Benny’s Fresh Eats and Market at the Weirs serves deli sandwiches, delivers booze

WEIRS BEACH — When brothers Ethan and Oliver Roy, owners of Water Street Cafe, saw a building was available in the Weirs traffic circle, they met with the landlord to pitch their idea for a new shop.

“The building’s always been a convenience store, smoke shop or a gas station, so we said, ‘You know what? Let's do food and delivery,” Ethan said. “‘Let's take everything we know with the food quality from Water Street and transfer it over to this new business.’ We're just really lucky and really excited to do something a bit different with the building.” 

The new deli and convenience store is Benny’s Fresh Eats and Market.

Open since June 1, the store is a 15-minute drive from the Water Street Cafe. The store will offer a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. This differs from the downtown cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch until 2 p.m. Benny’s Fresh Eats also offers delivery within a 7-mile radius.

The focal point of the menu will be subs, sandwiches and wraps, with rotating specials.

“We will have a lot of fan favorites, like a classic Italian sub, steak and cheese, and cheeseburgers. We're also going to be constantly having fresh specials to really elevate the menu,” Ethan said. “We really pride ourselves on not only on food quality, but also creativity.”

A stand-out at the deli is their delivery service for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, one of the first of its kind in New Hampshire.

“With working with the state a lot, we were able to figure out how that all works, and decide that we want to take on that challenge, because it's just not something that's in the area,” Oliver said. “We think it could be a huge advantage to this area if it's done properly.”

When Joanna Frangiudakis heard about the Roy brothers' plan for the store, complete with alcohol delivery, she “wanted to do anything” to help the Roys move forward.

“Nobody’s doing this. Nobody is delivering food and alcohol and tobacco. This is a huge, untapped market,” Frangiudakis, the manager of Benny's, said. “This is innovative, [especially] when you're right in the middle of Weirs Beach and the heart of the Lakes Region.”

Ethan, 25, and Oliver, 28, are from the area, and both graduated from Gilford High School. They’ve owned the Water Street Cafe since 2022, when their aunt and uncle, Ted and Jen Roy, passed the business down to them, after over 30 years of running it themselves.

“Our aunt and uncle really turned Water Street Cafe from something small and into a staple in the Laconia area,” Ethan said. “We’re very blessed to be able to own it, especially because a lot of people our age don't usually get that chance.”

Owning the cafe together inspired Ethan and Oliver to open another business together.

“Ethan and I are two peas in a pod, and [owning Water Street] has been a total joy,” Oliver said. “We've been loving every second of it, which is a large part of why we're trying to expand, and take on some new challenges.”

“Together, they make such a great team,” the brothers' mom, Annie Roy, said. “Oliver handles the numbers and logistics, and Ethan handles the recipes and kitchen end of things.”

The brothers have found a way to include many family members into the new business, as well. The shop is named after Oliver’s son, Bennett, born in November 2025. Annie, as well as the Roys’ father Matthew Roy, helped them with renovations to the inside of the building for the last two months.

“We're family operated in everything we do. We take pride in it,” Ethan said. “We almost tear up every time we say it, but we won the parent lottery.”

Frangiudakis said everyone involved was excited ahead of the store’s opening last week.

“There's people stopping by [the store], asking ‘are you guys open yet?’” Frangiudakis said. “Everybody is getting so excited.”

Benny’s Fresh Eats and Market is now open, at 1198 Weirs Blvd. Store hours are 7 a.m.-8 p.m. For more information, visit bennysfresheats.com.