Ballard’s Inn owners mark their 50-year anniversary
In the days of steamer travel on the Atlantic Ocean, shipmen traveling between Boston and New York would stop by Block Island to eat and rest at a small, 40-seat shoreline dinner hall called Ballard’s Inn. The establishment opened in 1888, when the jetty was constructed in Old Harbor.
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Now, on hot summer days, the Block Island Ferry carries day-trippers from Point Judith into Old Harbor. Tourists looking for a quick bite, cool drink or some shade on the sand don’t have to go far after they disembark. Located just a few hundred yards from the dock, the popular landmark restaurant can now seat 750 people inside and outside.
This summer, the Filippi family is celebrating 50 seasons of owning and operating Ballard’s, a journey that the Filippis remember as a very unique experience.
Paul Filippi Sr. owned the Celebrity Club in Providence in the 1950s, bringing in top-name talent like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Charlie Parker to perform. While operating that club, a salesman persuaded Filippi to take a trip out to Block Island.
“He thought the place was great and wanted to retire there,” recalled his widow, Marion Filippi, who is the CEO and president of Ballard’s. While Paul was there scouting the island, however, the Ballard family offered to sell their restaurant. That was 1956.
Today, Ballard’s has grown to a restaurant, bar and beach club with live music daily throughout the summer.
“It evolved over time,” Marion Filippi said. In 1968, the restaurant added a wooden platform with 40 guest rooms on the roof of the building. In June 1986, a fire destroyed Ballard’s.
“The entire place was demolished, and we had just opened the week before,” Filippi said.
A year later, Ballard’s was rebuilt to its present size, which includes a cavernous main dining room, 10 guest rooms upstairs, a bar and outdoor patio seating.
Operating on an island whose population grows from less than 1,000 in the winter to 20,000 in the summer has been an experience that presents a unique set of challenges.
“It’s like opening a new restaurant every year,” said Paul Filippi Jr., one of the inn’s three directors. Aside from getting the building and grounds ready for customers, the family has to train new staff. “Between 30 and 50 percent of our employees are new each year. It’s challenging to say the least.”
The Filippis open Ballard’s the week before Memorial Day each year. From there, it’s 12 weeks of relying on ferry deliveries, capricious weather and the restaurant’s solid reputation to get the job done well.
The cost of utilities on Block Island is the highest in the country, Paul Filippi said. And because everything is sent by ferry, food and drink have to be priced up for customers. While the inn has done steady business through the years, its isolated location means that some of the technologies available to other businesses can’t be implemented at Ballard’s simply because it’s difficult to get support technicians out to the island.
Walking through Ballard’s vast kitchen, passing crates of uncooked corn-on-the-cob, Marion Filippi said the restaurant has to ensure it has three days’ worth of supplies on hand at all times.
The reason?
“If the ferry’s not running, we still need provisions,” she said.
And, naturally, the weather affects the number of customers who visit. On a misty Thursday afternoon before the Fourth of July weekend, small clumps of customers were slowly filling the main dining area.
“There’s a large variation in the number of customers we get here,” Paul Filippi said. “On a hot weekend day, it’s like an army of ants marching from the ferry to the front door.”
On July 4, 2004, Ballard’s served more than 5,000 people.
The Filippis estimate boaters make up half of their business, while day-trippers round out the balance. People who pilot their own vessels out to Block Island for the day often fill the marina adjacent to Ballard’s.
The Filippis have kept Paul Sr.’s tradition of live music going by featuring musical acts every day, no matter the weather. Ballard’s hosts corporate functions, reunions and weddings for parties as small as 40 to as large as 1,000.
In addition to plying guests with lobster, music and libations, the staff at Ballard’s also acts as cruise directors. Guests can rent bikes, boats and beach equipment through the inn.
“We arrange a lot of activities on the island,” Paul Filippi said. “Horseback riding, parasailing…”
Soon, Ballard’s will be able to add ‘marina’ to its list of amenities. In late June, the inn received approval from the town of New Shoreham to build “Ballard’s Wharf” – eight boat slips near the restaurant. Construction is planned for this fall.
In the meantime, the Filippis and their 110 employees will work to make the family’s 50th summer on Block Island a success.
