Customer buys out owner of Eatontown luncheonette
No plans to change the iconic menu
EATONTOWN – There’s a new man behind the counter at the Rise ‘N’ Shine Luncheonette. His name is Sean McIntyre.
If you’re just getting up to speed, Sal Martorana retired this month after 37 years as owner and cook of this cherished Main Street luncheonette. Before he did, though, he went over the entire menu with McIntyre, the new owner, who doesn’t have any plans to change the food.
That means customers will still be able to order the “Jackpot,” and McIntyre will flip the pancakes on the same workhorse griddle that Martorana did for years.
“I do feel like I have some shoes to fill. Sal was a man of the people, an icon at the local spot in town. That’s not something you can teach. That’s something you become,” said McIntyre.
Martorana, though, couldn’t be happier to pass the business he poured his life into, to McIntyre, who was a customer first. The 28-year-old from Little Silver has eaten many times at the luncheonette with his family. He has two brothers and a sister. When Martorana put the business up for sale, it was McIntyre’s
parents who inquired looking for a family business.
As it is now, Sean and his parents own it while Keith McIntyre, 27, helps in the day-to-day operation. Sean McIntyre has done just about every job in the restaurant industry, from bus boy to chef, and has worked at notable Jersey Shore restaurants such as Tim McLoone’s.
“They’re a great family. This is what we were looking for, someone who wanted to keep it,” said Martorana, who’s experienced a range of emotions after he made the decision to retire.
Martorana opened Rise ‘N’ Shine in 1987. Before that it had been another restaurant, Mr. Mike’s. And before that, a different one. He’s not absolutely sure how far back it goes, but it’s safe to say it’s one of the oldest business in town.
first,
The luncheonette is just down the street from the former Fort Monmouth and when the fort was an active military installation, he had a lot of patrons from there. One of them was a chaplain who gave Martorana a plaque of Saint Euphrosynos the Cook, which he hung in the kitchen.
McIntyre has left that on the wall. Since taking over, his family has made small cosmetic improvements, such as replacing the ceiling panels, or kitchen upgrades like the new oven and range they had installed.
And while Martorana had an active fort down the street that brought Army personnel in for an omelet, McIntyre may very well see a different clientele occasionally pop in: movie stars from Netflix, which is poised to buy 300 acres at the former fort for their East Coast television and movie production studio hub.
“I’m very aware of the potential it may bring in the way of foot traffic, but it wasn’t the driving force behind our decision to take over this business. It was more like we thought, ‘What if we had a place that we could all go together like we did when were kids,” McIntyre said.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.