Q&A: Atlantic Beach Café Does its Own Extreme Makeover

Boyhood friends and business partners Eric Fiebert and Paul Shanab are in the midst of turning their bagel deli, now known as the Atlantic Beach Café, into a pizzeria/market place/café hybrid. They recently spoke to Patch about the renovations and plans for the future.

When did you open up?

Shanab: We bought the building and opened up in 1996. At first, business was tough, because it was very seasonal back then.

Fiebert: But 10 years later, you have more people that are here all year round.

Where you always interested in the restaurant business?

Shanab: At the time we purchased this store, I owned another deli in Hicksville, so I already had the experience. And Eric and I have been friends since I was six and he was 10.

Fiebert: Years ago, Paul and I worked together all over Manhattan and Long Island, and we ate lunch in delis all the time. We knew as soon as we walked in if it was a good deli or not. So we know from experience what works and what doesn’t. We know what people are looking for.

What attracted you to this area?

Fiebert: We both grew up in Far Rockaway, and we knew Atlantic Beach well. Plus, when we were young, we went to the beach clubs here. So we said to ourselves — this has to be a hit, because you have 10 to 20 beach clubs along the strip here. You have to be able to do business.

Shanab: It’s always a hit in the summertime. But you really know you’re doing something right when you can do well in the off-season.

What’s your biggest seller?

Shanab: It’s the A.B. Special — chicken cutlet, bacon, melted cheddar, lettuce, tomato and Russian dressing on a toasted garlic hero. And people love our chopped salads. We have a nice breakfast crowd, with a lot of commuters in the morning. We sell a lot of egg white wraps. We have a great steam table at lunch. Everything we have is all homemade on the premises.

What makes your place different than others like it?

Shanab: Our bread comes in fresh from Brooklyn every day, and we carry only Boars Head products, which a lot of places don’t.  

Fiebert: Cleanliness is a very big thing with us. And our employees have been with us for many years, some of them from the day we opened. Everyone loves them.

Shanab: Especially Benny — he’s been here since the beginning. He’s the face man of the place.

Are there other positive features of your store?

Fiebert: We’re on a main strip, and we have a parking lot, which makes it very convenient to pull in and pull out. Also, we have late hours. We’re open from six to 10 during the week and open to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.

What improvements have you been working on?

Shanab: We added 360 square feet to this place, and we put in a bathroom. We’re trying to introduce more dinners and make it a little more upscale. We have a pizza oven. We’re going to have ice cream and shakes. We’re bringing in an espresso machine.

We’re going to recreate the outside seating area and make it more café style, with a nice awning overhead. That’s why we changed the name to Atlantic Beach Café. We’re introducing a whole new concept to our deli.