Mesita opens in Amityville

From the outside, Mesita in Amityville still looks like the grand, neoclassical bank that has stood at the corner of Greene Avenue and Broadway for almost a century. But step inside and you find yourself ... outside. And not outside on the South Shore of Long Island, mind you. The soaring space has been transformed into a Mexican courtyard, complete with shade trees and streetlights. On the balconies that overlook the "plaza," you’ll see children’s toys, a soccer ball, a bicycle and, on a line strung between them, even some laundry. 

This is not the first Mesita for the ownership group that includes Steve Buccella, John Cestare and Matt McBride. There are locations in Rockville Centre (2015) and Garden City (2021). The Port Washington restaurant that opened in 2023 closed last week. Amityville represents the first foray into Suffolk, and the group went all out with a two-level venue that seats more than 230 people.

Cestare said they had been about to commit to a space in Massapequa when they came across the former bank which, built for the First National Bank and Trust of Amityville, had subsequently housed a Security National Bank and, until it closed in 2020, a Chase Bank. "We liked the central location," he said, "how it could draw from Nassau and Suffolk, and how close it was to the train."

They knew when they signed the lease in 2022 that turning a bank into a restaurant — with all its attendant gas, electric, water, ventilation and safety needs — would not be easy, but were hoping to open by Cinco de Mayo 2024, noted McBride. But now they’ve got more than two months to prepare for Cinco de Mayo 2025.

The menu, developed by Mesita’s executive chef Antonio Chicas, is the same as at the other restaurants. It’s a crowd-pleasing document that features guacamole made to order at a station adjacent to the bar ($20) and familiar starters (most are $12 to $18) such as nachos, tostadas, empanadas, street corn, quesadillas and queso fundido (in a skillet). The eight tacos ($22-$28 for three) include birria, barbacoa and veggie. There are burritos and enchiladas ($21 to $29) and fajitas ($26 to $32). To get a party started, there’s the "fiesta fajita" ($65, serving two to three) and "muchos tacos" ($77 for 10 tacos).

Mains include "Margarita" roast chicken with pineapple salsa, pan-seared salmon with honey-chipotle sauce ($32), Mexican shrimp scampi ($30), ancho-chili-rubbed rib-eye ($42) and the parrillada Mexicana for two ($60): grilled shrimp, skirt steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, peppers and onions and rice and beans.

The drink menu is just as extensive, with more than a dozen margaritas such as the "Passionada" ($18), made with jalapeño-infused tequila and set dramatically alight with the help of a hollowed-out lime and a couple of shakes of cinnamon.

There are specialty cocktails (including the "Mayahuel," another flamer, with jalapeño-infused tequila, mezcal, pineapple and lime juices and mango puree), a dozen beers, more than 30 elite tequilas and six mezcals. And there are "smoking goblets," 51-ounce vessels that, thanks to a little dry ice, exude ominous clouds of smoke. The "Voodoo Rum Punch" goblet is a sweet-and-lethal blend of coconut, white and spiced rums, cranberry juice and purees of mango, strawberry and pineapple. Goblets are $38 and you can turn any cocktail into one for the same price.

While Mesita’s food and drinks take a maximalist approach, the decor is a work of great subtlety, thanks to designer Craig Banks. Somehow he managed to make the newly plastered walls look as if they’d been baking in the sun for decades. The bulbs in the streetlights flicker as if they were on their last legs. Banks, who designs stage sets as well as restaurants, said he was inspired by Mexico’s alleys. "I didn’t want any bright plastic flowers or pictures of Frida Kahlo."

Mesita, 8 Greene Ave., Amityville, 631-520-5383, mesitarestaurants.com. Open 4 to 10 p.m. daily;  lunch and brunch coming soon.