Chef and Owner, Mark Rosenberg, moved to Woodstock, NY in June of 2016. After spending time in both NYC and SF, Mark was ready to rediscover himself and to focus on the more important aspects of his life. Seeing the overwhelming positive energy of the town and all of the people wanting to visit, Mark started thinking of opening a small business himself. Fortunately, the timing was right, a small space was about to become vacant in the most ideal part of town. With no prior restaurant experience, yet having spent years developing meatball recipes for fun, he dove head first in learning all the ins and outs of opening a food establishment and after 3 months of hard work, the space was ready to open. On June 2nd 2017, Sharkie’s opened to the public in a former 300sq ft lingerie shop, and served its first meatball.
Why the name Sharkie’s you ask? When Mark was a little kid, he had a habit of biting people. A little known and seldom used nickname, Sharkie, was born. It seemed only natural to name a meatball shop after its owner, and what better name than Sharkie’s. Sharkie’s, serves slow cooked meatballs over vegetables, in sandwiches, or by themselves. Get something hot to enjoy at the counter or to take home. You can also grab some with sauce, cold, ready to reheat at home for a perfect meal. All meatballs and sauce are made in house, from grass fed beef, as well as antibiotic and hormone free pork, turkey, and chicken. Sharkie’s has also expanded to offer pantry items. Carrying jars of Perry’s Pickles (Sharkie’s has the largest selection in the area of their varieties). Locally made dried pasta, and snack bags of gourmet popcorn.
Sharkie’s had the honor of being featured on the front page of the Daily Freeman. A great article about the origins of Sharkie’s and a bit more about owner, Mark Rosenberg.
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — As a kid growing up in Kent, Ohio, Mark Rosenberg had a habit of stinging others with his teeth.“When I was a little boy I used to bite people, really, really hard,” said Rosenberg, now a 44-year-old Woodstock dweller. Read more at https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2019/12/15/meatballs-served-up-every-which-way-at-sharkies-in-woodstock/
Sharkie’s had the distinct honor of winning in the Best Appetizer category in the 2019 Taste of Woodstock event. We served over 100 people a tasting of our baked spaghetti squash topped with our Beef/pork blend meatballs. We were thrilled and so grateful to all of the participants who voted for us! Thank you!
During the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, Sharkie’s donated 710 of our mini meatballs to help feed our neighbors in a great time of need for everyone.
Woodstock had its first ever Pride parade in June of 2024. During this time Sharkie’s faced a hateful backlash. Read the full article here from Hudson Valley 1.
Below is just the portion they wrote on Sharkie’s.
The outpouring of support following hate-filled comments about some cheeky Pride-Weekend specials gave one Woodstock eatery owner a new faith in humanity.
Sharkie’s Meatballs chef and owner Mark Rosenberg at 43 Tinker Street offered a basket of tiny wieners — nine mini beef and chicken hot dogs with a side of ketchup –for $4, or a tray of mini chicken and cheese tacos with roasted corn salsa for the same price.
Then the hateful comments came flooding in online.
“That night, I looked at our social-media accounts. One person was attacking ours as a ‘woke’ business who was supporting pride. So as a result of that, they were no longer going to support our business, and neither were any of their friends or family,” he said. “So I was like, Do you realize that I’m a gay business owner? And I’m not just a woke business supporting pride.”
Other commenters accused Sharkie’s of encouraging pedophiles to bring their children in to eat sexualized food.
Rosenberg said he blocked the comments that were negative and homophobic, but did not take down the post about the specials.
He did a post the next morning saying, “Hey, everybody, this is what’s happened. It’s a little hard for me as an individual to hear someone called me a pedophile, but I’m gonna let it go. I’m shaking it off. And this is good. This is all in good fun.”
Rosenberg got a call from a college friend in Massachusetts who had hadn’t spoken with him in 30 years. She offered to buy all the specials. Rosenberg declined, but the friend suggested she buy them and Sharkie’s give them away. He said yes,
“And then I did a post saying, Hey, everybody, this just happened. These are free until they’re sold out. And that got even more support because everybody’s like, This is love. This is what we’re supposed to be doing.”
The specials were given away, he said.
Rosenberg reported that he had “an amazing day” at the sire at 43 Tinker Street on Saturday, with people buying things just to show support. “It just kind of reminded me that there’s so many more of us that want to be supportive and show what good there is,” he said.
“There’s so many of us more than these few people who are just haters, and that’s what happened. It’s been a great couple of days. It’s been a great Pride weekend.”
During the 2017 Woodstock Film Festival, I had the distinct honor of being mentioned by Shep Gordon. It was the highlight of my year and truly a remarkable acknowledgment of what I am doing at Sharkie's. Thank you Shep for your most generous words and patronage during your visit.