Talk about a big deal!
Ridge pub Skinflint’s made good on its name (which means miserly) when it reverted to 1975 prices for a 40th-anniversary celebration on July 28.
One of the bar’s beloved burgers, which are famously served on English muffins, set diners back a scant $1.95. And cheesecake was a trim 95 cents. The pub lost money on the endeavor, but it was still a wining venture, one of the owners said.
“I think it was totally worth it just to give a little back to the community that supports us,” said co-owner Gerard Bell.
Bell didn’t give financial details, but customers likely got a half-pound burger and fries for less than the cost of ingredients, according to this paper’s bar-napkin calculations. The going rate for wholesale ground beef is around $2.79 per pound, according to a worker at Gowanus commercial food supplier Restaurant Depot.
Bell and partner Billy Gardella opened the four-decade-old bar and restaurant in 1975 in what was originally the famous Meyer & Blohm ice cream parlor. Since then, they’ve expanded a couple times, re-jiggering the kitchen and adding new indoor and outdoor seating, but they kept much of the original interior decor, Bell said.
The anniversary brought in some familiar faces, and some folks who moved away years ago, Bell said.
“Some of our original customers came — a lot of people who have been here for 40 years,” he said.
But it also brought new faces to the old-school Ridge staple — faces Bell was more than happy to see, Bell said.
“You don’t survive 40 years in this business with only the old customers,” he said.
