Restaurant anniversaries are kind of a big deal. They make the often-touted marriage statistics (lately, about 40% of first timers end up in Splitsville, according to the Institute for Family Studies) look downright rosy: According to research from UC Berkeley, a not-so-bad 17% restaurant failure rate in year one shoots up to a whopping 80% folding by year five. So making it to 30? That’s one big menu milestone.
Honest Man Hospitality’s Rowdy Hall is one such success story, made even more impressive because they’re open year round in a region that’s not exactly booming in the off-season. Still, Rowdy Hall’s delicious offerings and convivial spirit, which easily followed them in the move from East Hampton to Amagansett (despite a long, drawn-out fight about external paint colors), has stood the test of time.
Now, owners Mark Smith, Joe Realmuto and Christy Cober want to take the opportunity to say thank you to the community that’s bolstered them all these years with their year-long campaign entitled “1% for the East End.”
“Obviously, we’re really proud, being able to survive out on the East End,” says Smith. “And I live here — it’s my community and for me personally, when I look back on 30 years, it’s as much about the people who have worked with us and, in some cases, been single then got married then had families and bought a house and sent their kids to college — we’ve been part of that, and that’s the legacy.”
Honest Man Hospitality’s first restaurant, Nick & Toni’s, opened 39 years ago, followed by Rowdy Hall in 1996. Following that was La Fondita, the short-lived Villa Italia and then Coche Comedor, which shuttered this past year. Celebrating the milestone of Rowdy in a way that gathers and gives felt all the more fitting this year.
“This is a way to promote the business other than the typical $15 for a burger and a beer — I mean, who wins in that scenario? It’s a lose-lose. We felt as tough as business is, it’s about building community and what can we do to continue to do that,” says Smith.
For the entire of 2026, Rowdy Hall will donate 1% of the restaurant’s monthly revenue to different local charities serving the South Fork communities. The first beneficiaries in January: a scholarship fund created specially for Amagansett high schoolers aiming to pursue a career in hospitality and the culinary arts (natch!). February will give a nice boost to Hamptons Community Outreach, who make it their excellent mission to stick a fork in poverty on the East End.
“When the day comes that I’m not doing this anymore — although I can’t envision when that would be — these are the things you look back on. The people who walked through the door and became great friends, the people we’ve worked with and being part of their lives. That’s what I’ll remember.”
Other upcoming recipients of Honest Man’s honest help and local appreciation: East End Hospice, Lifeguards for Life, Ashawash hall, Group for the East End, Springs Food Pantry, ARF, Camp Good Grief and several others. Check their Instagram page to see more — and head on over to 177 Main Street for Rowdy Burger, cold draft beer and the good vibes of helping out your fellow East Enders.
