Connie’s Restaurant in Farmingdale

One of the landmark businesses in Farmingdale Borough, Connie’s Restaurant is well-known throughout southern Monmouth County. For over 100 years, this mansard-roofed building has featured stores owned by prominent local citizens. Royal and Susan Rosebrook bought property along Main Street from Richard Corlies in 1866, and may have built their home on it. However, since the Rosebrooks sold the land to Attie & John Williams only three years later, in fact, the Williams family may have built the house.

Vela Bacon opened his drugstore in a storefront attached to the house in 1907. In those days, drug stores not only dispensed medicine, but included soda fountains, ice cream and candy, as well as stationary items.  Bacon also commissioned and sold a series of Farmingdale picture post cards, many of which depict scenes along Main Street in the early years of the 20th century.

In 1932, Bacon’s widow Laura sold the property to Sherman Russell and Floyd Cook.  Sherman Russell was such a huge fan of the long-time Philadelphia Athletics baseball manager and owner Cornelius McGillicuddy (“Connie Mack”) that his high school buddies had nicknamed him Connie, too. The partners called their dining place Russell & Cook’s. Despite its official name, everyone in town was soon eating at Connie’s.

After more than 30 years serving meals together, Cook sold the landmark business to Connie Russell in 1965. Only a few years later, the building was bought by Bruno Mandica. His son John continued the popular breakfast and lunch stop and yielding to popular opinion, renamed the establishment Connie’s. Forty-one years later, John greets his many long-time customers every day at the most popular eatery in town.