Big Daddy's Restaurants

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Big Daddy's Restaurants were a chain of restaurants located in New York, Florida and the Bahamas

1 History
2 Locations
3 Quotes
4 Ownership
5 External links

[edit] History

The first Big Daddy's Restaurant opened in 1964, and was located on Coney Island Avenue in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, NY. It was known to be the only true competitor of Nathans Famous Hot Dogs. The reason for that comparison can be attributed to the fact that the driving force behind Big Daddy's success was half owner Murray L. Handwerker, the nephew of Nathan Handwerker, founder of Nathan's. In addition to serving hot dogs and crinkle cut french fries, Big Daddy's also served pizza, chow mein on a bun, roasted pork sandwiches, and had a full deli as well as a clam bar. The restaurant was known for it's decor of red and white candy stripes and pictures of partner Robert Napp surrounded by the famous celebrities of that era. It was also known for offering kiddie rides in the parking lot to create a Coney Island Atmosphere.

[edit] Locations

In addition to many New York area Locations, the restaurants eventually opened locations in Florida and the Bahamas. Little is known of the Bahamas location, but in Florida, Big Daddy's became popular on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach amongst many transplant New Yorkers, locals, and tourists.

The Big Daddy's in Sheepshead Bay closed in 1977, The Lincoln Road Mall location closed in 1986, and the last known location on Washington Avenue on South Beach closed around 1991.

[edit] Quotes

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says on his official web-site "You know you're from Brooklyn if"......You Went to Big Daddy's on Coney Island Avenue as a change from Nathan's

[edit] Ownership

Sadly, one of the original partners, Murray L. Handwerker passed away in 1971 at the age of 47.

Robert "Big Daddy" Napp unsuccessfully ran for the Miami Beach City Council in a popular election in 1977 where he lost by only 244 votes. Napp later said there were 710 overvotes unread by the machine, but no court would listen to him. Napp died in November 1990.