I’m going to go have a good cry.
Gasp! Say it ain’t so, Mike!
My favorite breakfast and lunch place, Zeke’s, has closed for good!?
How can that be — is it some kind of election stunt or Halloween prank?
A trick with no treat? Say it ain’t so!
Situated at the bottom of the Wall Street hill, across from the Ben Smith Playground in East Gloucester, Zeke’s has been a mainstay of the breakfast crowd for 10 solid years, sporting the best food, most generous portions and most reasonable prices around. You could still get a full bacon, eggs and home fries breakfast for two with coffee for $20 before tip. Other places can approach $40 with tip and you’re still not full. and Zeke’s had the most amazing selection of homemade breads you could ask for — the sourdough was my fave, but they were all freshly baked and came with standard breakfast orders and lunch sandwiches.
Perhaps that was Zeke’s downfall, serving such high quality food for such reasonable prices? The Zeke’s Burger was non-pareil in the city (it had no equal), the fries exquisite — while offering pure pickle perfection to the discerning palate.
Plus, the whole place was like a Cheers episode. You went in and, as the song says, everyone knew your name. It had a limited number of seats which added to its specialness. They were so reasonable too. If you asked for sausage, they’d say link or patty. You could request one of each since they gave you two. No problem, but when I asked for the same at a persnickety Back Shore breakie place. they said no, one or the other. They had plenty of both sitting on the side of the grill.
We certainly never went back there. They were twice the price, stingy, and we left still hungry after the meager portions.
But never at Zeke’s. To call it a Ma & Pa business would be the understatement of the year. Mike DeCoste ran the joint and his siblings joined the fray. When the place was packed, it was like a rodeo. Food zooming around the dining rooms or across the counter. Cooks calling out orders ready for delivery, people laughing, munching, talking to the folks at the next table. Especially in the off-season, it was a neighborhood scene, so intimate, right in the tradition of its lively predecessor, Ida’s Eatery. and Zeke’s waitstaff was spectacular in how they kept up with the customers and the kitchen — they were the gears that kept the ball spinning. The action was continuous, with something happening every minute, food, plates, drinks, condiments, pickles, politics — the place was never dull.
A number of years ago, owner Mike had been severely burned in a freak grill accident where someone knocked a spray can of Pam into the flames just as Mike leaned close. It exploded. He suffered terrible burns but gutted out a remarkable recovery.
His place also survived the COVID-19 pandemic years on pure bravado and customer loyalty.
But what fires and plagues could not do, eventually time, stress and inflation did.
Mike’s website letter said it all:
“As many of you have noticed we have decided to close our doors quite suddenly. It wasn’t an easy decision as we will miss our customers and staff. The rising costs of everything and the slower than usual summer had us worried about the future when we were going to have to go way up on our prices to survive. We have been for sometime debating if closing was best for our family. A job opportunity came up and we needed to make a quick decision. We have worked very hard for years taking no more than we can make elsewhere with less stress in our lives. We are healthy now but the stress has caused health issues in the past. This is the first Sunday in 10 years our whole family has off! Thank you so much to our loyal customers over the years and the staff that has come and gone we will miss you but we are excited to move forward with the next chapter of our lives and hope to see everyone around town.”
Man, we are losing one of Glosta’s finest, uniquest businesses. A huge hole has opened up. So get back to eating that sausage and bacon in the remaining eateries. We hafta support our treasured breakfast and lunch joints. We still have some great ones, but we just lost one of our shooting stars from that heavenly firmament of yumminess. We will totally miss you Zeke’s!
I’m going to go have a good cry …
Gloucester resident Gordon Baird is an actor and musician, co-founder of Musician Magazine and producer of “The Chicken Shack” community access TV show.