Memories Of The Seahorse Restaurant

How great it is to see Thomas Tsagarakis making plans to run the Seahorse Restaurant. The Seahorse was always a wonderful family restaurant. As the weather ebbed into summer, it was a great attraction for the summer trade and the boat owners. It was like a “Cheers", where everyone knows your name.

When I was a youngster, in the 50s, Mom and Dad took my brother and me to the Seahorse for dinner. I remember it as a friendly restaurant. We always sat on the restaurant side in a booth, and were never allowed in the bar side alone, except to use the bathroom when Dad would escort me or my brother through the door, passing the bar on the left.

I remember the stale smell of beer and cigarettes when we went into the bar. We usually went on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant wasn’t very busy then.  I remember eating lobster or steak dinners, and the meals were always prepared just right.  I also met the owners, Bruce and Charlie. Meeting them would become an advantage when I grew older and started going to the bar - they knew my parents.

When I became of drinking age, the Seahorse Restaurant became a favorite bar. Five or six of us would gather at the bar on weekends. We ate, drank, and always had a great time.

When folk music became popular, Charlie and Bruce opened the restaurant Sunday afternoon to people who wanted to “jam” with their musical instruments. We had “Folk Music Night” when the restaurant was normally quiet.  Charlie would play his accordion and others would play guitar and sing. Those of us who didn’t sing or play an instrument ordered dinners, and ate and drank to the music. The restaurant and bar were full of customers.

In my early 20s, we went to the Seahorse on Friday nights to have a couple of beers before we headed out to Misquamicut. The drinks were more expensive at Misquamicut than at the Seahorse. On Sunday nights, Connecticut had a 9 p.m. curfew. So at 9 p.m., we’d head to Rhode Island where the bars stayed open until 1 am. We didn’t drink that much; it was just the thing to do.

In later years, when I was a disc jockey, I was hired to be the entertainment at the Seahorse for their New Year’s Eve parties. It brought back a host of memories, of singing, drinking and having a lot of fun years earlier.

It was always a friendly place. Either Bruce or Charlie was always serving behind the bar. The waitresses were always the efficient and friendly.  When you worked at the Seahorse, you stayed at the Seahorse. Welcome back Seahorse, and good luck to you Zach, and welcome back to Noank.

Tom Santos has written two books: “Mystic in the 1950s” and “My Son Todd & My Guardian Angels.”