Claudio’s iconic harborfront restaurant, clam bar and marina in Greenport Village are in contract and a closing is expected by the middle of next month, longtime partner in the family-owned business Bill Claudio Jr. said today.
“We’re selling the whole megillah,” Claudio said.
The buyers, headed by NYC restaurateur Michael Barrett, don’t plan to change “anything whatsoever about the place,” Claudio said in an interview. There may be “a few tweaks to the menu,” he allowed.
“But he’s going to take a very successful operation and continue to operate it successfully,” Claudio said.
Barrett, former owner of the popular China Club in NYC, was one of a group of partners that bought Shagwong in Montauk last year and Harlow Restaurant in Sag Harbor in 2014.
File photo: Lisa Finn
Bill Claudio Jr. and his sisters Beatrice and Kathy are the fourth generation of Claudios to own the popular eateries, which were established by their great-grandfather, Manuel Claudio in 1870. Bill’s wife Janice and Beatrice’s husband Jerry Tuthill are also partners in the business.
Manuel Claudio was 12 years old when he left his home in Horta on the Island of Faial in the Azores for a job as a cabin boy on the Portuguese whaling ship “Neva.” It was 1854. The Neva took him to Greenport, a village then synonymous with whaling back then.
He sailed with the “Neva” for the next 16 years before settling in Greenport for good in 1870, when he opened a saloon called Claudio’s Tavern. That would be the beginning of a 146-year run for the Claudio family, which expanded the tavern, turning it into a fine restaurant, and established Claudio’s Clam Bar, a more casual eatery on the wharf.
Bill Claudio Sr. operated the business for more than 50 years before turning it over to his children in 1990 — the last generation of the Claudio family at the helm.
The site is on the National Register of Historic Places. Claudio’s has been recognized by the National Restaurant Association as the oldest, family-run restaurant run by the same family in the United States.
But the next generation of Claudios is busy doing other things, Claudio said today.
What are his plans after the sale?
“At 77 what do you think?” he quipped. “I think it might be time to retire.”
Claudio said the family has no plans to move away from Greenport, its home for 162 years.
“We still have a lot of family here,” he said. “It’s where we plan to stay.
Editor’s note: After the marketing director for Claudio’s objected to the use of the word “sold” in this story, the headline was changed to reflect the pending closing. The story as originally published clearly stated the deal is in contract and a closing is pending— and expected mid-February. The property has not yet been transferred and that was not what was reported.
