The old Mariner’s on the Hudson in Highland. (photo by Lauren Thomas)
Location can be a deciding factor in the success of a particular business. Visibility is particularly valued for interests serving food and drink, but high visibility can be a bit of a headache when a business is still on the drawing board. Revealing too much about a concept before opening day might lead to a competitive disadvantage. There’s also lots to do the days and months leading up to opening a new business, and time is money.
A clutch location in New Paltz is 127 Main Street, where two different iterations of Shea O’Brien’s have now come and gone. Luis Martinez confirmed that he and his wife will be opening a Mexican restaurant there. Exactly when he was unable to say, as they are waiting delivery of parts from out of the country.
Martinez is principal of the Lalo Group which owns, and previously pitched plans to develop, the so-called “pit” property adjacent to New Paltz Village Hall.
Sitting as it does on land commanding a beautiful view of the Hudson River, it’s no wonder that Lloyd residents are curious about the fate of the old Mariner’s on the Hudson, next to Bob Shepard Highland Landing Park. It’s owned by Rich Ronkese, proprietor of On a Roll Deli, but he’s reportedly not answering any questions about his plans for the property.
Ronkese did not respond, by press time, to a note left for him with an employee at his deli, a postcard mailed to his home or a Facebook message asking him to comment for this story. He has no phone number listed, and it did not appear he had read the Facebook message.
New Paltz doesn’t need another Mexican restaurant… In fact THREE have fairly recently sprung up in addition to the ones that have been around for years.
But ask any New Paltzian where to get decent Chinese food in town and we are hard-pressed to answer. Now that would be a feat… Especially with gf tamari rather than or in addition to soy laced offerings…
As far as Mariner’s, if only there was great food, great drinks and great service…They would come.
I would agree that New Paltz really needs a GOOD Chinese restaurant. The only two Chinese restaurants in town now are less than mediocre on their best days. There are already plenty of Mexican restaurants in town – with at least one good one with reasonable prices.
The owner(s) of Mariner’s should take a lesson from the history of the place! Knock it all down and start from scratch! Redesign the restaurant/kitchen/bar/dining room(s) to be more functional for larger events, replace the bulkheads and install decking that looks attractive, raise the foundation of the building so any flooding will not damage the property and then make it a can’t miss experience for diners to include a nice variety on the menu.
New Paltz already has four Mexican restaurants, at least one of which is packed all the time: Mexicali Blue, Taco Shack, Los Jalapeños, and Mexican Kitchen. We must’ve reached market saturation by now.
New Paltz is such a great food town, and any new restaurant that has solid food will attract an audience. The Shea O’Brien’s location seems like a perfect opportunity to introduce something new to the food scene here, rather than a rehash of what we’ve already got.
It would be interesting to see something OTHER than a restaurant move into the Shea Obrien’s space. Agree, we have Mexican category covered, the Irish pub ‘thing’ is done and dead and done and dead…don’t ever need another along those lines.
I’d cut the space in half – A: lease one-half to a retail, office situation or other NON-restaurant operation:
B: the remaining half I would get an amazing chef and sommelier and open a stellar Tapas & Wine operation that sources all ingredients from our amazing Hudson Valley cheese, meat, and bread makers + offer top-notch wine pairings. I’d also install full-floor height casement windows that open in the warmer months, and give it a sophisticated, understated interior makeover.
This site just seems to keep plopping half-baked ideas into a rehashed interior. Start from scratch. Keep it clean, modern, simple – go to Remodelista.com to get your design inspiration and just get a tight, tidy, simple tapas menu going.
All else is just trying to hard and seems like the owners have no idea what they are doing.