Restaurants reopen at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City

For Long Island gastronomes, Roosevelt Field has become as much of a dining destination as it is a retail hub. The shopping center reopened for business July 10 and, by the end of that week, virtually all of the big-ticket restaurants along the west side of the mall opened as well for both outdoor dining and socially distanced indoor dining.

Working our way from north to south, Grand Lux Cafe (516-741-0096, grandluxcafe.com) is open for lunch and dinner every day plus Sunday brunch with dozens of tables outside alongside the whole length of the restaurant. Seasons 52 (516-248-5252, seasons52.com), on the other hand, has a paltry four tables set up under the entryway — they are shady, though. A manager said that umbrellas are on order and, as soon as they show up, more tables will follow. Lunch and dinner every day. The Capital Grille (516-746-1675, thecapitalgrille.com) is serving dinner every day and lunch on weekdays. A dozen tables flank the entrance, white tablecloths fluttering in the breeze.

Small Batch (516-548-8162, smallbatchrestaurant.com) is open for dinner from 4 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday and for brunch on weekends from noon to 3 p.m. Tom Colicchio's farm-to-table restaurant, which earned three stars when it opened last year, has seating for more than 30 people outside, where the plantings of native flora provide a beachy barrier from the parking lot. The cool playlist here (1980s U.K. Power Pop on the night I was there) runs smack into the hot salsa playing next door at Havana Central (516-739-7900, havanacentral.com) which serves lunch and dinner every day. The Cuban restaurant’s corner location affords it a capacious patio that hops with families and partyers.

“Chipot-Yay!” says the sign at Chipotle Mexican Grill (516-539-3950, chipotle.com) which serves from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. True Food Kitchen (truefoodkitchen.com) had been planning an April opening when COVID-19 hit and has yet to release a new opening date. That said, the sleek dining room looks pretty much finished and stacks of outdoor chairs are lined up just inside the glass facade. The national chain, cofounded by alternative-medicine guru Dr. Andrew Weil, celebrates vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meats and other current signifiers of “clean eating.”

Osteria Morini (516-604-0870, osteriamorini.com), Michael White’s rustic-elegant Italian trattoria is serving dinner Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. There’s seating for close to 40 people on the patio, and much of the restaurant’s interior is open as well. This ode to the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna scored three stars from Newsday when it opened late last year and while the supernal veal chop is currently not on the menu, the agnolotti with spring vegetables makes up for its absence.

Even though Le Pain Quotidien (516-243-8814, lepainquotidien.com) declared bankruptcy earlier this year and has new corporate owners, the Roosevelt Field branch is open Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Inside Roosevelt Field, eateries are open for takeout only, most of them from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Current tenants in the Dining District upstairs include Kung Food Kitchen (serving soup dumplings and hand-pulled noodles, among other Chinese regional specialties), Asian Chao, Chick-fil-A (not open on Sunday), Green Leaf & Bananas, MAOZ Vegetarian, Melt Shop, Patsy's Pizza, Sarku Japan, Sushi Fuji, Taco Bell, Taste of India, The Little Beet, and Wendy's. Elsewhere in the mall, Auntie Anne's, Baked by Melissa, Carvel, Cinnabon, Haagen Dazs, Jamba Juice and Pinkberry are open.