BRADLEY BEACH — Vic’s Italian-American Restaurant and the Bradley Brew Project in Bradley Beach are celebrating the 90th anniversary of Vic’s Taproom with a local collaboration for the ages.
The Bradley Brew Project has brewed a beer expressly for the 90th anniversary of Vic’s Taproom with their new — and popular — Vic’s Taproom Pilsner.
The Italian-style pilsner was brewed specially for Vic’s as part of a collaboration between the two local businesses. According to Bradley Brew Project’s menu, Vic’s Taproom Pilsner is a “crisp,” “floral,” and “dry” tasting beer which, perhaps unsurprisingly, pairs well with pizza.
Vic’s Taproom, which is now Vic’s Italian-American Restaurant, began serving alcohol shortly after the end of Prohibition 90 years ago, with the dining room portion of the property coming 15 years after that.
VIC’S ITALIAN-AMERICAN RESTAURANT
In December 1933, Prohibition was repealed, allowing for legal alcohol sales to take place for the first time in over a decade. Almost immediately following the end of Prohibition, Vittorio “Vic” Giunco went out and got a liquor license for $50 — one of the first people in the area to do so.
The Taproom, which was originally located further south on Main Street, moved up to its current and most famous location on the corner of Main Street and Evergreen Street five years after opening, in 1938. According to Travis Semblewski, co-owner of Vic’s, a few years later, in 1947, Vic’s son John Giunco began conceptualizing a restaurant that would accompany the Taproom.
“1947 comes along,” Semblewski said, “and Vic’s son John said ‘let’s add a restaurant onto the bar.’ Vic ran the bar, and John ran the kitchen; for years that’s how it was run.”
The family-style Italian atmosphere is on full display in the dining room, which is adjacent to the original taproom. Tradition is a theme of Vic’s, where the speaker system is constantly playing the likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack; the homestyle wooden paneling almost perfectly matches that of the taproom, and the bar’s mahogany countertop is the original from all those years ago.
“The music has become kind of a staple of the restaurant,” Semblewski said. “You can sit there and imagine what it must’ve been like to listen to the swing band like in that ad,” he said, referencing the Taproom’s “grand opening” poster from 1938.
Semblewski’s father-in-law — and Vic’s grandson-in-law — Ed Dollive, Sr., who, at almost 82 years old, still makes ravioli every week for the restaurant, said that the family business is still going strong.
“I consider myself to be a newcomer,” Dollive said, “I’ve only been here 60 years.”
“What you see is what you get, you know?” said Semblewski. “Very little has changed.”
BRADLEY BREW PROJECT
When the Bradley Brew Project was approached by Vic’s for the 90th anniversary brew, they didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“We’ve had anniversaries pass by, but we never celebrated the original bar,” said Semblewski. “We might as well commemorate 90 years. I had suggested partnering with Bradley Brew, and immediately they were like, ‘Absolutely, we have to do this.’”
“We were ecstatic,” said Mike Ziolkowski, co-owner of the similarly family-owned Bradley Brew Project.
Ziolkowski said they could not have brewed the beer without the help of graphic designer and illustrator Ben Douglass.
“We had initial conversations with … a local designer and illustrator, Ben Douglass,” said Ziolkowski. “I went to Ben and said, ‘look, we’re doing this thing with Vic’s…’ Ben came back with a label with an Italian flag on the top and the bottom and the wood paneling of Vic’s in the back. He said, ‘This is what I think of when I think about Vic’s.’”
They then brought the label to the team at Vic’s. Ziolkowski said, “Kudos to Travis and his team for coming back on this — he said, ‘This is cool, but … we want it to be more of a blend of Vic’s and Bradley Brew.’”
“The front of the can looks just like the placemats and the inside of the menus,” said Semblewski. “When I saw it, I knew that was going to be [the design]. I always feel, too, that when you go to a retailer to buy beer, the label sells the beer most of the time, because you can’t taste it.”
“We talk about three things being the pillars of [Bradley Brew Project],” said Ziolkowski. “Liquid, brand and story. This beer hits all three of those. The liquid is good, the brand is on point between our two businesses and the story, as you’ve heard, is just awesome.”
SUCCESSFUL COLLAB
For his part, Semblewski feels the collaboration has been a resounding success — such a success that they already plan on having more made to keep up with demand for the Italian-style pilsner.
“As far as the collaboration, we’re glad. We hope to keep continuing it. The first week we sold a ton of beer; so much so that we told them we think we only got enough supply to get us to [around] June 1 past Memorial Day.”
Ziolkowski seemed to agree, commending Semblewski and Vic’s for their proactive approach to the pairing.
“The beer has been doing extremely well,” Ziolkowski said. “We’re pretty much down to the last bottom of a tank of what was packaged. We are already in conversation about [brewing] it again in the next couple of weeks ahead of the big summer push.”
“Just generally speaking, we’re extremely delighted with the beer,” he said. “We absolutely love what it came out as.”
“We’ve always just honored the restaurant when we’ve done these anniversaries,” Semblewski said, “but 90 years is a big deal.”
“Travis had a vision of why he did this,” Ziolkowski said. “There was a purpose behind it.”
