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Café Joelle hasn’t gone far from its roots, moving late last month to a much larger location in Sayville.
But to step inside the new Foster Avenue home of a restaurant and bar that has been a fixture in the hamlet for more than 30 years is to take a trip down memory lane — via the photographs on its so-called homage wall.
Keep scrolling for a photo tour
“We’ve got old pictures of where Café Joelle used to be, old pictures of previous owners, going back to when this location was Donatello’s and Oysterman’s,” said Jake Byrne, one of three longtime pals who are partners in the restaurant. “We’ve even got pictures of Joelle herself.
“This place feels special and seeing peoples eyes light up when they walk into the room makes it all worth it.”
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At three times the size of its previous space on Main Street, the new-look Café Joelle can seat up to 146 diners and meet what has, for years, been surging demand for the entrees, salads, appetizers and cocktails on its eclectic menu.
Facing customer wait times of two-plus hours on Friday nights, Byrne and partners James Caporuscio and Kyle Kenny began looking for other options not long after they took over Café Joelle in 2018.
“In a business of saying ‘yes,’ it’s kind of hard to say ‘no,’ — we needed a bigger space,” Byrne said.
That opportunity presented itself a few doors away on Foster Avenue.
The space was once home to Michael Turner’s Bistro 25, whose “exceptional food at below-average prices” was praised in 2011 by The New York Times.
The popular restaurateur had rebranded the bistro as Cenote, a Mexican eatery, a little more than a year before his death in April 2023.
The space, Byrne said, has unexpectedly turned out to be what the three Sayville natives and their families had long been seeking since taking over the business in 2018.
“We had been in [Café Joelle’s previous space] for six years and created a name for ourselves and created a following,” he said. “That gave us the confidence to make the move to a bigger location.”
The partners, who also own The Greenery on Railroad Avenue, have plans for their old place, too.
“We are keeping the lease there and we’re looking to do something along the Mexican lines over there pretty soon,” he said.
As for Café Joelle, it now has enough room to accommodate large private events, such as a recent wedding for more than 90 guests. There is also a lounge across from the expanded bar area.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Byrne said.
The hospitality veteran emphasized that patrons will recognize the “same great food and concepts” from the restaurant’s former location.
“The main thing we hang our hat on is the level of hospitality that we provide,” he said. “We make everyone feel like they’re at home and that they’re a part of it just as much as we are.”
Café Joelle is located at 45 Foster Ave. in Sayville.
It is open Monday to Thursday from noon to 9:30 p.m.; on Friday, from noon to 10 p.m.; on Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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