Paper Plate replaces Ruby's Coop in Deer Park
A double-stacked American cheeseburger at Paper Plate in Deer Park. Credit: Ian Martin
Ruby has flown the coop. While Deer Park lost the short-lived Ruby's Coop chicken sandwich joint that opened last year, in comes Paper Plate, a burger and chicken concept that debuted at Williamsburg’s Smorgasburg food hall in 2022.
Similar to the West Coast’s In-and-Out, Paper Plate is an everyman joint that serves burgers with all the fixings: lettuce, tomato, pickles, American cheese, grilled onions and, of course, special sauce on a potato bun. Prices run $8.89 for a single to $12.55 for triple stacks. There are moist chicken breast tenders here — five-piece start at $6.49 — that taste just like Chick fil-A, as well as grilled or fried chicken sandwiches (from $8.89), and a simple grilled cheese. Fries ($4.25), the frozen crinkled variety, can be made plain or dressed cheesy.
Owner Aaron Ratner, a Great Neck native, studied at Culinary Institute of America in Napa before launching a fried chicken and waffle pop-up in 2019 that eventually morphed into Paper Plate. He expanded to Williamsburg’s Food Hall, had a seasonal food truck in Manhattan's Hudson Yards and a stall in the Jacx & Co. Food Hall in Long Island City, Queens. The Deer Park location is the brand’s first brick and mortar restaurant. With white walls, paper plates, spare seating and a casual vibe, the brand celebrates a simpler time.
Inside Paper Plate, a burger and chicken spot in Deer Park. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
The Long Island location brings in more families than the city spots, Ratner said. “That was our goal, what we wanted to see out here, which makes us optimistic to open more in the near future.”
Paper Plate, 528 Commack Rd., Deer Park, paperplatenyc.com; Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays until 11 p.m.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
