00:00I've been coming to Ropke's for about 30 years.
00:02I've been coming here for over 35 years.
00:04It's the fourth generation of our family coming to this restaurant.
00:08Happy birthday to you!
00:11We have all our birthday parties here.
00:13My 60th birthday, my wife's 60th birthday.
00:16It doesn't get any better than Ropke's.
00:18Happy birthday to you!
00:27The magic here is the people, the energy.
00:30They really make you feel right at home.
00:41It's kind of magical.
00:43And if I come here anymore, I'll be one of the barstools.
00:48Welcome to Northport, Long Island.
00:50Home of boats, the harbor, and the most bustling dining room on Route 25A.
00:56It's a restaurant that breaks all the rules in business.
00:59And gets yeses by saying no.
01:03This is Ropke's, picking for delivery.
01:05No delivery.
01:06Oh, you want to make a reservation?
01:08No reservations.
01:09Cash or card?
01:10We don't take cards either.
01:12You know you're running a restaurant, right?
01:20It started as a small bar with a charcoal fire behind it run by a German family.
01:25So how did it turn into a neighborhood's favorite Italian restaurant?
01:28All right, so take me to the beginning.
01:31Okay.
01:32Ropke's.
01:32Not a typical Italian restaurant name.
01:35No.
01:35We don't even know if it's really called Ropke's.
01:37It might be Ropke's.
01:38It's not our name.
01:39You don't have no idea how to pronounce it.
01:40We have no clue.
01:42We were brought up in the Bronx.
01:44In 1961, a German family named Ropke or Ropke owned it.
01:48My father took it over in 78.
01:50Kept the name.
01:51It was called Ropke's Country Inn.
01:53We got tired of the phone calls.
01:54People calling to see if we had rooms available for the night.
01:56Yeah.
01:57We changed it to quality Italian prime steak.
02:00So at least if you're driving by, at least they know there's food in here.
02:04Because for years, no one knew what it was.
02:06You're starting to follow some of the rules of running a restaurant.
02:08Some of the rules.
02:09Let's let them know, hey, it's a restaurant.
02:11Sure.
02:11That's helpful.
02:13Lou Senior may have kept the Ropke's name, but he brought the Bronx with him.
02:17My dad slowly incorporated some Italian-American dishes year after year.
02:22My mom would come here to socialize for a little bit and I'd kind of like help behind the bar.
02:26Driving back and forth from the Bronx, he would pick up the bread in the Bronx,
02:29pick up the prosciutto, the suprasato, all that stuff in the Bronx.
02:32I'd set tables.
02:33I loved being here when I was a little kid.
02:35We're nowhere near the Bronx, by the way.
02:37Nowhere near it.
02:37Why did your dad buy a restaurant so far away from where you live?
02:41It's a great question.
02:43He did that drive every day for 20 years, back and forth every day.
02:49So you're cash only in the digital world.
02:51How many arguments a week does that create?
02:53Well, there's the digital world and then there's the Ropke's world.
02:56They're different.
02:57They're used to it.
02:58Our customers, they know the game here.
03:00They know the rules.
03:01Why cash only?
03:02It's been that way since day one.
03:03I'm talking about a place that's been here since 1961.
03:06Why change what's not broken?
03:07And the same thing for no reservations?
03:09Yeah, you know what?
03:10It just doesn't work here.
03:11Delivery the same?
03:12Just, you know, places full, don't need to deliver?
03:15No delivery.
03:15Our customers, they come, they take out the food, they enjoy it, and they keep coming
03:19back.
03:19So, we're not changing anything.
03:21Do you think that if you need to chase customers, you gotta follow the rules that they expect?
03:27But if you're able to build a business where customers come to you, then you can create
03:31your own rules?
03:32Thousand percent.
03:33When you're good, you're good.
03:34And people respect that.
03:35If there wasn't a line out the door every weekend, maybe we'd rethink things.
03:39But, you know, give us a couple hours, there'll be a line out the door.
03:42So, we're gonna stick with our guns.
03:45When did you see the opportunity to start talking about this place differently?
03:50When Instagram rolled out Reels, that kind of took it to the next level, especially when
03:54we were able to do videos of him taking people in the back and showing them how to prepare
03:58our dishes, particularly with the one pork chop martini dish.
04:02Oh, pork chop martini.
04:05Pork chop martini, pork chop.
04:07The one pork chop martini dish.
04:10Yeah.
04:10It's not a drink.
04:11Is a martini involved?
04:12No.
04:13No.
04:14It's the perfect complement to the pork chop dog.
04:23Man, I'm looking around here and I am seeing so many people just busting their butt,
04:29moving constantly.
04:30This is not an easy kind of business to run, no.
04:34Working here, it's like an Olympic event.
04:36You have to be an athlete.
04:37Yeah.
04:38You're dodging people.
04:39You're getting knocked into.
04:39You're getting bumped into.
04:40You're being coached by my father, coached by me.
04:42You learn by doing it.
04:44I like to lead by example.
04:45I'll bust the tables.
04:46I'll put the cheese on the pasta.
04:47I'll hold the door open.
04:48When I move, they move.
04:57So here's the food you refuse to deliver and that nobody can make a reservation for.
05:01Yep.
05:02But they come here for it anyway.
05:03They come here for it.
05:07What do we got?
05:08Chicken color parmesan.
05:09And this is your normal portion size because this is enormous.
05:12This is normal.
05:12People come here hungry.
05:13And they leave full.
05:14They better.
05:16Let's finish this up.
05:17Let's finish it.
05:18A little virgin olive oil.
05:19Uh-huh.
05:20Fresh basil.
05:20I love fresh basil.
05:21Am I just sprinkling this all over the place?
05:22Go ahead.
05:23Cheese.
05:23Yep.
05:24As much as you like.
05:25Oh, I think I'm really showering it with cheese here.
05:26Good technique.
05:27All right.
05:27Feel good about that?
05:28I mean, it looks delicious.
05:29It does look delicious.
05:30I'm ready to eat this.
05:31Let's get a good bite in here.
05:32The moment of truth.
05:33All right.
05:33Here we go.
05:37I see why people can deal with all your rules.
05:41Because this is so good.
05:44Without the kitchen, we're nothing.
05:45They work hard all day, all night, those guys.
05:48You can hear them right now.
05:50We take care of them.
05:51They deserve everything they get.
05:52I love them all.
05:53I can't say enough about the kitchen.
05:56How do you build a community with your team?
05:58They all believe in it.
05:59They all see the results.
06:01They see the happiness of the customers.
06:02They see the gratitude from the customers.
06:04It could be a Saturday night, heat of the moment.
06:06And, you know, someone wants something that's not on the menu.
06:09Our kitchen does a great job of going out of their way to really make that customer happy.
06:12And at the end of the day, that's what hospitality is.
06:14Yeah.
06:15Putting a smile on people's faces and wanting them to return.
06:23There you go. Enjoy.
06:26You don't get to make your own rules until you're the only place that does what you do.
06:31No card.
06:32No delivery.
06:33No reservations.
06:34No parking.
06:35No problem.
06:35Who cares?
06:36When you come in one time, you're going to be coming back.
06:38I promise you.
06:3965 years on the same corner.
06:4148 of them with the same family.
06:43There's no investors, no franchise, no app.
06:46Just a kitchen, a cash register, and a door that opens every day of the year.
06:51Every rule this place breaks is a rule about convenience.
06:54But it turns out convenience was never what anyone was coming here for anyway.
06:59Follow the rules until you're worth breaking them for.
07:03Because when you show up like that day after day, your community will too.
07:0865 years later, the line is still out the door.
07:12In a world of ever-evolving technologies, businesses, and workflows, it's the simple that lasts.
07:18The proof.
07:19Cheese.
07:20Yep.
07:21Is in the Parmigiano.
07:22.
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07:23.
07:23.
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