Bavarian Inn's Demise Raises Mixed Emotions, Memories

The sight of the blighted Bavarian Inn being torn apart by demolition crews raised a strong mix of emotions in local residents. 

The Bavarian Inn, known for decades as a popular restaurant and catering hall serving up German and Continental cuisine, still holds strong memories for many who held celebrations despite its poor shape. 

"I have so many great memories here," said Karen Mulligan-Staufenberg, of Lake Ronkonkoma, wiping away tears. "It's very sad to see it deteriorated." 

Mulligan-Staufenberg and her husband celebrated their wedding at the Bavarian Inn in 1991, as well as many other family birthdays and wedding celebrations. For her, the once-popular restaurant and catering hall was the only choice. 

"It was where we grew up, it was close to our home and our lake," she said. "So many local people worked here as waiters, waitresses and bus boys." 

One of those people was Peter Bodnar, former chef at the Bavarian Inn from 1968 to 1974. He and his wife attended Monday morning's demolition to see the restaurant one last time. 

"It's very painful to talk about it, I have a lot of good memories of the Bavarian Inn," Bodnar said. "It's very bad and shameful to take it down under this conditions." 

Bodnar said he made all of the Bavarian Inn's desserts for roughly 7 years, including its "infamous" apple strudel. He recalls spending hours stretching out homemade phyllo dough across an 8-foot table to make enough strudel to serve 800 people. 

"I had to stand there and make sure it didn't disappear," Bodnar said. "We had a party every week and everyone wanted strudel." 

The former chef begged Suffolk County Department of Public Works members to check inside the dilapidated restaurant, see if a large 30-inch by 40-inch photograph of him carving meat for a wedding party was still hanging inside. 

The picture wasn't found, but the demolition crews found a small dish with the restaurant's pattern - a rim of light blue and red - handing it to Bodnar to keep. Another former employee asked if they could search for her father's paintings that once decorated the interior.  

Barbara Woods, a local resident watching Monday's demolition, admitted that the Bavarian Inn's time has passed. 

"I'm happy to see it torn down. Sure, we'll miss it but it should have been torn down a long time ago," Woods said. 

She, like many other gathered Monday, had attended several friends' weddings and her own daughter's rehearsal dinner at the Bavarian Inn. The one thing she'll never forget - the Volkswagon parked inside the restaurant, which had the salad bar built into it. 

The restaurant's demolition brought new hope to locals for the future, as the dilapidated building will no be broken into or a gathering place for drug addicts. 

"I truly hope i can be restored as a parkland where a younger generation can enjoy the lake again," Mulligan-Staufenberg.