Paula Lyons Sunday, July 4, 2021 - 10:42pm Larkin Stallings has spent 40 years opening and running bars, restaurants and nightclubs, mostly in Houston, Texas. How he arrived on an island off the coast of Massachusetts and how he came to own the iconic Ritz on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs is a Vineyard story of the best kind. Q. Larkin, when did you buy The Ritz? A. I’ve owned The Ritz going on about six years now. Q. And what made you buy it? A. Well, not great sense! But my wife Jackie and I got a home up here about 15 years ago, so we’ve been living here on and off and in Houston on and off. One winter, snow was coming down and I was walking down Circuit Ave. And there was a sign in the window that said “For Sale by Owner.” I walked in and saw Janet King, the owner. We started talking about it and before I knew it, we owned The Ritz!