Salisbury’s Beirut

Dinner Date: CJ Fitzwater

On a Tuesday, I was looking for a dinner date after the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. I serve on the board with a great group. Drew Dana, one of the other members, claims we’ve been voted the best board for three years running.

Our now five-member group also includes T.J. Johnson, Steve Rossetti and Chair Derek DePetrillo. John Schillizzi, a longtime valued member who recently left, will be missed.

After the brief meeting, I jumped in my Jeep and drove east to the beach. My wife, Nina, claimed no appetite and had stayed home with our son, Max, who has been struggling with a severe throat infection, missing his first two weeks of school.

Every night of the week, there’s an event at the Dolphin, and Wednesday’s music bingo is by far the busiest. The place gets packed, mostly with retirees from the South End of the beach. The old beach hotels, like The Edward’s Hotel at the corner of Ocean Street and Ocean Front South, have been converted into condos, mostly filled with retired hockey legends and upper middle-class transplants from cities like Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Lynn and Malden.

These silver haired re-teens have migrated to Salisbury Beach, drawn by its beautiful shores and dive bars. After years of struggling for the legal tender, hustling, grinding and trying to keep up with the Joneses, retirement finally feels like the freedom they always thought adulthood would bring.

Most found love (at least once), raised kids, coached teams and became soccer moms before finally getting serious about saving. If they were fortunate enough to put away enough money, they sold their city homes to enjoy the three-month paradise of Salisbury Beach, even if the rest of the year means getting wet and shivering.

This was Tuesday night, which means 45s at the Dolphin. 45s is a trick-taking card game like hearts, or spades, popular in Merrimack Valley cities. It originated in Ireland but made its way to the Merrimack Valley through French Canadians who came to the factory cities in search of work during the second Industrial Revolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

They’ve been playing at the Dolphin on Tuesday nights since 2020. The right to play came with its own set of challenges; during COVID, a battle ensued in the town over whether the 45s players could even gather for their favorite card game. After several Board of Health meetings, and selectmen meetings, a compromise was finally reached, allowing for weekly games at the beach bar.

The Dolphin is the only place that serves food on the South End strip, its neighbors include iconic spots like Uncle Eddie’s, the Carousel Bar and a row of rundown shops, arcades and vacant storefronts.

This strip, nicknamed “Beirut” because of its bombed-out appearance, still holds a special place in the beach town’s heart. Aside from the beach center, it’s the last remaining block of old Salisbury Beach. It’s like your great aunt, aged, but with a hint of beauty hidden behind the wrinkles and years of sun fading. She is the last remaining link to a generation quickly expiring.

I found myself at the Dolphin for dinner; it was pretty quiet with a prestorm calmness lingering in the air due to the Trump/Harris debate and chill in the air. I took a seat at the bar next to my good friends Joe and Carole O’Malley. The O’Malleys fill in each other’s missing pieces perfectly. Carole soon left to pregame for the debate, leaving Joe and myself to swap jokes and chat about life.

Joe is one of those special residents who discovered Salisbury – a retired educator who leads a book club with Cammy Gregorio-Bille for the South Enders. I’m not a member but I hear stories about Joe’s charm and his knack for captivating a room of mostly women with his storytelling. They meet on the beach on Friday afternoons, sharing cookies and discussing their current shared book.

Joe wears jewelry that tells the story of his life, like a pinky ring he bought in Athens, Greece, in 1976, it carries a symbol representing his role as a healer and educator. He also wears a beautifully crafted charm on a gold chain with the alpha and omega Greek letters, symbolizing beginnings and endings – an idea Joe holds dear. It’s about the beginning of a new life and the end of the old, a lesson he taught to the high-risk students he worked with coming out of incarceration.

I ordered a steak-and-cheese grinder from a menu that includes cheeseburgers, sandwiches, seafood and a Mediterranean-inspired section with hummus, falafel, shawarma and kibbe. I was tempted by the specials board that was filled with great deals, but I stuck with the steak-and-cheese, knowing I could take half home to Nina, who would appreciate the comfort food.

Out of the cool of the evening strolled in Derek DePetrillo, who also came in from the ZBA meeting and jumped right into a hand of 45s with Tony Montisanti, who takes his Tuesday night card game very seriously.

His best girl, Jade, gives him the freedom he needs on Tuesday nights and he takes full advantage of it. I finished my half of the grinder and wrapped up the rest for my best girl at home.

After paying my bill, I headed out the front doors toward my Jeep, parked at one of the metered spots on Ocean Front South. On my way out, I ran into Mike Sheehy, who recognized me – I quickly realized he was a Facebook friend I hadn’t met in person until now.

Mike’s a lifelong Salisbury kid; though he didn’t live here permanently as a child, his family often rented the many cottages scattered around the South End. Now, he considers himself a local, having sold his home in Andover and moved into one of those old rentals from his childhood.

My good friend E.J. Dean might tell you that the Salisbury Beach so many remember and love – the one with the Frolics, or The Wildcat roller coaster, the Himalaya, and the carnival barkers – is gone for good.

The loss, he argues, is because the seasonal stock of affordable short-term rentals has been converted into permanent housing. There are no hotels for transient vacationers who play the games, ride the rides, eat ice cream from Willey’s, spend their quarters at Joe’s, and buy pizza from Cristy’s and Tripoli’s.

Our favorite neighborhood restaurants and bars offer more than just a place to eat or drink. Joints like the Dolphin serve as the heart of the community – a gathering spot for dinner or perhaps a cocktail. The Dolphin doubles as a social and community hub; it’s not just a restaurant but also an event center, community space, music venue and even a wedding chapel.

Mike Sarkis, the owner, has a charming smile and effortlessly manages the busy bar, maintaining a smooth flow between the kitchen, bar and dining area to ensure prompt service and a satisfied crowd.

They say “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation, but I can’t help drifting back to those memories. There’s a ticking clock on “Beirut,” as Ocean Front South is set to make way for a $190 million housing development.

The One Oceanfront project, also known as Big Block, will eventually level the aging yet highly valuable properties along the boardwalk, facing the 3.8-mile coastline with views stretching from the Isles of Shoals on the far left to Rockport on the far right. The views are breathtaking. George Burtch says, “It always looks the same to me, but to my wife, Judy, it’s different every day.”

It won’t be long before Uncle Eddie’s, The Carousel, the Carefree Arcade and the Dolphin are just part of the “remember when,” like the Kon-Tiki, Bevie B’s and the Frolics. Until then, the best of the South End will hold on to and continue to create memories in Salisbury’s “Beirut”.

Dinner Date is a series of stories written by Salisbury resident C.J. Fitzwater about the places and people he meets locally for dinner. If you are interested in meeting and telling your story, send him an email at cfitzwater@ymail.com.