(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
We’ve already gotten wind that Rockaway is getting a beer garden, surf museum and bakery, and new food vendors at Riis Park Beach Bazaar, but what about the boardwalk concessions that made the peninsula such a summer destination to begin with? We’re told that the Rockaway Beach Club will return May 20– just three weeks from now.
Robert Wagner (left) and Matt Webster as childhood friends in Cooper City, Florida. (Photo courtesy of Robert Wagner)
This season, a new breakfast joint, Brothers, will join Caracas at Beach 106th Street. Owned and operated by two brothers (from different mothers) that previously worked at Rockaway Taco together, it’ll have the casual decor of your favorite greasy spoon, minus the grease. The operators, Robert Wagner and Matt Webster, are avid local gardeners– starting at 7 a.m. each day, they’ll offer a healthy menu of grain bowls, toasts, juices and smoothies made from local ingredients, including produce from Edgemere Farm.
If you’re the type that gets hungry just reading the word healthy, a lazy eight-minute walk down the boardwalk will get you to Sharky’s, a new concession at Beach 97th Street that will serve four styles of grilled cheese “creations” on either sourdough or rye bread ($6-$8) as well as potato-chip “ribbons” spiced with a secret blend. There’s also a new supper club in the works.
Lola Star at the pop-up rink in Prospect Park. (Photo courtesy of Lola Star)
Around the Beach 67th Street surf schools, Top Pops (also coming to the Riis Park Beach Bazaar) will be making its boardwalk debut with a sailboat-inspired cart serving chocolate-covered frozen fruit pops. Coney Island’s Lola Star will also be setting up some beachwear carts along the boardwalk and rolling out a weekly roller skate party at Beach 108th Street.
Returning to the Rockaway Beach 97th Street concessions will be Low Tide Bar, Breezy’s and its southern-style BBQ sandwiches, Palenque with its Colombian arepas, Uma’s with its shish kabobs and Uzbek sides, La Cevicheria’s Peruvian seafood creations, iced treats from Citysticks, plus Bolivian Llama Party, La Fruteria and Boarder’s Surf Shop. At Beach 67th Street, By the Beach Coconuts and MooSkyBlue will be back (look for the icicle tricycle). And, of course, Rippers will return to Beach 86th Street.
According to information provided by Caracas co-owner Maribel Araujo, May 20th will be a soft opening for some, but everything should be in full swing by May 27th. Stay tuned to the new website Rockaway Beach Club is launching for information on special events, starting with live music from Grateful Dead-lovin’ local jam band Solshyne on Memorial Day weekend and cornhole tournaments during the Olympics.