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The Verde name stays once the location goes.
A Bay Shore fixture since opening on East Main Street in October 2014, the popular Mexican restaurant will keep its familiar identity after it makes a long-planned move down the block early next year to a larger location with a rare-for-Long-Island rooftop.
“We’ve been eying this expansion, if I had to put a number on it, for probably seven years,” said Anthony Tartaglia, president and co-founder of Costa Verde Hospitality, which owns Verde Kitchen & Cocktails. “We didn’t want to move out of Bay Shore, but we needed the right amount of space, the right location and the rooftop was a big piece to the puzzle, it’s something we really wanted.
Verde rooftop renderings by Bush Associates Architects.
But a planned name change to Para Todo Bien has been put on ice, with Tartaglia, his brother, Andy, and business partner Joe Mele opting to keep Verde to avoid the potential for confusing customers.
“That 11 years of being in business, that’s extremely valuable for us personally and professionally,” Anthony Tartaglia said. “We just felt Verde is who we are.”
There will be one tweak to the name, though. Instead of keeping “Kitchen & Cocktails” on the back of the restaurant’s identity, Verde’s slight rebranding will now play up a customized wood-fired kitchen that will be a centerpiece at the new location.
“The wood-fired grill is something we’ve always wanted to do; that’s a big thing,” Tartaglia said, pointing to plans to offer wood-fired steaks, chicken, oysters and vegetables on the menu at the new location.
Wood-fired fare will take center stage at the new Verde in Bay Shore. (Rendering by Bush Associates Architects)
The 9,000-square-foot space, which previously housed Peninsula, an Asian fusion restaurant, is triple the size of Verde’s current location.
While the new Verde will house a rooftop bar with a retractable cover, catering space and a “hidden” mezcal tasting room, much of Verde’s expansion is focused on where food is prepared. The kitchen will be five times larger than at the current location and come equipped with walk-in refrigerators and freezers, as well as washrooms for staff.
None of that is in place at the current location.
“We don’t have a lot of luxuries over there at 70 East Main Street,” Tartaglia said. “We’re building a bigger and better facility, but a lot of it won’t be seen to the customer.”
Tartaglia said expanding the kitchen space is designed to help staffers efficiently prepare food for an expanded customer base.
“We‘ll have the rooftop, the catering room, we’re going to have multiple events happening at once,” he said.
Even with the new refrigerators and freezers, Tartaglia said Verde’s approach to daily deliveries of seafood, vegetables and protein will not change once on the other side of Main Street.
“We don’t want to let go of that — we don’t just want to buy food in bulk,” he said. “We’re going to keep using the same vendors, the same fresh philosophies but we’re just going to be able to do it better and easier.”
Construction is ongoing at the new location, with no opening date yet announced. But the original Verde is accepting booking for catering and events through March 1, 2026, with a hoped-for opening at 55 W. Main St. in the first half of next year.
The goal, Tartaglia said, is to make the new space a Long Island dining destination.
“You know, Verde, it’s got a great reputation, it’s weathered a lot of storms and it’s proven to be a successful business,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people help us get here over the years — now we expect to be here another 20 years.”
Top: Lead Verde rendering also comes courtesy of Bush Associates Architects, Bay Shore, N.Y.
