Alfonso "Al" Smaldone

The Smaldone family's Famous Sausage Restaurant began as a hole-in-the-wall food stand below the Atlantis Bar on Stillwell Avenue in the mid-1950s. Italian immigrant Vincenzo (Jimmy) Smaldone and his wife Tina later moved it to a larger space underneath the Tornado Roller Coaster. The small establishment and its home cooked meals had a ravenous following that attracted customers from all over the world as well as Coney Island locals. Jimmy and Tina were friends with Nathan Handwerker and their son Al recalls that “Nathan was the Hot Dog King and Jimmy was the Sausage King.” A butcher by trade, Jimmy had a butcher shop in Bensonhurst where he made the sausages. After the restauant closed in the early 1970s, the Smaldone family opened a store on 18th Avenue and 57th Street in Bensonhurst where they sold the sandwiches. In this interview Al Smaldone tells the  story of a small family-run restaurant with a big following and describes what it was like to grow up and work in Coney Island. This story will make you hungry!