Bango Bowls opening 6th Long Island location Saturday, at Centereach's Village Plaza

Bango Bowls, a health-focused fast casual restaurant, will host a grand opening celebration Saturday in Centereach to debut its sixth Long Island location.

The New York-based restaurant chain, which also has two locations in Westchester, offers a variety of salads, acai bowls, sandwiches and poke bowls.

The Centereach restaurant is franchised by Victoria Gramarossa and her husband, Anthony. The couple first discovered Bango Bowls when they spotted its Melville location; Victoria Gramarossa said she was very impressed by the food, the service and the concept.

“We’re calling it the Bango takeover,” she said. “First and foremost, the food is of the highest quality. The concept and everything they stand for — fresh, flavorful, fast and friendly — is what we stand by. Everything is tasty, made to order and fresh on-site. We make everything in the store ourselves.”

The Centereach location, along with another Bango Bowls that opened last June in Hauppauge, are the brand's only two franchised restaurants. 

Weather permitting, the grand opening celebration will feature a DJ, local vendor pop-ups outside the restaurant, a performance by the Sparklers baton twirling team and a visit from the Iron Shields motorcycle club. The first 50 customers will also receive free merchandise and a free food item, Gramarossa said.

The first Bango Bowls location opened in Massapequa Park in 2017, and the concept quickly caught on. Bango Co-founder and Uplift Hospitality Group CEO Ryan Thorman said that Bango’s expansion has been exciting and successful.

“It’s what you dream of," Thorman said. "You try to build a business that’s successful and has the ability to scale and impact a lot of people."

Thorman, whose Uplift Hospitality also owns the Tap Room chain of gastropubs on Long Island, wants to eventually open a Bango Bowls in Pennsylvania, but plans to stay within the tristate area for the time being.

Franchising has helped the business expand, said Thorman, who added that his goal "was always to have 100 locations," but that he's had to stay realistic about growth expectations. 

"What is sustainable and how can we drive business and impact people’s lives and give them what they want? And now that we really have it figured out, we can benefit people who are looking for an opportunity to do something and maybe just want a little bit of guidance, but they still want to be their own boss," he said.

Bango Bowls will open in Centereach’s New Village Plaza, where there are a number of new businesses planned, including a Gala Fresh grocery store; Tous Les Jour, a French-Asian bakery; Pisco, a Peruvian restaurant; and German Doner Kebab, a Mediterranean restaurant, according to a March Facebook post by Brookhaven Town Councilman Neil Manzella.

“We’re thrilled to have more businesses open in that spot,” said Doreen Newman, an administrator for the Greater Middle Country Chamber of Commerce. “Once the stores open up more along the strip — Bango Bowls is the first to be ready — I think it’s going to bring a lot of attraction to the area.”