New Long Island restaurants to try

Georgio's Coffee Roasters, Stony Brook

Since 2006, Georgio’s Coffee Roasters has inspired a cult following among Long Island’s coffee cognoscenti. A modest shop in an even more modest strip mall in an industrial area of Farmingdale, it offers no lounge seating, no Wi-Fi, the barest assortment of pastries. With their new store in Stony Brook, you can see the brand’s future. With its cream-and-blue paint job, shiplap walls and marble countertops, the shop fits right into the town’s tony Village Center but the focus remains on the beans. There are 10 featured single-origin beans for home brewing. For hot drinks on the spot, Testa d’Oro espresso is pulled into the familiar lineup of espresso, macchiato, cortado and cappuccino, plus seasonal concoctions such as Elder Merry Bliss, espresso with rosemary-infused elderberry syrup. There’s drip coffee and cold brew (always served with "ice" cubes made of coffee) and the chance to sample four of the special beans in a pour-over.

Myungdong (MD) Noodle House, Little Neck

While Long Island has some great KBBQ spots, you can now find a specialized Korean noodle house within easy striking distance in Little Neck, Queens. Myungdong (MD) Noodle House has ties to a famous noodle and dumpling shop from Seoul, South Korea. The brand also has a location in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Servers mill around the brightly-lit space with carts of bubbling soups and the signature MD Mandoo pork dumplings, which feature a diaphanous steamed wrapper that crinkles around the pork like a brain. Every meal starts with kimchi, a famous, fierce brew of sour garlicky ferment gussied up with a boatload of chili powder. The staple is kalguksu noodles, a knife-cut variety of wheat noodle that's typically served in a clear chicken broth. The always-busy restaurant also offers a large menu of homestyle dishes, like soft tofu soups and less common samgye-tang, a whole chicken in an herbal broth enriched with, ginseng, jujube fruits and black sesame seeds, as well as braised short ribs.

For Five Coffee, Port Washington

Queens-based For Five started as a wholesale coffee roaster before opening stores in Manhattan and beyond. Now they've opened their third Long Island location on Main Street in Port Washington. The decor is sleek but welcoming, with proper tables and comfortable chairs (and free Wi-Fi). On the beverage front, you’ll find everything from espresso to matcha latte. To eat, there’s not only a selection of baked goods — scones, muffins, cookies, pastries — but also an extensive menu of cooked-to-order breakfast and lunch dishes that range from overnight oatmeal with the works and breakfast sandwiches and burritos to a Greek omelet, Mediterranean falafel and spicy vodka rigatoni.

Barrotta's Supper Club, Huntington

A swank new restaurant is bringing live jazz to Huntington: Barrotta's Supper Club has opened in the heart of the village. It's an upscale spot from the same team that opened The Ivy next door just over three years ago. Diners are welcomed with an amuse bouche — recently it was butternut squash arancini with sparkling wine. Starters include calamari fried in brown butter garlic and red cherry peppers and a street corn salad piled high with cotija cheese, jalapeños and spicy mayo. There’s also a wedge with house-cured miso pork belly, if you’re in the mood for something carnivorous. Pastas include truffle cacio e pepe as well as lobster squash gnocchi and tortellini carbonara. Seared ahi tuna is served with carrots and raisins, and there’s also beef Wellington and a pork chop with a winter citrus salad. A handful of local jazz bands rotates throughout the week.

Philia Greek, East Meadow

Philia means friendship in Greek and it’s an apt name for East Meadow’s newest Greek restaurant. Owners Luis Pesantez and Diego Vintimilla are longtime friends who have spent the better part of two decades toiling in the dining rooms of some of Long Island’s high-end Greek eateries. The menu offers Greek classics (village salad, spanakopita, grilled halloumi, avgolemono soup, whole branzino, lamb chops, roast chicken) along with Hellenic adjacencies (linguine with "Santorini" clams, lobster ravioli with Greek vodka sauce) and non-Hellenic crowd pleasers (fish and chips, Wagyu burgers, lobster fried rice). Proud of their Ecuadorian heritage, the owners also serve a dish from their homeland, grilled bacon with hominy.