Comments (1) Best Local Hero - 2006

Joe Zwillenberg

Joe Zwillenberg doesn't seem like the type to brag, so we'll do it for him. Zwillenberg is the guy who rescued the Westport Flea Market after word got out that, in a boobheaded move, longtime owner Mel Kleb II was selling the beloved burger bazaar to Hooters. Midtowners bellyached about yet another chain in Westport, and people with any taste at all just couldn't stomach the prospect of that chain. Mourners made pilgrimages to the Flea as they waited for the wrecking ball. But then, in March, Zwillenberg (owner of Joe Joe's Italian Eatery and Joe's Burger Joint, both on Main) bought the place and promised to keep it exactly the same. We can forgive him for letting Starbucks build a drive-through on the old Joe's Burger Joint site, because saving the Flea meant saving an irreplaceable piece of the city's character, even if it's just a greasy, smoky ol' dive. Thanks, Joe.<