Point Breeze restaurant opens with comfort food served 7 days a week

Photos by Ginny Kropf: This little restaurant at the end of Route 98 in Point Breeze is seeing new life under the ownership of Gatlen and Danielle Ernst, who opened it as Gilligan’s Galley on Thursday.

Danielle and Gatlen Ernst of Albion stand behind the counter of Gilligan’s Galley, the new restaurant they opened Thursday in Point Breeze. Gilligan’s will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

POINT BREEZE – After several successful years of owning two marinas and a restaurant in Point Breeze, Gatlen and Danielle Ernst have gone out on a limb to open another restaurant.

Located at the end of Route 98 in Point Breeze, Gilligan’s Galley opened its doors Thursday.

Several restaurants were in business there in recent years, but since the pandemic it has remained closed. John Brown and Dave Tuft of Batavia were previous owners. A year ago Brown approached Gatlen and asked if he would be interested in buying the place.

“I thought, ‘Am I nuts,’” Gatlen said.

He and Danielle are the owners of Lake Breeze Marina, which they purchased in 2014, and the former Four C’s Marina, which they purchased later that same year.

Gatlen had worked at Lake Breeze for 10 years and Danielle was a stay-at-home mom when they became owners of the marinas. They immediately started making improvements, redoing the docks, updating the cottages and adding two more cottages. Four C’s had a small restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the docks, which has been very popular during the summer.

They finalized the purchase of the new restaurant last October, but didn’t start renovations until March. They replaced table tops and the counter top, added beams made from trees in their yard, and created a tiki theme with thatching and bamboo in the ceiling.

The name for the new restaurant, Gilligan’s Galley, comes from Gatlen’s childhood, when his friends called him “Gilligan.” Galley, of course, is the nautical name for a kitchen on a boat, and what could be more appropriate for a restaurant within a few steps of Lake Ontario and the Oak Orchard River.

Gatlen Ernst shows off the new décor in Gilligan’s Galley, the new restaurant he and his wife Danielle opened Thursday at Point Breeze. The remodeled décor features a tiki-theme thatched ceiling, wood beams cut from trees in their yard and new natural wood counter top.

The Ernsts plan to be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. They may add breakfast later on. They will serve nightly specials, featuring home cooked comfort food. They hope Friday night fish fries will be a big hit, being offered Buffalo style, potato chip crusted, blackened grilled or plain.

Gatlen said they have applied for a liquor license and would like to have Bills parties, seeing they have several televisions in the restaurant.

Among the customers on opening day were Teresa Poler and her neighbor Paul Kenyon of Lyndonville.

“It’s lovely to have something like this close by,” Poler said. “Everything was very good.”

Gatlen said the area is getting a boost from increased traffic from Canada. That was curtailed during the Covid pandemic.

There are also picnic tables for outdoor dining, and Danielle said next year she would like to do something interesting with the back yard.