When the state of Massachusetts decided they wanted to put route 24 through Stafford road… right where Faneek’s was originally located… The property was taken by eminent domain and Faneek’s was forced to move to 269 Rhode Island Ave where it has resided ever since.

Did you know that Faneek’s used to be located on Stafford road? It’s true, the Faneek’s lounge was a popular spot for wedding receptions in the late 1950s. We actually have a picture of the original Faneek’s hanging on our walls with our Fall River timeline! So many people mention their parents or grandparents reception being held there but since it was the 1950s (before photography was a popular feature on your cell phone) it has been rather difficult locating pictures from the inside of Faneek’s lounge.

Al and Alice had a rather unique experience in the first year they owned Faneek’s. You see, they agreed that Faneek could still live in the back even after he sold the business to the Ploude’s! The year was 1978 and if anyone knows this year the first thing you will think of is the mighty blizzard of 1978. So not only did they have Faneek squatting in the back room they had a blizzard on their hands! And here’s the kicker, they never closed! Because Faneek lived there he was able to help out and he kept Faneek’s doors open for all the snow plow drivers and shovelers. Always with a hot pot of coffee at ready.

Tony “Faneek” Fernandes was the guy behind Faneek’s. He was an eccentric man and many of his buddies called him Faneek. After looking into this to figure out the origins of the word Faneek we discovered it is the word fanatic translated to Portuguese translated back to broken English. So Faneek means “fanatic”. When Mr. Faneek moved to Rhode Island Ave he also moved himself in! That’s right, he lived in the backroom where our counter and fryers currently are. He would open up early to share a cup of coffee with his buddies and was also known for hosting backroom poker games. And did we mention his clocks? Apparently Faneek was an avid clock collector and anyone who walked into Faneek’s would have been surrounded by all his clocks all over the walls. Presently we still have two of his clocks, he took the rest of them with him when he sold Faneek’s to Al and Alice Ploude.

Dave sold Faneek’s to his sister and brother-in-law, Marge and Bob Carpenter, in 2001. They held onto ownership until 2017. During their time, Marge and Bob added three fryers and came up with the recipe for our present day fish batter and clam cakes. They also changed the color scheme of Faneek’s to green. Everything was green, the exterior of the building, the interior walls, the dining room carpet, the bathroom. Green is known to illicit hunger, so when you looked at Faneek’s you immediately got hungry! Marge worked hard putting together a Fall River timeline in pictures, which still dons the walls of Faneek’s to this day.

Through the years Faneek’s has had many changes. Al and Alice sold Faneek’s to their son, Dave, in 1993. During Dave’s tenure at Faneek’s he did a complete remodel of the interior moving the grill from the front of the restaurant to the backroom, formerly known as Faneek’s living quarters. Throughout the 8 years under Dave’s ownership Dave would often bring his kids in and many of them remember growing up with Faneek’s. Customers to this day still reminisce about the pitter patter of tiny feat.

In 2017 Marge and Bob were ready to call it quits. Faneek’s was initially supposed to be sold to their son Rob and his wife Karen. Rob and Karen both worked at Faneek’s as managers. But when the time came to pass the reins to Rob and Karen they fell short and decided to go in a different direction. Now the question was, who are we going to pass Faneek’s on to? They reached out to their second son Chris. Chris went home and sat down for dinner with his wife, Liz. Over dinner they discussed the opportunity to buy Faneek’s and 8 hours later they said YES! Chris was working as a Director of Sales and Marketing for a national brand and it was decided that he would stay in that role while Liz left her career in Data analytics to run Faneek’s.