Pop's Seafood Shack & Grill in Island Park won't reopen this summer

After more than a decade serving seafood specialties and good times to Long Islanders, Pop’s Seafood Shack & Grill will not reopen this summer. 

The popular Island Park indoor-outdoor restaurant, located on the water with palm trees, sand and live music, announced its closure on Facebook on Saturday. The restaurant’s summer 2022 season was its final, said owner George Voutsinas Jr., who opened the restaurant in 2011. 

Voutsinas said he sold the Railroad Place business and four other lots to the Equinor company. Equinor is planning to install electricity-generating wind turbines 15 to 30 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean as part of its Empire Wind projects. 

The real estate deal, which closed last year, was a private transaction, said Voutsinas, who declined to share details. He said he purchased multiple lots as “a real estate play” and decided to open the restaurant in the meantime to honor his restaurateur father, who died in 2012. 

Voutsinas, of Oyster Bay, said he has no plans to relocate Pop’s nor does he plan to open any restaurants in the meantime. He called Pop’s closure bittersweet. Hundreds reacted similarly to the restaurant’s Facebook announcement, with some sharing memories and photos of recent visits. 

The restaurant advertised itself as an “entertainment destination” in addition to an eatery. Visitors could find steamed and fried seafood, a raw bar, lobster rolls and a whole section of the menu dedicated to corn on the cob. Diners could roll in off the street or park their boat in the restaurant’s marina before hopping ashore.

The lively atmosphere, rocking music and fresh food made Pop’s a huge hit all summer long, but diners and employees are what made the eatery stand out, Voutsinas said. 

“Pop’s in terms of a business was wildly successful, but the biggest success there was the relationships with our guests and our staff,” he said. “We were just blessed with good people.”

By Brinley Hineman

brinley.hineman@newsday.com

Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.