Love Shack: Customers have adored this East Lyme eatery for 20 years

Russell Han opened The Shack - the original - just over 20 years ago. He was then, and is now, a quiet man, not one to boast or brag. He works hard but doesn't make it look hard. His staff works like an oiled clock whether he is there or not.

Han may seem quiet, but it's more of a way of life for him.

Han's mother died when he was in elementary school, so when he came home from school and before his father got home, he would make dinner. While Russell - the youngest of three brothers - learned by making mistakes, he soon developed into a confident cook.

Before he opened his first Shack in East Lyme, Han worked at Bee Bee Dairy. When he opened that Shack 20 years ago, some of his staff from Bee Bee joined him.

Back in those days, patrons who cared about their car suspensions would drive very slowly through the restaurant's parking lot. If it had rained recently, there were fewer parking places because what the locals called Lake Niantic took up a large percentage of the lot.

Despite the hazards, diners kept coming. The Shack's waitstaff and cooks became the same people, day after day, month after month, year after year. The waitresses knew their customers, and the breakfast clan knew them. Everyone ordered quickly, the order slips were slid under the kitchen hood, and in just a few minutes, great breakfast meals arrived at your table.

Ten years later, Han opened JR's Shack on Clark Lane in Waterford.

"People call it 'Junior's,' but the truth is that we called it 'JR' for Jeremy (his son) and me, Russ," Han says, laughing.

About two years ago, Han moved the East Lyme Shack into its new spot, just down the street from the original. The restaurant is bright and airy, decorated with many of the old antiques that had lined the original Shack.

The new Shack offers handsome booths, plenty of tables, and a long, long counter where diners can watch the cooks putting out eggs and pancakes and the best home fries in the area.

Lunch and dinner features specials plus sandwiches, soups and entrees like Thanksgiving turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables and cranberry sauce for $9.49; a meatloaf dinner; Stonington sea scallops; and baked macaroni and cheese. Perhaps best of all are the pies made by a former waitress. Breakfast is always served.

The original Shack held 70 patrons. JR's seats 100 to 110. The new Shack holds 120 in diner splendor.

Han's son, Jeremy, takes care of the East Lyme Shack, while his son-in-law, Jim Morgan, manages JR's.

Han says Morgan and his daughter Michele, are trying to convince him to open a Mexican restaurant, maybe called El Shack-O. Han smiles. It probably won't happen, he says, since Jim and Michele's sons, Jack and Nate, are only 2 and 4 years old. But there could be another Shack on the horizon. Maybe in Groton. Maybe soon.

For years, Han has paid his employees' health insurance, and most get three weeks' vacation.

Han takes vacations now, too, which gives him time to mull his accomplishments. His success, he says, comes from his children, whom he adores; his staff, to whom he is grateful; and his customers.

"My customers and my staff have given me a life I never thought I would have," he says.