News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Ben Darga cooks some hamburgers for customers at his new business Five Bad Hens at Starlite Beach. He also received permission from the City of Alpena to sell his products at other city parks.

ALPENA — People in the vicinity of Starlite Beach may have noticed the smell of freshly cook brats and hamburgers recently and wondered where it was coming from.

It is coming from a new business that has opened in the park called Five Bad Hens, which is selling food and drinks from its satellite location.

Owner Ben Darga said he received permission from the City of Alpena to operate at the park and opened for business a few weeks ago. He said so far the amount of business has exceeded his expectations and he anticipates it will continue to grow as the weather warms and more people frequent the beach.

“Everything I have heard so far has been positive,” Darga said. “I’m beginning to see people come here during their lunch breaks and I think now that school is out the beach will be busier and that will help.”

Some of the items on the menu include brats, hamburgers, crab cakes and whitefish meals and sandwiches. He said the crabcakes have been the most popular item so far.

Darga said he is purchasing his meat from local markets and many of the vegetables are from the farmers market. He said utilizing local resources to make his products is important because they are guaranteed to be fresh and it helps support the local economy.

“The way I look at it is everyone should be helping each other,” he said. “We use businesses from Alpena and even Rogers City, as well as stuff from a local farm and farmers market. I think buying local is really the right thing to do.”

Darga said the name of his business could cause people to assume it specializes in chicken, but that isn’t the case. He said the name is a combination of initials from his name, as well as those of his wife and daughters.

‘There are five of us and my initials spell BAD,” Darga said. “The initials of my wife and children spell hens and we just sort of ran with that. It has nothing to do with chicken.”

If things go well, Darga said he eventually could purchase a food truck, but he said he likes the idea of using his canopy, coolers and grills because there isn’t a large overhead and expenses are low. He said business operations will be re-examined at the end of the year and adjustments made if needed.

“I definitely want to expand and maybe I will get a food truck,” he said. “This might also do well enough to where I just move forward doing it. So far I’m really happy about how things are going and I’ve heard noting but positive from the customers.

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz
Ben Darga cooks some hamburgers for customers at his new business Five Bad Hens at Starlite Beach. He also received permission from the City of Alpena to sell his products at other city parks.