The successful restaurateur is sitting in E.R. Bradley's Saloon in downtown West Palm Beach, recalling his childhood in an Italian neighborhood in the nation's capital. "My first job at 8 years-old was sweeping floors in a saloon across the street from our house. I guess it was evident back then that owning a bar was in my blood."
During his adolescence Frank's family relied on his earnings as a shoe-shine boy, delivering groceries and newspapers as well as mowing lawns for support. "I learned a work ethic at a very young age. Even today I rarely take the time for a vacation."
After graduating from high school, Frank enlisted in the Marines and served 4 years in active duty in anticipation of using his GI Bill to pay for a college education. Upon his discharge, he enrolled in the American Institute of Banking hoping to pursue a career in banking. "I found myself dabbling in real estate around Silver Spring, Maryland and hanging out in bars to meet girls, so my focus changed." A series of events led to Frank owning/managing a half-dozen nightclubs and bars in Ocean City, Maryland and Washington, DC over the course of a decade.
It was a traumatic event at his Baltimore home that prompted Frank to pack up his wife, Gail, and three small children and move to Florida. "I was a targeted home invasion robbery. My entire family was bound hands and feet... I was blindfolded and had a gun pointed against my head. I was thinking, if I get out of this alive, we're out of here." Fortunately, a phone call from one of Frank's club's managers foiled the completion of the robbery or worse, and eventually the perpetrators were caught. Keeping his promise to himself, Frank sold off his interests in the bars and clubs, packed the family in the car and drove south to Florida. "We started in Ft. Lauderdale and worked our way up the coast. When we got to Palm Beach, I said, this is it. We're not going back." Frank and Gail have raised 6 children (their son Nick currently helps manage 5 of their restaurants) in a modest home in the north end of town.
In 1984 Frank opened E.R. Bradley's Saloon in Palm Beach, and in honor of the saloon's namesake, wanted to do something charitable for a children's organization. "I heard of the Hope Rural School in Indiantown whose enrollment was primarily migrant children, many who lived in shacks with dirt floors and no plumbing. We arranged for the children to come to Bradley's on Christmas and Easter for a catered lunch and gift baskets. Soon the Palm Beach Day School, Publix and friends all wanted to become involved too." Frank is proud relate that 28 years later the tradition continues and today Hope Rural School receives a steady stream of contributions.
Palm Beach Art Dealer John Surovek has known Coniglio for 30 years and often participates in his friend's philanthropic projects. "I doubt there is an individual in Palm Beach County as generous with their time, talent and money as Frank Conigilio," Surovek recently related.
One of Frank's most recent fundraising efforts was for Homes For Our Troops, an organization that builds specially adapted homes for disabled vets, mortgage free. E.R. Bradley's hosted a celebrity bartender night that raised approximately $20,000 in donations and materials to help finance a home for Sgt. Steve Holloway in Wellington. As a former Marine, Frank takes a keen interest in veteran's issues and proudly flies the "Semper Fi" next to the Stars & Stripes at his restaurant locations. Frank also takes an interest in his employees, knowing most of the 250 by their names.
He finds time to relax by playing golf once a week with his son or by walking across the street to the beach to spend an hour unwinding. Pondering his success, he concludes this interview by saying, "It is a blessing what has happened to me, I only wish my dad, mom and sister could be here to enjoy it with me."
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