Saratoga Business Journal
By Jill Nagy
With the opening of Mittler’s Convenience Store and Bar this month residents of the Congress Park neighborhood of Saratoga Springs will be able to get a quart of milk without getting in the car, owner Steve Mittler promised. The “New York style bodega” and bar at 33 Phila Street will partly revive what used to be a lively commercial area, he said.
In addition to grocery basics, the store will sell soups and salads and meals to go. In the back of the store, children (and adults) will find a candy bar. Food can be picked up or delivered. Up three steps, there will be a full bar serving cocktails, along with “heavy appetizers,” such as dips, hummus, Mexican sweet corn, deviled eggs, bagels, and sliders.
The bar area can seat 14 at the bar, another 30 at tables, and, weather permitting, another 40 at tables on the sidewalk. The location is near the carousal and everyone will have a view of Congress Park. In the past, the building housed a gift shop, a health food store, and was the original site of the Max London bakery.
This is Mittler’s first foray into the restaurant business. He explained that he comes from a banking background and many of his clients were in the restaurant business. “I had a lot to learn,” he admits, but adds that local bar and restaurant owners have been helpful. “Everyone asked, ‘you’ve never done this before?’ “ he recalled.
He expects to have about 20 employees and both of his teen-aged children are involved in the project: 18-year-old Julia is in charge of social media and Max, 16, has developed much of the menu.
“It’s going to be a fun place,” Mittler predicted. And, he said, he is having fun bringing back a little of the old neighborhood.
He said that he “hopes to be up and running for the Belmont,” and predicts that that race weekend will be a “trial by fire.”