parents, John Bartlik, Sr. and his wife, affectionately known as “Mrs. B,” who ran the main concession at Tod’s from 1959 until 1980. In fact, family experience spans 50 years, as various family members have run concessions along the Sound – from Oakland Beach at Rye Town Park, to Greenwich, Norwalk, Fairfield, and as far as Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.

Though the Bartlik boys, now husbands and fathers themselves, share their upbringing, the flavor and customer base of their concessions are not so similar. Island Beach caters to the western Greenwich set, and in recent years many Hispanic families have joined the mix. “Our customers represent the changing face of America,” said William.

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That William’s wife of eight years, Christina, hails from Mexico City is handy, as she speaks Spanish and has added dishes such as chicken or steak quesadillas to the menu. When asked what sells well, William replied, “We go through a lot of bacon. Especially for bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches in the morning. At lunch, we make a lot of burgers, dogs and fries.”

“The ladies like a scoop of my homemade tuna on a green salad,” added Christina. “That and wraps are quite popular.”

Shawn and John explained that at Tod’s, people tend to be particular about where they sit on the beach. Teenagers congregate near the main concession and just beyond are a lot of young families. These groups form the base of John’s clientele. Closer to the Queen Anne Building is the group loyal to Shawn’s concession. In the middle of the beach, where it’s a significant walk to either stand, sit those who like a little more quiet and anonymity. Loyalty among this in-between group is a toss-up.

Shawn relayed a gratifying experience that happened not too long ago when a man who grew up in town returned after a long absence and visited her concession. “The man was so happy that the concession was just as he remembered it. He wanted to give his children an idea of how he had grown up,” she said. “It’s times like that that make me realize we provide a valued service.” That, and the loyal clientele who crave her family chili recipe – frequently suggesting she bottle and sell it – makes bearable all the super hot days spent inside the un-air-conditioned stand.

Shawn said that in recent years she and John have broadened their menus to include healthier fare. While the traditional burgers, dogs and fries are timeless staples of the beach menu, now customers can order real fruit smoothies or one of a number of homemade salads. The couple’s signature dish is their Greek chicken, tomato, and cucumber salad. They are finicky about freshness, traveling to Hunt’s Point in the Bronx for produce and sourcing handmade Kaiser rolls from J. J. Cassone or Neri’s in Port Chester.

All concession businesses have been affected by the fact that people don’t head to the beach to cool off like they did prior to central air-conditioning. “Particularly when there’s a heat wave with 90°-plus temperatures, people just stay home,” said John. “When it rains, nobody’s here either. Some years we can lose an entire month, if, say May is rainy. It’s a tough, seasonal business to be in. Like being a farmer.”

When asked about his overhead, John and Shawn did not want to complain, but they explained that they pay to lease the stands, and must provide their own equipment, including ice machines, fryers, grills, refrigerators, freezers, soda fountains, and smoothie machines.

William and Christina have an additional challenge. While vendors make daily truck deliveries to Tod’s Point, they’re not inclined to deliver to Island Beach because doing so would mean traveling by boat. Instead, the couple lugs everything onto the first ferry of the morning. That may not sound too bad until you consider that at low tide, they’re pulling large coolers up a steep gangplank with a hand-cart. Yet, all the Bartliks love what they do. It’s in their blood, they insist, and they just wish people would think of them the next time a Greenwich mom and pop shop disappears.

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