Great South Bay Brewery to open restaurant, brewpub as 1st tenant at Ronkonkoma's Station Yards
A rendering of Station Yards, which is under construction near the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station. Credit: Kelley Coughlan Heck
A family-owned Bay Shore craft beer maker plans to open a brewpub next year at Station Yards in Ronkonkoma — the first retail tenant at the giant multiuse complex formerly known as the Ronkonkoma Hub.
Great South Bay Brewery officials signed a lease last week to open an 8,428-square-foot pub next spring with a tasting room and restaurant, East Setauket-based developer Tritec Real Estate said Friday. The brewery will be part of the project's second phase, which is under construction near the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station.
Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore. The brewery will open a tasting room and restaurant at Ronkonkoma's Station Yards next spring. Credit: Tom Lambui
The brewery fits Tritec's goal of bringing in businesses that entertain shoppers and offer residents of the complex's apartments a place to socialize, Tritec vice president Jim Coughlan said Friday.
“I think starting off the leasing with a tenant like Great South Bay sends a message about the kind of tenant we want to attract," he said. "I think they’re going to help us establish an identity [for] the project.”
Tritec hopes to attract other restaurants as well as clothing stores, urgent care clinics and bank branches, Coughlan said.
The Ronkonkoma pub — along with a Lindenhurst location expected to open next spring — is part of Great South Bay's first major expansion, vice president Brian Davis said Thursday. The brewery's 40,000-square-foot Bay Shore headquarters, including an 8,500-square-foot tasting room and pizza kitchen, opened in 2009.
The Ronkonkoma and Lindenhurst eateries will feature “elevated pub fare,” including wings and pizza, more than a dozen tap lines and full liquor offerings including wines, Davis said.
“Here we have a limited menu, but in the two other locations we’re looking to elevate that,” Davis said. “We’re going to keep the same vibe as we do here.”
Davis, 33, co-owns the brewery with his father, Doug, 61, and brothers, Chris, 31, who is president, and Bill, 29, who serves as treasurer.
Station Yards' second phase, when completed, is expected to include 388 apartments, 70,000 square feet of retail, 16,500 square feet of commercial office space and a public plaza for live music and other events. Construction is expected to finish next year.
The development's first phase, the 489-unit Alston Station Yards apartment complex, opened in 2021.
All told, Station Yards is projected to include 1,450 apartments, 195,000 square feet of retail space and 360,000 square feet of office space when construction is completed, including several phases where construction has not yet begun, Tritec officials said.
Brian Davis said Great South Bay attracts customers from a wide range of age and demographic groups by hosting children's birthday celebrations, bridal parties, live music and weekly events such as karaoke and trivia nights.
Doug Davis said the brewery will have a built-in customer base in Ronkonkoma, with the train station, offices, shops and hundreds of apartments a short walk away.
“You can grab a six-pack and go,” he said. “You’re going to have restaurants and retail shops and the village center, so I think it's going to be a fun place to gather.”
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
