Fred another one you could dig up for me, would be Charl.ies Inn Beer Garden.  What do you think?

 

 

 

From my friend Bill Twomey....

 

"With the razing of Throgg's Neck Country Club (German Stadium) in 1989 the old tavern and restaurant of Charlie's Inn is the last link with the Morris Estate.  It was once the coach house of the Morris Mansion which was to become Throggs Neck Country Club.  The mansion was built in 1850 and the coach house shortly thereafter.  Charlie's Inn was the dream come true of master chef Karl Fromwalt.  He was born in Austria and left home in the 1890's to travel to Vienna where he did menial jobs required of a young man learning a trade.  He then travelled to England to learn English and advance his skills.  He soon attained the position of second cook and it was then that his life took a fairy tale turn.  He was selected to cook for royalty and it was there that he earned his certificate.  His new credentials and certificate were equivalent to a passport to another world.  He took a position as ships cook on a passenger freight line operating between the United Kingdom and Amazon ports in Brazil.  By this time the British had Anglicized his name to Charlie.  Leaving the sea, Charlie worked in Paris to add another dimension to his culinary skills.  He then set off for America....the land of opportunity.  He purchased the old coach house on Harding Avenue and converted it first to a grocery store and than to a restaurant.  Charlie's Ideal Vienna Restaurant and Beer Garden, patterned after the old time beer halls of Vienna opened on August 10, 1935 and prospered from the start.  It became known far and wide.  When Charlie did sell his, it was to another Charlie.  Charlie Vetter and his partner Ernst Boehmer.  Soon they passed it on to Max and Rose Gundlach and eventually to John Gallagher who still operates the tavern in the tradition of the original owner (*note by me....John Gallagher a friend of Tom's and myself passed away a few years ago, after this article was written). 

And on a side note, Mr. Fromwalt showed the perserverance and the grit to become an American citizen.  Like so many immigrants before and after him, he learned the language, he learned a trade and came here legally. 

     1930's

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                             

The History of Charlie's Inn..
Over one hundred years ago, long before most of the houses and buildings of Throggs Neck existed, there was a large estate, located on the shore of the East River. This estate, the Huntington Estate, was complete with a mansion, (now know as Preston High School) and carriage house (now known as Charlie's Inn). With the Military Academy at Fort Schuyler and the German Stadium (which housed many soccer matches for the German-American League) this small part of Throggs Neck was well known for a fun, exciting weekend afternoon. In 1935, Karl (Charlie) Frumwalt acquired the carriage house and renovated it into a restaurant named Charlie's Inn. After creating a success, Mr. Frumwalt sold the restaurant two neighborhood men, Mr. Karl (Charles) Vetter and Max Gundlach. These partners continued the tradition of Charlie's Inn as a weekend Bier Garden and fine restaurant. Then, in the early 1970's, as the German Stadium was abolished to raise garden apartments, a couple named John and Irma Gallagher took over the restaurant. With Irma's father, Gustav Uzat supervising in the kitchen, and John Gallagher, a bartender by trade, supervising the bar, Charlie's Inn underwent another set of renovations, that included a new kitchen and fireplaces added to both dinning rooms. The restaurant changed its hours from a weekend Bier Garden and restaurant to a full time restaurant and catering hall, while maintaining the Bier Garden traditions on summer Sundays. The only changes to the restaurant today are in the new managers, as John and Irma Gallagher have passed the tradition onto their son, John (Smokey) and daughter-in-law, Kathleen Gallagher. Charlie's Inn, however, remains a family restaurant, with fine food and weekly entertainment. It is a small remaining part of the history of Throggs Neck and continues to be a great place to eat!

 

 

Tony Rota was only a young man of 24 when he opened his restaurant at 2409 E. Tremont Avenue in 1933.  The Harlem native chose a prime location at the head of Castle Hill Ave. near St. Raymonds Church.  Bronxdale Ave. was still often referred to by its former name, Bear Swamp Rd and began just a few door west of Tony's chosen site.  E. Tremont was still a cobblestoned roadway, but was also a much travelled route joining Westchester Sq. and West Farms, two major transportation junctions.  There was of course a trolley stop not far from the entrance to the restaurant.  He opened up his eatery specializing in regional Italian dishes and drawing customers from nearby communites of Van Nest, Morris Park, Unionport, West Farms and Westchester Sq.  Parkchester did no yet exist and that huge tract of land was still occupied by the Catholic Protetorate which was built there at the close of the Civil War.  The Metropolitan Life Inusrance Co. purchased the land in 1938 for a huge residental complex which they called Parkchester.  The first family moved into the development March 1, 1940 and before long Tony Rota had another 12,272 families within walking distance of this restaurant.  Fortune was smiling on the young entrepreneur and his business soon expanded.  As this customer base expanded so did his reputation and soon Rota's became less renowned for its Italian specialities and more famous as a steakhouse.  Soon many celebrities sought out the popular eatery and its owner..among them Toots Shor, Jake LaMotta, Maureen O'Sullivan and a host of politicians.  Eventually Tony himself became a celebrity and in April of 1966 the traffic island at the intersection of E. Tremont and Bronxdale Ave. was christened Tony Rota Square.  After awhile the old time clientele dwindled, when most of them moved or passed away.  Tony Rota closed his doors on February 28th 1990 after 57 years on E. Tremont Avenue......and more than a few tears were shed.

 

BT

We had our wedding reception there!

 

How about one of the better ones in the Neck...Amerigos......excellent clams, excellent seafood and steaks that were perfecto.