Petey Berndt’s standard greeting when a customer walks into Coop de Ville is not “How many?” It’s “How have you been?”

The restaurant on the Oak Bluffs Harbor is celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer and Mr. Berndt has been at the helm for 38 of those years. For many of his guests, he is on a first name basis. 

“We get a lot of people that come the same week every year, and this is the first spot that they stop at and the last spot they stop at before they get on the boat to go home,” he said. “That makes me feel good, because that’s why I do it.”

On the harbor and on vacation makes on hungry for good food and good company.

Ray Ewing

On the harbor and on vacation makes on hungry for good food and good company.

Ray Ewing

Tucked away off Circuit avenue extension with a front row seat to the docked boats, passing tourists and curious gulls, Coops is both lively and casual, serving up everything from wings to lobster. It began as a small fry shack and still retains much of that atmosphere. 

Mr, Berndt said Coop de Ville was originally owned by a restaurateur from Buffalo. As a young man, he and his family would wander in after a day at the beach to eat chicken wings and oysters on the half shell and drink beers from Jim’s Package Store. When it went on the market, Mr. Berndt decided to go from fan to businessman.

“I said, Dad, it’s for sale. And he goes, ‘How much?’” he recalled. “I said, 10 grand. And he goes, ‘You want to buy it?’ And I go, you better give me some money. I’ve been here ever since.”

During his tenure, Mr. Berndt has served an untold amount of tourists and Islanders. He’s fed the Clintons and the Obamas, Billy Joel and Spike Lee. He once catered a lobster bake at the 

Statue of Liberty for 5,000 people with Edgartown clamming legend Bill Smith.

Claudia Reis, Lawrence Jackson and Royston Reid in the kitchen.

Ray Ewing

Claudia Reis, Lawrence Jackson and Royston Reid in the kitchen.

Ray Ewing

Mr. Berndt said that feeding people good food is what makes him tick. Poring pridefully over a glossy tri-fold menu, he pointed out the hits: blackened mahi mahi sandwiches, Baltimore steamed peel-and-eat shrimp, quahaugs stuffed with chorizo, linguica and breadcrumbs. There are also Honeysuckle Farm oysters and local littlenecks to enjoy from Shuck Shack, the spot’s raw bar offshoot.

“I think about the Baltimore peel-and-eat shrimp all year long,” said Katherine McGrath, a lifelong Island visitor who craves Coop de Ville meals in the offseason while living in Paris, France.

The secret sauce, Mr. Berndt said, is a talented team that has stuck by him.

Head cook Shanmel Abraham has been at Coop de Ville for 20 years. Sous chefs Claudia Reyes and Lawrence Jackson have worked there for 21 and 31 years, respectively. Many of his employees commute from the Cape or as 

far away as Boston.

Mr. Berndt is hoping to install employee housing above the restaurant by next year.

Katherine McGrath and Hugo Weber visit the Island from France.

Ray Ewing

Katherine McGrath and Hugo Weber visit the Island from France.

Ray Ewing

“I take care of them as much as I can,” he said.

But taking care of his employees is getting harder, he said. Insurance costs are climbing, and he feels the increasing cost of Island living and lodging is pricing out the average tourist, which in turn hurts business. 

A diner named Larry said has been coming to Coop de Ville with his family for 30 years. Mr. Berndt rated Larry as one of his “top five favorite customers.” 

Larry said he used to stay on the Island with his family for about three months each summer. But due to surging rental prices, he and his family can now only afford to stay for a week, which also puts a squeeze on their dining budget.

“You pay $10,000 a week, you can’t afford to go out to eat,” he said.

Tuesdays are lobster special day: $25 for a full lobster and a side of corn.

Ray Ewing

Tuesdays are lobster special day: $25 for a full lobster and a side of corn.

Ray Ewing

Mr. Berndt said that budget-sensitive specials get people in the door and keep the restaurant running. Mondays are $25 lobster rolls. On Tuesdays a steamed whole lobster with a side of corn is also 

only $25.

“If it wasn’t for our specials, we’d be empty,” he said. “We’re busy because I care.”

Mr. Berndt also cares about soccer, broadcasting games for the Island’s diverse and multi-national soccer fans. The restaurant sponsors a team in a local soccer league that won last year’s championship, thanks in part to Mr. Berndt’s 20 years of youth soccer coaching experience.

“We had players from everywhere — Poland, the Czech Republic, Portugal,” he said. “It was so much fun.”

But time marches on and Mr. Berndt said he expects next year to be his last running the establishment. He plans to name head cook Mr. Abraham as his successor.

“I’m handing him the reins,” Mr. Berndt said.

Despite the impending leadership change, the traditions Mr. Berndt has cultivated will remain. When Larry was asked if Coop de Ville has changed at all over the last four decades, he laughed and shook his head.

“Not at all, no,” he said. “That’s what I like about it.”