By Scott Pruden
Photos by Joe Hoddinott
With four decades of serving the early risers of the world, it should come as no surprise that Smyrna (and Delaware) landmark Helen’s Sausage House looms large in the memories of customers.
On a warm September day during the reporting of this story, those memories prompted a random stranger on the streets of Newark, upon seeing the evolving site of Helen’s new location at 145 E. Main St., to share stories of rising before dark to fish with his father on the Chesapeake Bay. Before their lines hit the water, there was always Helen’s original Smyrna location appearing as a glowing beacon along Route 13, promising a hot, hearty breakfast before heading to the water and waiting for a big one to bite.
That devotion — and a fair amount of curiosity — was evident Oct. 28 when Newark patrons lined up to get a taste of Helen’s girthy Kirby & Holloway sausages without the drive downstate. The Main Street location took over what was most recently operating as Duck Donuts, and before that The Post House restaurant. Devotees of the original location were in abundance, as were the previously uninitiated.
Upon exiting with her order, one happy customer assured those in the queue, “Don’t give up. It’s worth it!”
Suffice it to say that no one gave up, chatting with their neighbors in line for more than an hour before reaching the busy counter, where the kitchen team — including third-generation Helen’s owner Clifford J. Murphy III — manned the griddles and deep fryers to keep the simple-but-satisfying delights coming.
In the small outdoor dining area, friends Matt Petfield, Stacey Richardson, Brad Allmond and kindergarten-age diner Wheeler Allmond tore into their fragrant, foil wrapped delicacies — double sausages and double sausages with egg among them.
A waiting line is a common site at Helen’s Newark location.
Petfield, who’d previously visited the Smyrna location, noted that ordering for the uninitiated is an experience reminiscent of Jim’s Steaks in Philadelphia — it helps if you know the menu and what you want when you step up to the register.
“It’s nice to see some Delaware character here and not just another burrito shop,” he added.
Passerby Mike Logothetis agreed, noting that he missed the wood paneling and legendary Elvis Presley memorabilia from the original location, but that he was looking forward to trying the largely unchanged menu.
“I’m glad to see it here,” he said. “There hasn’t been a breakfast place in Newark in forever.”
The Most Important Meal of the Day
When Helen Achenbach opened Helen’s Sausage House in 1983 with her second husband, Melvin “Mudge” Achenbach, she knew her market. Opening at 4 a.m. and closing at noon, the modest stucco building served as a welcome breakfast stop for fishermen, hunters, truckers, first-shift workers and road food connoisseurs throughout the region.
When the restaurant’s namesake decided to retire in the early 1990s, her son, Clifford J. Murphy Jr. and his wife, Joanne, took the reins until the two decided to ease into well-earned retirement in 2022. That’s when Clifford III — CJ to his friends — stepped in to take over full time, stepping away from his role in ATM sales at WSFS for a life of early mornings and full, happy bellies.
With the family’s blessing, it wasn’t long before he floated the idea for expansion, teasing the concept to The News Journal/Delaware Online.
Zach Hoddinott exits Helen’s a happy customer after grabbing his family breakfast.
“When that got out and I said that I wanted to expand, I had real estate people calling me up saying, ‘Oh, I’ve got a store for you,’ ” recalls Murphy. “So, I was thinking three to five years down the line. It ended up being six months before finding this spot.”
Murphy says the introduction to the site happened in classic Delaware fashion — someone who worked for the property owner happened to be a regular at the Smyrna location and pitched the idea while at breakfast one day.
“When I came here and I was like, man, this is exactly what I had been thinking about all these years, smack dab in the middle of Main Street, right across the street from major spots like [Klondike] Kate’s and down from the Deer Park [Tavern] and whatnot, kind of in the heart,” Murphy says. “So, it was too good to pass up.”
Aside from the absence of the Elvis room, customers will notice few differences from the original store. Recognizing the later hours of Newark and its student demographics, Helen’s Newark will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with the addition of a late-night walk-up window from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to serve the afterparty munchie crowd. Breaking from the Smyrna store’s cash-only policy, the Newark location will accept credit and debit cards. Indoor seating remains limited.
Menu-wise, patrons will find all their favorites: scrapple, double or single sausage link sandwiches (with or without egg), generous breakfast platters and the legendary pork chop sandwich.
A Fitting Tribute
The official announcement of Helen’s new location broke in what’s come to be a signature style for the social media-savvy Murphy — a May 20 Instagram post of the word “Newark” spelled out in sausages with the caption “Coming soon.” On the Helen’s Instagram account, similar sausage messages are interspersed with memes riffing on current events and given a Helen’s-centric spin.
“That’s me being extremely bored and delirious at two in the morning cooking, sitting at the grill by myself for a few hours, just trying to be funny,” he says. “And I’m not really creative, but every now and then I’ll get a nugget and it’ll get a couple laughs and that’s it. That’s all I’ve been going for.”
Not long after the announcement, Helen Achenbach celebrated her 92nd birthday on June 10, her official birthday wishes also conveyed in sausage script. The family — both by blood and by association with the restaurant’s history — had been hoping their matriarch would be able to celebrate the expansion and see in person the fruits of her labors.
Sadly, she passed away on Aug. 31, making the opening of the new store both celebratory and poignant, Murphy says.
“I wanted to make her and my pop proud and show what they worked so hard for all their lives,” he says. “She did it for all the life that I knew her, and for my dad, for more than half my life. They worked their fingers to the bone. And now, well, she’s passed and [dad’s] trying to relax … and I just want to carry it on. I couldn’t see it just go away.”
Murphy’s nephew Zack Hunter continues to run the Smyrna location with the assistance of long-time staff, maintaining the family ties that have been part of the Helen’s legacy for three generations. Acknowledging the special place Helen’s holds in the lives of its customers — like the one who shared his story of childhood trips to Helen’s before fishing — Murphy says it’s important to keep Helen’s future intact for them, too.
“You didn’t even know the guy who talked to you for 30 minutes [about Helen’s],” he says after observing my on-site customer interview. “So, it’s just that I wanted to keep that feeling going.”
