NORTH TONAWANDA: Half Moon Bay takes up residence on Oliver Street

By Neale Gulley<br><a href="mailto:gulleyn@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Neale</a>

When restaurant owner Sue Dominique retired to Half Moon Bay ten years ago, it wasn’t what she originally had in mind.

While the real Half Moon Bay is a relaxing resort town near West Palm Beach Fla., where the long-time restaurant manager was headed to retire, folks in North Tonawanda for years headed to Wheatfield Street for a similar experience — cocktails, comfort food and the tropical decor.

“It was named for a little resort in Florida that I was going to retire to but instead of that I wanted to stay here so I just called it Half Moon Bay,” she said.

Now the restaurant is open in a new, bigger location at 775 Oliver St.

“I’m going to say it’s double the size. It’s 2,500 square feet here,” she said. “I did have options to go to the Town of Tonawanda or Niagara Falls but I opted to stay in North Tonawanda because I have so many friends — my clientele. I couldn’t lose them.”

While she characterized the city as a “small town” with a less-than-stellar economy, the boating crowd is an incentive for her to operate here despite a smaller customer base. Some of those visitors come from places like Orchard Park.

“They said they don’t care if they have to travel four more blocks from the water,” she said.

But now in addition to her regular customers and the loyal boating crowd she caters to in the summer months, the new joint seats about 75 people as opposed to just 35 in the former building she leased at 126 Wheatfield.

The new location is basically a bigger, newer version of the old — where guests for a reasonable price sip beer or pina coladas under the signature fake palm tree. A flat screen broadcasts sporting events and whatever else patrons want to watch.

Daily happy hour specials and a dinner menu including seafood and a well-known fish fry but not barring homemade favorites like ribs, spaghetti and meatballs and steak (NY strip dinner is just over $9 on Wednesdays) keep her customers coming back, she said.

No price changes will accompany the move, Dominique said. In fact, she said some items were actually reduced in price as the recession hit.

“Because of the economy. I just figured I can do this without breaking anybody’s wallet,” she said.

A bottle of Labatt Blue beer is only $2.50 during happy hour from 2 to 5 p.m. It only goes up a quarter through the dinner hour from 8 to 10 p.m.

Wings are 25 cents each from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 8 to 10 p.m. daily.

Now she hopes the room in the rear will bring everything from private parties to live bands. While neither have yet been booked, a grand opening party is scheduled Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. Free food will be included.

On the move, she said she was looking for a place on the main drag. Despite other restaurants farther south on Oliver Street, Dominique is confident she’s got the market cornered in her area.

“There’s no competition up this way,” she said of the site located past the former Buffalo Bolt property. “There’s nobody that has food up around here.”

Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.