There is a stretch of Fort Salonga Road in Northport where the parking lot of a Stop & Shop becomes, on any given evening, an overflow staging ground for something that has nothing to do with groceries. The cars belong to people who have driven from Commack, from Dix Hills, from Bay Shore, from as far as Manhattan and the Bronx—people who know that across the street, inside a building that has stood in some form since 1961, there exists a kind of gravitational field. It pulls you in with the smell of garlic and seared meat, the roar of a packed dining room, and the unmistakable energy of a restaurant that has been refusing to die, refusing to slow down, and refusing to accept credit cards for over six decades. This is Robke’s. And if you haven’t been, you probably know someone who has—and who won’t stop talking about it.
From a German Bar and Grill to an Italian Institution
The story of Robke’s begins not with marinara sauce but with fingertip steaks and cold German beer. Ernest and Mary Lou Robke opened their modest bar and grill on Fort Salonga Road in 1961, serving the kind of hearty, unpretentious food that fueled Long Island’s postwar suburban expansion. For nearly two decades, Robke’s Country Inn was a neighborhood joint—the sort of place where locals nursed drafts at a wooden bar and ordered burgers without consulting a menu. Then, in 1978, Louis Selvaggio Sr. purchased the establishment, and the trajectory of a North Shore institution shifted forever. Selvaggio, who grew up in the Bronx and carried with him the culinary DNA of Italian-American home cooking, gradually transformed the menu from German-American fare into the robust, portion-heavy Italian cooking that would come to define the restaurant’s identity. The name stayed. The soul changed. And Northport was better for it.
Today, the restaurant is operated by Louis Selvaggio Jr. alongside his siblings, including his sister Mia, carrying forward a family legacy that now spans nearly half a century under Selvaggio ownership. Louis Jr. grew up in the restaurant, absorbing the rhythms of a kitchen that never stops—Robke’s is open 365 days a year, serving lunch and dinner without exception, a commitment to consistency that very few establishments on Long Island can claim.
The Menu: Enormous Plates, Uncompromising Flavor
Robke’s is not a place for small plates and minimalist presentations. It is a place where a Pork Chop Martini arrives with cherry peppers still glistening from the pan, where a Bronx-style Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana over Rigatoni could comfortably feed two adults, and where the Blackened Skirt Steak with crispy fried onions and French fries lands on the table with the authority of a closing argument. The portions here are legendary—not in the overused, social-media-hyperbole sense of the word, but in the sense that regular diners plan their days around a Robke’s meal, knowing that lunch will likely become dinner as well.
The Italian-American core of the menu reads like a greatest-hits compilation from every family kitchen in the five boroughs: Robke Spicy Cavatelli (emphatically, “absolutely no cream,” as the menu insists), Pappardelle Bolognese, Orecchiette with hot sausage and broccoli rabe, and the cult-favorite Pauly’s Ravioli with its closely guarded veal sauce recipe. Seafood holds its own ground, with Red Snapper Alforno, Wild Salmon Piccata, and the Linguine Chop Chop with shrimp and clams all earning devoted followings. The Baked Clams, in particular, have been singled out by reviewers as some of the finest on Long Island—golden, herbed, and impossible to stop eating once the first shell is cracked.
For those who lean toward the raw power of a prime steak, the menu obliges with a Prime New York Strip and a Cajun Ribeye, both served with fried Italian potatoes that are, in their own quiet way, worth the trip alone. And the Robke Mac and Cheese—available as a side, a main, or topped with chicken cutlet or sliced steak—has achieved a kind of cult status, particularly among the younger generation of TikTok food creators who have made Robke’s a recurring star of Long Island food content.
The signature Robke Espresso Martini has earned a reputation as one of the best on the North Shore—a rich, precisely calibrated combination of espresso, vanilla vodka, and Kahlúa that regulars describe as dangerously easy to drink.
Cash Only: The Policy That Became a Brand
Walk into Robke’s without cash and you will learn a lesson that the restaurant’s loyal clientele already knows by heart. Robke’s is a cash-only establishment—personal checks are also accepted—and this policy is not an oversight, a temporary inconvenience, or a technological failing. It is a deliberate choice, one that has become as much a part of the restaurant’s identity as the food itself. In an era when virtually every restaurant on Long Island accepts contactless payment and mobile wallets, Robke’s insistence on paper currency reads as an act of quiet rebellion, a refusal to surrender the last tactile elements of a dining experience to the frictionless blur of digital commerce.
There is an ATM nearby. The Stop & Shop across the street can provide cash back. Seasoned Robke’s customers arrive prepared, bills folded in their pockets, as if the act of paying with physical money is itself part of the ritual. For a restaurant that trades in nostalgia—not as a marketing strategy, but as an inherent quality of its atmosphere—the cash-only policy makes a kind of poetic sense. It slows the transaction down. It makes you present. It is, in its own small way, an insistence that some things should remain analog.
The Celebrity Table: Where Athletes, Actors, and Managers Come to Eat
Robke’s has been called “Long Island’s most celebrity-magnetic restaurant” (Newsday, 2022), and this description is not an exaggeration. The walls and social media feeds of the restaurant tell a story of an establishment that has become a gathering place for professional athletes, entertainers, and public figures who, for various reasons, find themselves drawn to a cash-only Italian restaurant on Fort Salonga Road.
The list is remarkable in its breadth. Yankee legend Tino Martinez has dined there, reportedly lamenting that he couldn’t bring a doggy bag on his flight afterward. Dwight “Doc” Gooden became such a devoted regular after moving back to Long Island that he earned an official Robke’s shirt—a distinction not easily conferred. Former NBA star Nate “Tiny” Archibald has been photographed with Louis Jr. at the restaurant. Actor and comedian Kevin James—a Long Island native—has made appearances, as has reality television star Theresa Caputo. Baseball icon Darryl Strawberry is among the sports figures who have stopped in. In October 2024, New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza dined at Robke’s following the Mets’ NLCS run, enjoying a blackened New York strip, homemade pasta with roasted veal, and ravioli. Louis Jr., a lifelong Yankees fan, welcomed the Mets skipper with characteristic warmth, later telling reporters that the evening was an honor. Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe, a Long Island native from Sayville, has also been spotted at Robke’s.
The celebrity draw isn’t manufactured. It flows from the same thing that brings everyone else through the door: exceptional food, enormous portions, and an atmosphere where a famous face receives the same treatment as a first-time walk-in—namely, a packed house, a complimentary bread basket, and a meal that defies the limitations of any normal human appetite.
The Next Generation: Birdie Bar and the Selvaggio Family’s Expanding Footprint
In 2023, Louis Selvaggio Jr. and his sister Mia opened Birdie Bar at 688 Fort Salonga Road, just a short walk from Robke’s. The restaurant, which took over the former Seven Quarts Tavern space, is named in honor of their brother Paul Selvaggio, a professional golfer who serves as a pro at Westchester Country Club. The interior leans into a refined golf-club aesthetic—leather booths, plaid and paneled walls, framed photographs of iconic golfers interspersed with snapshots from Paul’s own career.
Birdie Bar operates under the culinary direction of Chef Antonio Guillen, formerly of Smithtown’s H2O, and its menu occupies a different lane than Robke’s—American steakhouse-inspired with creative cocktails and a broader flavor profile. The French Dip with caramelized onions, Gruyère, and jalapeños has quickly become the signature order. NBC New York featured Birdie Bar shortly after its opening, calling it “a foodie’s paradise,” and the restaurant’s Early Birdie happy hour, with discounted small plates and $10 cocktails through 6 PM, has established it as a destination in its own right.
The expansion speaks to a family that understands the restaurant business not as a static enterprise but as a living organism. The Selvaggio family’s roots in Northport now run deep enough that their name is synonymous with the town’s dining culture, and the decision to open a second concept within walking distance of the original suggests a level of confidence that only comes from decades of proven community loyalty.
The Social Media Phenomenon and the Northport Dining Scene
Robke’s boasts over 85,000 followers on Instagram (@robkesnorthport), a staggering number for a family-owned restaurant in a town of roughly 7,000 residents. The account has been praised by diners and food writers alike for its creative Reels—hip music soundtracks, rapid-fire food photography, and candid testimonials from owners, staff, and customers that capture the energy of the dining room with cinematic flair. On TikTok, the restaurant has become a recurring subject for Long Island food creators, with viral videos featuring the Steak Mac and Cheese, the Pork Chop Martini, and the Espresso Martini collectively generating millions of views.
This digital presence sits within the broader context of Northport’s evolving dining landscape, a village that has quietly assembled one of the finest restaurant scenes on Long Island’s North Shore. From the legendary Maroni Cuisine—recently named one of the twelve best Italian restaurants in the United States by the Beli app—to the waterfront charm of Skippers, the upscale Northport Hotel restaurant, the excellent Branzinos, and the neighborhood warmth of Birdie Bar, Northport punches far above its weight for a hamlet of its size. Robke’s, in many ways, is the anchor of this ecosystem, the longest-running and most recognizable name in a town that has become a genuine dining destination.
A Place That Earns Its Wait
Robke’s does not take reservations lightly—walk in without one on a Friday or Saturday night and you will encounter a packed parking lot, a line spilling into the entrance, and a wait that can stretch well beyond thirty minutes. The dining room is intimate, the bar area carries an old New England warmth, and the outdoor seating, while pleasant, cannot fully absorb the demand that descends on this small building with remarkable regularity. Regulars know to arrive early, particularly for lunch, when the prix fixe specials—often featuring the Pork Chop Martini or the day’s pasta creation—offer extraordinary value.
With 886 reviews and over 1,100 photos on Yelp, 274 reviews on TripAdvisor (where it ranks #4 of 54 restaurants in Northport), and a social media following that rivals restaurants ten times its size, Robke’s has earned something that no marketing budget can purchase: the kind of reputation that passes from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, from a grandmother who first walked through the door when it was still a German bar to her grandchildren who now tag the restaurant in their Instagram stories. This is a restaurant that has survived recessions, pandemics, changing tastes, and the relentless churn of the Long Island dining scene by doing one thing with absolute consistency—putting enormous plates of outstanding food in front of people who will always come back for more.
Robke’s 427 Fort Salonga Road, Northport, NY 11768 Phone: (631) 754-9663 Website: robkesofnorthport.com Instagram: @robkesnorthport Facebook: Robkes on Facebook Hours: Monday–Thursday 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM | Friday–Saturday 11:30 AM – 11:00 PM | Sunday 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM Open 365 Days a Year Cash or Personal Check Only — No Credit Cards No Delivery | Takeout & Catering Available Parking: Limited lot on-site; overflow parking at Stop & Shop across the street
Written by Peter from The Heritage Diner — heritagediner.com/blog
