By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT–Many call Westport “a restaurant town” with eateries of all types in different locations. There are successful restaurants in Westport that have been serving up meals for more than 40 or 50 years, including Viva Zapata, Westfair Fish and Chips, Tarantino, and others.

But there are also restaurants that didn’t last as long: Mexicue and the Original Pancake House (both open for only 2 years), De Tapas Gastropub (less than 2 years), and a number of delis opening and closing recently at 159 Main St., where Oscar’s Delicatessen had offered sandwiches and conversation for 40 years. Others, like Basso Restaurant and Wine Bar, which was open for nearly two decades, recently closed its Westport restaurant on Jesup Green.

Why do some restaurants survive and thrive while others don’t?  To find out, Westport Journal spoke to the owners of five long-time Westport restaurants. Some said it was by making the dining experience fun and welcoming for customers, others said by serving food of the highest quality. But all agreed that running a successful restaurant requires a lot of hard work, and that an owner or family member should always be present.

Viva Zapata, 56 years 

530 Riverside Ave.
Harry Brady, owner

What makes a restaurant so successful that it has operated for more than half a century, including 36 years under the current ownership? 

“Fun!” said Harry Brady, “Consistency, but also fun,” by creating a happy environment for their customers. “If you go there, you’re going to have fun.”

Many of their customers tell them that they came to Viva Zapata years ago and are now returning. “So many people come over the years and say, ‘We were here on our first date, now it’s our 25^th anniversary,’” he said.

“People love that things haven’t changed even if they have,” he added. Although the restaurant has kept the same rustic decor over the years, including a large patio, they have upgraded their menu recently by adding street tacos and street corn to their regular Mexican fare. “We have our niche – new people find us, old people keep coming back,” he said.

Brady agrees with other restaurant owners that their business is not easy. “It’s not for the weak of heart … Costs are rising: rents, food, liquor and labor,” he said. 

“The restaurant business is fickle. When something new is in Westport people love the new spot, but then they don’t keep gravitating to it – it’s a shame. I’d love to see everybody be successful.”

Westfair Fish and Chips, 40 years

1781 Post Road East
Brian Sternberg, owner

Many Westporters may not realize that Westfair Fish and Chips even exists, as it is hidden behind a neighboring building and not visible from the Post Road. But plenty do, and they have been going there for fresh seafood for decades.

“We’re a traditional New England style seafood shack,” Brian Sternberg said, who is in his early 30’s and the youngest of the restaurateurs interviewed.

 He and his father run the business on a daily basis, and other members of the family have worked together at Westfair over the years. “We are a family business – brothers, aunts, cousins, we’ve all worked there; all given our fair share of time and help,” he said. 

The secret to the restaurant’s success is “to keep it very simple and focus on a simple, fresh product,” he said. There are only five small tables inside, and a big take-out business. Everything is made fresh at the restaurant, including fried shrimp, clams, oysters and lobster rolls. All food is cooked to order and they broil or batter everything, he said. They offer five homemade soups including chowders and bisques, and even the tartar sauce is made fresh daily along with the coleslaw.

“It’s a tough business,” he said. “We work a lot of hours, but it’s definitely rewarding when the customers continuously come back.” Unlike many other restaurants, “the pandemic actually helped us,” he said by adding to their take-out business as more Westporters became aware that they were there.

“It’s an honor being able to serve the community for 40 years. It’s my goal to keep up the family tradition,” Sternberg said.

The Little Kitchen, 38 years

423 Post Road East
Daniel Wan, owner 

One of the Little Kitchen’s strengths, according to owner Daniel Wan, is that the restaurant is not a regular Chinese restaurant. “Everything we make is kind of unusual,” with a Southeast Asian influence, he said.

“Families have been eating here for decades,” he added. One family flying in from Houston recently, “came here directly from LaGuardia in an Uber. It’s their tradition to eat at Little Kitchen before going home.”

He agreed with other restaurateurs, that the business can be “very hard.” During the pandemic, his bar was shut down for two years, he said, but he reopened it with a successful Happy Hour. Food and labor prices are going up, he added, and the hours are long every day. But like many other restaurant owners, he depends on help from his family. “My wife and I own the restaurant,” he said, “and my kids still come here to help me out.” 

Tarantino Restaurant, 31 years

30 Railroad Place
Frank Marchetti owner

“My parents and uncle started the business. They taught us how to greet people, how to make people feel at home,” Frank Marchetti said, as he continuously welcomed customers during the interview. The Marchetti family believes in making everyone who enters their restaurant feel like a visiting friend or relative. Frank Marchetti’s mother makes the pasta by hand.

Westport has been “an amazing town,” to run a restaurant, he said, which has been an advantage, as well as having “a staff that has been with me for 25 years.” 

But running a restaurant is a hard business. “We don’t take anything for granted. We check on our quality control every second of every day … You have got to be present.”

Tuttis Ristorante, 23 years 

599 Riverside Ave.
Maria Funicello, owner

Maria Funicello attributes the success of Tutti’s to “consistency of food and the environment,” that helps their customers feel at home. “We’re not the elaborate trendy restaurant, we’re very basic,” she said.

She and her husband Pasquale, a chef who attended culinary school in Italy, focus on preparing and serving authentic Italian food. “We make our sauces fresh,” she said and everything is prepared at the restaurant. 

The couple has dedicated themselves to Tutti’s, she said, calling their style “Mom and Pop all the way. One of us is always there. I think that’s important.” 

Covid was a struggle for the restaurant, she added, but they pulled through, and continue to enjoy working at their establishment every day. “This is our home, we just go somewhere else to sleep,” she joked. “We have a good time here. My husband enjoys cooking – I enjoy interaction with my customers.”

Gretchen Webster

^{_{Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, has reported for the daily Greenwich Time and Norwalk Hour, the weekly Westport News, Fairfield Citizen and Weston Forum. She was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman for ten years. She has won numerous journalism awards over the years, and taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.}}