Local community gets Shak’d

A taste of cuisine from around the ocean has come to Clinton with the arrival of Burrito Shak, and at the center of the new restaurant is a couple with love for Sampson County.

Paul Recchuiti and his wife Lisa are the owners who opened up shop in the new complex located at 1285 Sunset St. The pair aren’t originally from Sampson but came to know the county after a work opportunity brought them to the area. They instantly feel in love with the community, they attested, and with a long-held desire to always run their own restaurant, opening up Burrito Shak here was the perfect fit.

“Oh, my God, my wife came here as a psychology instructor,” Recchuiti said. “She had a full time job at Samson County Community College back in 2019 and that was how we got introduced to Clinton. It was one of those things where my wife is from a small town in Pennsylvania. Seeing Sampson County, it just brought us back to where, essentially, I spent a lot of my university days, back when I was courting her.”

It was the memory of that strong emphasis on community that led Recchuiti and his wife to Sampson and the realization that they wanted to be here and bring something new to Sampson.

“As for why we wanted to open here, for us, it was just the sense of community in Sampson, which is so strong,” Recchuiti said. “People are polite. It brings you back that feeling of what America is supposed to be. Also, it was one of those things where we ate at a Burrito Shak and we decided we wanted to bring it to Clinton. We know a lot of people who had been to the beach from Clinton and were wowed by it there; they tried it and had commented on it. So we thought that a nice, fresh option with different types of food, like a little Baja Fresh and a little California type food, would be, hopefully, something that people here in Clinton would enjoy.”

Considering the long lines of smiling customers since Burrito Shak opened just under two weeks ago, it seems as if people have welcomed the restaurant and its owners with open arms.

Opening in Clinton speaks volumes about the Recchuitis’ love for Sampson County because the pair have been all over the world.

”I spent over 30 years in my other profession as an international CPA consultant with PAX,” Recchuiti explained. “I’ve been, as I was counting the other day, in over 75 countries. I worked for one of the big four firms called KPMG, and my wife always was very supportive. We’ve moved, I believe, to 17 places; we’ve lived on three continents, but one of the things that we’ve always wanted to do as a couple is a restaurant.

“And so, I was able to retire from corporate and she was able to take some time off teaching,” he added. “Now, here we are, in the place that we wanted to be, surrounded by a community that’s just been very welcoming; it’s truly a fantastic place to live.”

When it comes to opening a restaurant, there’s plenty of options the couple could have chosen, especially if it was to bring something new to the area. Burrito Shak, Recchuiti said, the story and their first experience came from his son.

“I remember I was at Jersey Mike’s getting a sandwich, and I called up my son and said,’hey, what do you want from Jersey Mike’s?,”’ Recchuiti recalled. And he said, ‘what I really want, dad, is a burrito. Of course, I then asked him where do you get that? And he simply said, ‘look up and across the street, there’s a Burrito Shak.

“My first thought was, that’s a weird name, but I said, sure, so I got him a burrito. Then the very next day for lunch, he asked could I get him something again from Burrito Shak?”

It was that second trip that caught Recchuiti’s eye, particularly when it came to the stlye of the restaurant. And that, he said, is what sparked the idea to finally pursue his and his wife’s dream of owning a restaurant.

“So I went in there with my wife, and the vibe, the colors, the music, the menu, we thought, Oh my God!,” Recchuiti said. “Then we tried the food, and we were like, oh my goodness, this, this is something we can get our hands around. It’s also Hampstead-based so it’s a North Carolina grown business.

“We contacted them afterwards and we met the requirements, and I was told later that they rejected a lot of people,” he said. “But for some crazy reason, they chose a woman with a master’s in psychology, who was an instructor at Sampson Community College, and a gentleman, who had led teams all over the world, but never been in the restaurant business, at least not since I was working at Denny’s during the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift everyday back in college.”

While Burrio Shak is based in the state, it’s a place often found around the coast. And for those unfamiliar with what California- stlye food is about, Recchuiti broke down some of those menu items.

“First off, Clinton has amazing restaurants, and I will say that Alfredo’s, you cannot get many places better anywhere,” he attested. “I grew up in Boston, in Philadelphia, I lived for seven years in Chicago, and I have brought friends down to Alfredo’s for the Italian food, because it’s just so tremendous. When it comes to Mexican restaurants, like authentic Mexican restaurants, we have a tremendous variety, just from what we have here in the community.

“As for Burrito Shak, this type of Baja fresh food, it’s where you can get something light and it’s different,” he continued. “I mean, we have various sauces, with the lime sour cream, the avocado sour cream and then other things, like the jalapeno barbecue. All that kind of brings what we serve together with some really fresh ingredients. You have about 13 different toppings that you can put on top of what you order as well, and we make it all fresh daily.”

As for his personal favorite, though a tough choice, Recchuiti pointed to their chicken nachos or a straight Rincon, which comes in a burrito or a bowl. As for Lisa, he said it was the Aloha because of their pineapple salsa.

While they’re just a few weeks into opening, Recchuiti said they are already planning for the future.

“Well, we eventually hope to be able to do online ordering. That is a big goal, and a lot of people have asked for it,” he stated. “My wife likes to say, ‘if we do online ordering, maybe it’ll lessen the lines we’re having.’ Me, though, I say, maybe it’ll just increase everything, because you’ll have the people who, right now aren’t even ordering, who are waiting for the online. Then also added to that are others that will start using the online when it gets going.

“Either way, we are going to get there, but right now we’re focusing on training the staff,” he said. “So our goal is to get faster in our service, but keep the quality where it’s at, and continue to consistently deliver excellent tasting food each time with exemplary customer service.”

All the while never forgetting to offer that laid back atmosphere — that of being in a shak on the beach.

“We want to keep that positive vibe of when you’re at a shak; I mean, you’ve got surfboards right there on the wall,” Recchuiti said, laughingly pointing to some of the wall art. “It’s all about no problems, it’s all about just coming in here and forgetting about your worries, eating some good food and just being able to step away from reality for a little bit.”

Running the restaurant and seeing it thrive isn’t the Recchuitis only focus either, as they both have a another strong desire — getting involved in the community.

”Definitely we want to do that,” he stressed. “We joined the Y, and we’ve been speaking with John (Adams, YMCA excutive director) over at the Y about ways to get involved,” he said. “We recently catered one of his events over ther. That’s something that we want to do more of. Over at the high school, we’re sponsors for the athletic boosters, and then we also just sponsored a golf tournament.

“I do want to get over to the superintendents and speak to them to see if there’s certain things maybe that the schools need, that maybe we can donate,” Recchuiti said. “I want to donate also to the help areas that, perhaps, sometimes don’t get funds like other places do. Because again, the community is important, and we do want to be a part of this community because that’s what makes Sampson, Sampson. So if anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear.”

It was talk of community that brought him back around to his thoughts of gratitude for this community helping the couple make their dreams come true.

“Really, HN Carr, they did the outfit here and were tremendous to work with,” Recchuiti said. “They and all the tradesmen under them were just amazing to work with. I cannot say enough good things about all of them. Again, it’s the community, it’s the people in the area that have come together. Our staff here, when we interviewed, the outpouring of applications was phenomenal. The people that we brought in here have been working and have just been getting inundated with everyone coming in, keeping the positive attitude and the no problem vibe going on.

“That’s really what has been making this place so special, because again, for Lisa and I, it’s about the community within the community, and that’s what so wonderful about this whole thing.”