New Name, New Owner For Cyril’s Fish House

In the mood for some nostalgia? Say, a frosty BBC at the roadside bar at Cyril’s Fish House on Montauk Highway in Napeague?

While it is not clear whether you will be able to buy a Bailey’s Banana Colada, which was the signature drink of Cyril’s owner and manager, Cyril Fitzsimons, this summer, you will be able to buy a mixed drink in the same building that was once Cyril’s. The building, and land it sits on, was purchased earlier this year for $1.31 million by Jeremy Morton. An application for a full-service liquor license, meaning mixed drinks, wine, and beer, is now before the New York State Liquor Authority. The application describes the new establishment as a full-service restaurant.

According to the application, the restaurant will be called Morty’s Oyster Stand. This week, a building permit from the Town of East Hampton was posted outside the iconic, if rundown, building, and a crew was seen inside. The interior has been gutted and is being rebuilt.

The building and land were the property of Michael Dioguardi and his family. The extremely popular business, however, was run by Fitzsimons. Crowds overflowed into the roadway, and traffic during the summer season slowed to a stop for at least a quarter mile in both directions every late afternoon on a daily basis.

The Town of East Hampton’s code enforcement division cited the owners for numerous zoning code violations. In 2016, the corporation that technically owned the business, Clan Fitz, was found guilty after a four-day jury trial in East Hampton Town Justice Court of 45 misdemeanor crimes. The corporation could have been fined up to $1000 for each charge, though it is not clear from court records what the final fine was.

More important to the town, the land owners, the Dioguardi family, agreed in a stipulation with the town in county court to remove all structures that the town had charged were illegally placed on the property. That stipulation will legally govern what Morton can and cannot do on the property.

t.e@indyeastend.com