A taste of history at The Sayville Inn
Kidsday reporters Abigail Cabrera, left, and Faith Cummings at The Sayville Inn. Credit: Kelly Cummings
Now that school is back in session, you might be getting hungry. You might want to try out an “old school” restaurant. We like The Sayville Inn. We know it’s old school because we work there. We are hostess helpers. Faith’s mom also works there and Abigail’s dad owns the restaurant.
We help with hostess duties. When people walk in, we greet them, ask if they have a reservation and then bring them to their tables. We ask if they want any drinks and we give them menus. Near the tables is a little workplace where the dirty dishes go, and the servers put the used menus in a container. We retrieve the menus and return them to the hostess station. When we get back to the hostess station, we have a map with all the tables on it, and we erase the table of the party that has left. Sometimes Abigail’s dad asks us to clean off the tables when a party leaves.
As we said this restaurant is old school. It has a wonderful and interesting history. There are many things there that are still the same from the year it opened in 1937. There is also a cash register from 1888. The highest price on the cash register is $8. President Theodore Roosevelt made his historic horseback ride as president, with his son Quentin, from Sagamore Hill to Sayville in 1903 because his cousin lived down the road. Along the way, he stopped here for a glass of milk. Milk was a favorite drink of Teddy Roosevelt’s. Milk is still on the menu at the Sayville Inn.
The Sayville Inn’s original name was Nohowec. Right behind the Sayville Inn is the tavern. It is a smaller building that was built in 1888. The tavern was originally called the Nohowec Saloon. During Prohibition the Nohowec family decided to start selling ginger ale, lemon soda, root beer, and sarsaparilla. They bottled their own beverages and some of the original bottles can be seen in the tavern today.
If you go to the tavern, you will see that there are a bunch of portraits of Teddy Roosevelt and a room dedicated to him. Chuck Cabrera, Abigail’s dad, says he’s very proud to own such an important piece of Sayville’s history. When you go there you will know that you are in the most historic and delicious restaurant in Sayville. It is located at 199 Middle Rd. Call 631-319-6774 or visit online at thesayvilleinn.com
