The 2023 Bartender Battle Long Island is being sponsored by Ten Cent Menu Club, Menus on a Dime.
Sixteen bartenders battled online.
More than 173,000 votes were cast from the drinking public.
And when the dust settles on Tuesday, March 21, at That Meetball Place in Patchogue, only one bartender will hoist the Golden Shaker as Long Island’s best.
Things will get rolling at 1 p.m. at That Meetball Place, located at 54 West Main Street, where Dan Bartley from Mary Carroll’s will square off against Dan Leopold of Sandbar in the ultimate cocktail contest.
The event is open to anyone.
“It’s been a wild ride since January with all the nominations and then narrowing these bartenders down to two finalists,” said Greater Long Island publisher Michael White. “Until now, it’s been just a popularity contest. But things are about to get serious behind the bar.”
Each Dan will be challenged to create three specific cocktails for the judges, who will sip from each and then decide the ultimate winner. Here are the cocktails:
- Sidebar (brandy, Cointreau and lemon juice)
- Old Fashioned (any take)
- Margarita (any take)
Scroll down for the judges and more about the two finalists.
THE JUDGES
Gregg Giannotti
Giannotti is a Bellport High School graduate and co-host of the Boomer & Gio show with Boomer Esiason on WFAN Sports Radio out of New York City. He also loves a good drink.
Terri Novak
Terri, from Middle Island, operates Braun’s Kitchen in Cutchogue and has been an executive chef and culinary director at restaurants across Long Island. She also helped open restaurants in Miami and New Orleans.
Bert Wiegand
Wiegand is a well-known Long Island bartender and newly minted partner in The State Room, which opened in February in Patchogue. Born and raised in Bay Shore, Wiegand last ran the bar program at Tullulah’s, where he started bartending at 21.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Dan Bartley
- Age: 26
- From: Babylon
- Works: Mary Carroll’s in Babylon
- Best Drink: Negroni
- Shore: South
Dan Leopold
- Age: 47
- From: Huntington
- Works: Sandbar in Cold Spring Harbor
- Best Drink: The Whalebone
- Shore: North
