The Work We Do: Andy Harbin of Andy’s in Greenport

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I’m Andy Harbin, owner of Andy’s restaurant in Greenport.

We’ve been here about two and a half years now.

I predate having a business here, though, because I worked here as a bartender. 

I started 32 years ago when it was originally the Rhumb Line restaurant.

We saw a for rent sign in the window one day and I was working across the street at Frisky Oyster.

I always wanted to have a sports bar, family-friendly type of place.

When I say family, it’s from the littlest kids to the grandparents we want together.

The day can start very early and end very late. It could really involve all facets of the business.

I don’t work a lot in the kitchen, but I do wash dishes when it’s extra busy or sometimes when it’s slow. We don’t have a dishwasher in the winter sometimes. Everybody pitches in to do that.

I host and I bus tables and I wait tables and I bartend.

There’s also a lot of management, marketing, advertising stuff that has to get done.

I always say, I can work 24 hours a day if I wanted to. But obviously that’s not healthy.

I have two children, so whenever I’m not here, I’m with them.

My favorite part is the people. I love to talk to people and meet new people.

And have continuity with people. There’s people that come here that came here 32 years ago when I was working here, and then there’s new people almost every day.

I love the different changes in the seasons.

Even though we can’t park in the summer, of course it’s very good for business.

We do change the menu throughout the year but we have standards that will stay on the menu. Our fried kickin’ chicken sandwich is still my favorite. It’s a little spicy, crispy. People come in just for that.

I lived in almost every town on the North Fork. I’ve lived out here since 1981 and my favorite has always been the village of Greenport.

We’re open year-round, six days a week. The spirit of the community is very important to me and to everybody that works here. We’re all local people.

“The Work We Do” is a Suffolk Times multimedia project profiling workers on the North Fork.