Whiskey Down Diner sets Monday opening for Babylon Village

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Whiskey Down Diner is officially ready to welcome Babylon.

The brand, which originated in Farmingdale, will open the doors to its long-awaited second location in Babylon Village on Monday, Sept. 28, co-owner Alyson Kanaras confirmed to Greater Long Island.

The restaurant, located at 175 E. Main St. in the former Ristorante Gemelli space, will open at 9 a.m.

The opening comes after months of construction and a remarkable transformation of the longtime Italian restaurant into a much larger version of the Whiskey Down concept.

Greater Long Island stopped by during a friends-and-family soft opening Thursday, just days before the public opening.

[Click here or scroll down for photos by GLI’s Eric Micallef.]

*The class BLT and French Fries at Whiskey Down Diner in Babylon Village. (Credit: GLI/Mike White)*

The new restaurant is roughly double the size of Whiskey Down’s original Farmingdale location, with high ceilings, a large dining room, outdoor patio and a prominent bar positioned in the center of the space.

It’s a dramatic change from what the building looked like when construction began in April.

But despite the bigger footprint and completely redesigned interior, Kanaras has said the goal is to bring the same Whiskey Down experience that customers have come to know in Farmingdale.

“I want the menu to be the same and just translate right over to Babylon,” she previously told Greater Long Island.

The Babylon opening has been years in the making for Kanaras, who lives in the village and had long hoped to bring the family business there.

“I always wanted to be in Babylon. I live in Babylon. I love it there,” she previously told GLI.

Kanaras founded Whiskey Down with her brother John and sister Kristina, continuing a family tradition that runs deep in Long Island diner culture.

Their father, Peter Kanaras, has owned the Olympic Diner in Deer Park since 1980. It’s where their parents met and where the siblings grew up learning the restaurant business.

“I am a diner girl through and through,” Kanaras said.

When the siblings decided to create a restaurant of their own, however, they wanted to put a more modern spin on the traditional diner.

They spent about two years developing a concept built around a streamlined menu, elevated comfort food and a stronger bar and nightlife scene. Whiskey Down Diner opened in Farmingdale in June 2019 and developed a following for its specialty burgers, creative dishes and rotating seasonal specials.

Expansion was always part of the plan.

“We always knew it wasn’t going to be just one location,” Kanaras previously told GLI.

The family spent about two years discussing the former Gemelli property before signing a lease in December. Construction began in April.