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These three friends took a bet on opening a sports bar together in Lindenhurst.
And in just two weeks, it’s paying off.
“It’s been unbelievable, better than expected,” said Shawn Fenton, who opened The Spread Bar & Grill on Oct. 3 with his high school buddy, Justin Burger, and a mutual pal and industry insider, Connor Quinn. “We’ve been really taken aback by the positive responses, especially with people raving about the food. We even have regulars already.”
The idea was somewhat simple, on the surface: open a sports bar. That was something Fenton and Burger had dreamed of since their high school years at Island Trees.
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But in the meantime, things changed drastically in the sports world, with gambling becoming legalized.
So now they envisioned building a sports bar that would double as a bettor’s paradise.
And that’s just what they did.
The trio signed a lease roughly a year ago at 22 W. Hoffman Ave. And they got to work, completely transforming the space and opening The Spread in short order. They completely gutted the two-storefront space and rebuilt it in their style, along with all-new electric and plumbing.
It also helped that Burger has a lifetime of experience in construction and the trades.
Welcome to The Spread
“It’s a sports bar but geared toward sports gambling,” Fenton said. “Not that we’re partaking in any gambling or anything like that. But now that it’s legal, everyone has their phones out at bars, placing sports bets as they watch games and everything. So our idea was to build the perfect place to go and watch a game and place your bets on your phone, legally of course.”
At The Spread, you’ll have access to anything the sporting world has to offer, day or night.
“You could watch every obscure sport, anything that’s on,” Fenton said. “We just wanted to make it the ultimate experience for [sports bettors], yet where you could hang out with buddies for a few hours and watch a bunch of games.”
To help, The Spread — an intimate spot that can fit 45 people inside — has charging ports everywhere, seven TVs and a 130-inch projector screen that can split four ways. There’s also a shuffleboard table.
“We’ve got all the sports packages,” Fenton said. “We’ve got every college football network, we’ve got every soccer channel, hockey network, everything.
The Spread will also be opening early for select international soccer games.
“Also, it turns out, you could have some great food, too,” Fenton said.
Food wasn’t exactly supposed to be the star here. But when Fenton and Burger struck a business deal with Quinn, who’s a longtime bar manager, he brought in some real ringers for the kitchen.
“We started doubling our food orders immediately,” said Fenton, who handles the marketing and business side of things. “We’ve already turned into much more of a restaurant than we had originally anticipated, which is nice. It’s been a great surprise.”
He recommends any of the pizza offerings.
“They’ve been our best sellers.”
— reporting by Nick Esposito
If you go
The Spread is located at 22 W. Hoffman Ave. in Lindenhurst, which is just west of Wellwood Avenue and which previously housed WA Meadworks. It’s parking lot is adjacent to the neighboring Belfast Gastopub on N. Wellwood Avenue.
This is all to the north of the elevated train tracks. Scroll down to follow on Instagram.
Top (L-R): The Spread owners Connor Quinn, a Massapequa native, and Island Trees High School buddies Justin Burger and Shawn Fenton at their new bar and restaurant in downtown Lindenhurst. (courtesy photo)
