Grab a Bite at Sharkey’s

I recently got to take a quick road trip with the missus minus the munchkins which means that we got the opportunity stop at a less family-friendly roadfood destination. Living in Central New York, we’ve traveled through Binghamton dozens of times and even lived in the Southern Tier for about a year but never seemed to get a chance to sample many of the various interpretations of spiedies available from the local establishments. Most famous of these are Lupo’s and the Spiedie and Rib Pit although many people make them at backyard barbeques too using store bought marinade, often Salamida’s Original State Fair Spiedie Sauce.

However, Sharkey’s is an altogether different experience. The provenance of spiedies is unclear and locals dispute whether Peter Sharak of Sharkey’s invented the spiedie or not. But one thing is certain, stepping into Sharkey’s is like stepping back in time and you know that the food and the experience today is close to what the patrons who first tried the spiedies there in 1947 must have encountered when this family-run establishment first opened.

The place itself is the best of breed, what anyone would describe as a dive - barroom in front, dark cavernous dining room in back with ancient wooden booths and scarred formica tables. It’s a working class bar in a working class neighborhood and you can’t get any more authentic than that. But the best part of course is the food. If spiedies are what you came for, then spiedies you can have. Order them from the menu by the skewer and you’ll get them chargrilled and served on a paper plate with a slice of bread to make your sandwich.

Although the menu differentiates between speidies, pork spiedies, and chicken spiedies, it’s not clear to me whether the standard “spiedie” is made from pork or lamb. Traditionally, the first spiedies in the Tri-City area were made from lamb only but that has changed over the years. To me, my spiedie tasted more like lamb than pork but I’ve read that Sharkey’s stopped serving lamb a while back due to its high price. Whatever the case, with the strong flavor of the marinade, it is difficult to tell what kind of meat you’re getting, but what really matters is that they tasted amazing - tangy, juicy, and seasoned to perfection.

Sharkey’s is well known for it’s fresh seafood too with mussel and clam steamers on the menu. Other notable menu items include “City Chicken” which we did not get to try but the waitress described it as a spiedie skewer deep fried which sounded pretty good. They also have some nice Polish selections including a platter with pierogies and holupki. We decided to split the platter, served with a pre-buttered dinner roll and were glad we’d made the decision. The pierogies were good, but the holupkis were melt-in-your mouth awesome!

I’m glad we finally decided to stop and sample some of the fare at Sharkey’s. Whether spiedies were invented there or not, it is certain that they have a home at Sharkey’s and are here to stay. Personally, I will make sure that I don’t let too much time go by before we stop at this great roadfood shrine again.

Sharkey's

56 Glenwood Ave

Binghamton, NY 13905

(607) 729-9201