'Not A Dry Eye In The Place' As Off-Key Tikki Owner Bids Farewell

PATCHOGUE, NY — There was not a dry eye in the Off Key Tikki this weekend as friends gathered to bade farewell to owner Michael Bruemmer who plans to retire from the restaurant business down south.

Bruemmer held his grand going away over the weekend, offering an all-you-can-eat buffet and drinks were on the house, as he celebrated his owning the business for 20 years — Tikki-style.

"It was very nice," he said. "I saw a lot of old friends and customers. By the end of the night, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was really cool. "

There were former employees and even some customers who attended the Polynesian-themed restaurant-bar's opening way back in the day.

Bruemmer said that he has a buyer that he is in contract with, and noted the sale has not been finalized. He declined to say who the potential new owner is.

The person will continue to employ his workers and that the establishment "will remain more or less the same" for the first season, Bruemmer said.

He described the person as a local restaurateur who operates several locations and there will be more opportunities for the staff to be promoted.

Bruemmer, who just turned 65, said he made the decision to sell the business because he wanted to move on to do something less stressful.

"It's time to escape the New York winters," he said.

He now plans to move down south "to some place like Florida, someplace where it is warm all the time."

"And, like I said, find something that's a lot less stressful than this, maybe there'll be a little AirBnB or motel or something like that," he said, adding, "No restaurant, no bar."

"I have been at this literally seven days a week for the last 20 years," he said.

But that said, Bruemmer's had a great ride with "really good times" and "really bad times."

"I enjoyed being a part of the redevelopment of Patchogue," he said. "You know when I got here, my place was designated by Suffolk County as a blight on the river and now it's this side of a tropical paradise."

Bruemmer recalled that Main Street in Patchogue was a ghost town back then, and he served on the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce and on the Riverfront Zoning Commission.

"There's a lot of heart that I have in this whole town," he said. "It's been really cool. I am very proud to have been a small part of helping that."