Herb's Market in Montauk to close in September after more than 60 years

A beloved Montauk food market has announced it is closing after more than 60 years in business.

Herb’s Market, which has served the Montauk community since 1963, announced it will close at the end of September in a social media post on Monday.

"Thank you for all the years of love and support at Herb’s Market," the post said. After so many years of being a part of the Montauk community, our time is coming to and end at the end of September."

The market, at 778 Montauk Hwy., said it will sell items and equipment in the store, allowing customers to take home a piece of Montauk history.

Fried chicken is made fresh all day long at Herb’s Market, where the masses flock to the back steam counter on summer mornings for golden, piping-hot drumsticks and wings, juicy thighs and/or meaty breasts, all crusted, crisped, perfectly peppered — and ready to be loaded into foil warmer bags for irresistible midday munching.

"It’s a big, big change," Mia Certic, executive director of the Montauk Historical Society, said of the market closing. "I’m concerned about what’s going to go in there next. We really need a store like Herb’s. It was the place to grab a delicious sandwich."

Harold "Herb" Herbert, a Southampton native and former North Sea Fire Department member, opened the market in 1963 and ran it with his wife, Chrissie, for roughly 38 years, according to his obituary at the Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor, which said he died Aug. 9 at the age of 89. "In one of his proudest moments, in 1992 Herb was selected by the Montauk Friends of Erin to be the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade," the obituary notes.

Chrissie Herbert did not respond to a request for comment.

The day Herbert died, Certic and her family gathered on the beach in his honor with a few pieces of his deep-fried specialty chicken.

"And as we were doing that," Certic recalled, "a woman came walking down the beach and said, ‘Is that Herb’s chicken?’ "

Herb’s Market changed hands at least twice over the years. By 2012, it was owned by Lucille Lenahan and Gillian Mooney, who that year sold it to current owner Joe Ferraro, according to The East Hampton Press. Attempts to reach Ferraro at Herb’s Market were unsuccessful.

"It’s an institution in Montauk," said former owner Mooney, who now runs seafood restaurant Hooked in Montauk with her husband. "It’s not like a deli in the city. We built relationships with all our customers, and to this day I still see them."

Herb's Market is widely known for its breakfast items, specialty sandwiches, prime meats and fresh and local produce.

"If you could call anyone the mayor of Montauk, it would have been him," said customer Katherine Nielsen Havlik, whose childhood trips to Herb’s Market for candy later became grown-up lunchtime visits during the workweek. "They were known for their sandwiches and conversation," said Havlik, 72, who lives in East Hampton. "You could go in there and talk to Herb for an hour."

Newsday's Marie Elena Martinez contributed to this story.