Atlantic City Weekly

Despite some menacing clouds that seemed ready to burst at any second last Friday night, the ample crowd held its ground while the Rocco Brothers set up their sound system and instruments under one of two circus-style tents. It was business as usual at what is almost literally the last of the classic shore bars, Maynard’s Café, located on the bay side of Margate. And as the Roccos launched into Sinatra’s “Summer Wind,” the gathering grew steadily as the rain clouds began to disperse.

Activity teemed indoors, where two pool tables were in full swing, and outdoors, where the live music played in what’s been dubbed “Big Al’s Starlite Garden,” and it felt — for those old enough to remember — like Amherst Avenue and other bayfront settings once felt in southern New Jersey back in the 1970s and ’80s.

“Ever since I was old enough to drink I’ve been coming here,” says Joe Shafer, the Rocco Brothers’ bass player, a retired, 27-year member of the Atlantic City Police Department, and a former Ventnor City commissioner. “One thing about [owner] Steve Troiano, like his dad Al, when other places stopped playing live music they always kept it going here.”

Al Troiano, who passed away in 2003 and was affectionately known as the “Mayor of Margate,” not only knew how to give the masses what they wanted in terms of good food and entertainment at reasonable prices, he was also a generous contributor to the community. Al Troiano bought Maynard’s in 1966 (from its original owner, professional boxer Billy Maynard), and Steve Troiano continued to run it exactly as his father had — as a humanitarian and friend of the workingman. There are several benefits on tap throughout the late summer and fall, among them the Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day fundraiser on Sept. 11, the Surf for a Cause on Sept. 12, and the Christina Rush Foundation fundraiser on Sept. 19.

“We do so many benefits, sometimes I forget what some of them are for,” says Steve Troiano. “But if it’s for a good cause, we’re interested in helping out. And live music has always been a part of this place.”

On this night, and every Friday night throughout the summer, it was the Rocco Brothers, who usually include Shafer on bass, Tom Vavrek on guitar and Bobby Mower on guitar, and perform classic hits mainly from the 1950s through the ’80s. Mower was performing another gig with the Cole Brothers this Friday, and Ken “Nick” Nicholas filled in for him at Maynard’s. The trio performs to music files created by Vavrek on a laptop that includes drums, keyboards and other instruments that give each song a richer sound.

“Early on it’s more of a family crowd of mixed ages here, but if you stay till 10 o’clock your eyes will be peeled back,” says Vavrek, a professional stagehand and former “Legends in Concert” musician who played the part of The Beatles’ John Lennon. “Right after we finish, and around the time the DJ starts to play around 11pm, this place will be nothing but 25-year-olds.”

“It’s pretty unique,” adds Shafer. “There’s a gradual turnover from a more mature crowd to a younger, more hip crowd later on.”

Maynard’s has food and drink specials daily, including $1.50 Bud Light pints every day, Heineken and Heineken Light bottles for $2.50 on Sundays, Coors Light bottles ($2) and pizza slices ($1) on Tuesdays, Michelob Ultra bottles ($2) and 25-cent wings on Wednesdays, Miller Lite bottles ($2) on Thursdays, and an all-you-can-eat buffet from 5-8pm on Fridays. There is a full menu of fresh seafood (including a pasta-and-crab dish for $14.95) and classic American dishes. Maynard’s recently started serving breakfast outdoors at the Starlite Garden, which has its own kitchen.

“We started doing breakfasts last summer,” says Maynard’s employee Lorrie Dunleavy. “It’s been a great summer so far. Hopefully it will carry us through our traditionally slow months of December, January and February.”

Maynard’s Café
Address: 9306 Amherst Ave., Margate
Phone: 822-8423
Hours: 8am-4am daily
On the Web: maynards-cafe.com