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Long Island’s third Toast Coffeehouse location is nearing completion in Bay Shore.
This time, owner Terence Scarlatos has decided to go with a vintage carnival theme for his next hot breakfast and lunch spot.
And GreaterBayShore was fortunate enough to get an early look.
The future Toast is expected to open later this year on Gibson Street — just west of Maple Avenue — in what used to be Hemisphere.
“In Patchogue we did a steampunk theme, and here we wanted to set the tone from another historic era before there was TV, before there were phones,” Scarlatos said. “This is what people did for entertainment.”
The new Toast has vintage carousel menagerie animals, as well as real, decades-old knock down punks from Coney Island. There are posters up for a flea circus, the strong man and, soon, the bearded lady.
Near the bathrooms is a huge, Coney Island-inspired mural painted by local artist Amanda Reilly.
But it’s not too in-your-face, Scarlatos says. It’s all about setting a tone.
“It’s about creating those places where people can reconnect with each other,” he said.
And maybe look away from their phones.
The pictures below reflect areas of Toast, though not the main dining room.
Toast is currently working with the Town of Islip for its final approvals before opening. But the bar is set up, as is the dining room, kitchen, and a second dining area facing Gibson.
Unlike in Patchogue, the Bay Shore Toast Coffeehouse will have a full liquor license.
That means real-deal Bloody Marys.
“We’re also looking for that must-have drink before you head down to the ferry,” Scarlatos said.
The first Toast Coffeehouse opened in Port Jefferson in 2002. The Patchogue location opened in 2015.
In prior interviews, Scarlatos, a Ronkonkoma native and St. Anthony’s High School graduate, said he had romanticized about coffeehouses ever since spending time on the West Coast in the 1990s.
“I traveled for about nine years, I moved to Seattle and then down the coast to Oregon, California, working in restaurants as a cook,” he said. “One of the greatest things about these different places was the coffeehouses, where you could go and have breakfast and meet up with people.
“Within a couple hours you could find out what was going on that night, what party to go to. It was just something I really took to.”
The existing locations are exceptionally popular. It’s not atypical for people to wait up to 45 minutes midweek. Weekend waits will often top 90 minutes, though staffers suggest people use the nowait app so diners can do something else until their table is ready.
Scarlatos said he thought the crowds would taper off in Patchogue after the initial buzz of Toast’s opening.
“But it just kept getting busier and busier,” he said.
He’s about to bring the buzz to Bay Shore.
