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Schnackenberg’s Luncheonette Brings Back Old Hoboken Charm and Egg Creams

Schnackies is Back!

By Sally Deering

SCHANACKS
Schnackenberg’s new owners Eugene and Joyce Flinn in front of their Hoboken luncheonette

If you’ve been in the Hoboken area for a while, it’s likely you’ve visited Schnackenberg’s Luncheonette and may even have a “Schnackie’s” story or two from back in the day. That’s what Eugene and Joyce Flinn have been learning ever since they took over “Schnackie’s” and gave the old-fashioned ice cream parlor a facelift that’s both retro and nouveau.

The Flinns – who own Amanda’s and the Elysian Café in Hoboken – really outdid themselves with Schnackie’s restoration. In many ways it looks pretty much the way it did back when it opened in 1931; the wooden booths in the dining room are original; so is the tiled floor that has been spiffed and retiled in some places. The display cases of homemade chocolates and fresh doughnuts and pastries are there, too, and so is the counter with all new marble countertop and red and tan upholstered stools that swirl before a real soda fountain where Egg Creams are made with real pressurized seltzer. You can have Cherry Cokes, too, the kind made with real syrup, and Strawberry Malts, Chocolate Milkshakes and Root Beer Floats.

The Novak family, descendants of Henry Schnackenberg who opened the luncheonette in 1931, turned Schnackie’s over to the Finns in 2012. They, in turn, restored it and brought it up to code.

“They saw what we did with the Elysian and we knew them from town,” Joyce Flinn says. “We didn’t want to do anything untoward. It’s still their family name.”

Restoring Schnackenberg’s has been a labor of love, especially for Eugene, who was a history major when he attended Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City. Continue reading Schnackenberg’s Luncheonette Brings Back Old Hoboken Charm and Egg Creams