Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace closes at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City

Bobby Flay has flipped his last burger in Nassau County, for the time being, at least. His eight-year-old Roosevelt Field eatery, Bobby’s Burger Palace, has closed. The location in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove remains open.

Flay, a fixture on the national culinary scene since he opened his first restaurant, Mesa Grill in New York City in 1991, owns restaurants all over the country and is the star of multiple Food Network shows including “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” “Worst Cooks in America” and “Iron Chef.”

A representative for Flay said that "this location of Bobby’s Burger Palace closed because the lease was up and the space is being repurposed for another use. BBP is working with the Roosevelt Field landlord on relocating to another space within the mall." 

A representative for the mall confirmed that Roosevelt Field has plans for the vacated space and will announce them "very soon." 

The restaurant took over a defunct Sbarro in December, 2011 three years after the opening of Flay's very first Burger Palace, in Smith Haven Mall. In 2008, he told Newsday, “Chefs have funny dreams. They may have a couple of four-star restaurants, but they fantasize about opening up a hot dog stand.… Now that I've gotten to this point, I can do the thing I crave the most — which is a cheeseburger, fries and a shake."

Flay was as good as his word: Bobby’s Burger Palace is a dependable purveyor of all three. The signature Crunchburger, “crunchified” with a good handful of potato chips, was ranked No. 1 on Newsday’s list of best chain cheeseburgers.

In addition to 13 Burger Palaces, Flay now operates Gato inManhattan, Bar Americain at Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut, Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, Shark and Mesa Grill in Las Vegas. The original Mesa Grill closed in 2013 as have his other Manhattan restaurants, Bolo (1993 to 2008) and Bar Americain (2005 to 2018). 

In recent years, Roosevelt Field has become a magnet for celebrity chefs. Flay planted the celebrity flag in 2011. In December, 2018, Tom Colicchio opened the farm-to-table Small Batch, which earned three stars in Newsday. Michael White, the Michelin-starred chef who owns Marea and Ai Fiori in Manhattan, plans to open a branch of his casual Italian, Osteria Morini, later this year. It will be just across the mall’s entrance from what used to be Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace.

Bobby's Burger Palace remains at 355 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove, 631-382-9590, bobbysburgerpalace.com.