Beach Bird opens in Long Beach

It was almost three years ago that Bayville resident and chef David Malinowski opened Beach Bird, a chicken joint, in Oyster Bay. After success up north, Malinowski has headed south for his next storefront: Long Beach residents got their own chicken spot this past weekend with the opening of the second Beach Bird.

The white, airy space on Park Avenue feels similar to its Oyster Bay sibling. Bright and sunny, the space has televisions lining the walls, turquoise neon Insta-worth signage, and, of course, the requisite blue-and-white checkerboard butcher paper lining each chicken basket.

The menu mimics the original, with chunky, white meat tenders — in fingers (starting at three for $9), nuggets (eight for $9), sandwiches ($10+), over waffles, in salads — as well as breaded or naked wings (six for $12). Malinowski butchers those tenderloins in-house and brines them for 24 hours; made fresh to order, they're soft on the inside with a light, nicely seasoned crunch.

If you can’t decide between nuggets, tenders or the wings — there’s the Bird Basket, featuring three chunky white-meat tenders, eight nuggets and 10 wings — a shareable amount of food that costs $33. Add some twice-fried french fries, which come in salted, ranch, Cajun, truffle and loaded (like a baked potato) styles ($5-$8) and you’ve got yourself some lunch. If you’re looking for a lighter spread, try the salads — Caesar, Cobb, Southwest and watermelon — all of which are topped with chicken ($15+). When you’ve expired the savory side of the menu, the cinnamon-sugar waffle bites ($16) topped with breaded nuggets and maple syrup are not to be missed. A dozen side sauces are worth sampling at $1 each, especially the avocado ranch.

Malinowski worked in all different types of restaurants — Shipwreck Tavern in Bayville, the Jekyll and Hyde Corporation in Manhattan, Swallow in Greenlawn, the health-conscious chain Vitality Bowls, before playing around with recipes during the pandemic. When he and his business partner, Michael Eisenberg, started looking for a place to roost, they landed in Oyster Bay, where Beach Bird was born.

The evolution to the South Shore came about organically. Ready for expansion, "we were just looking," Malinowski said. "It's kind of the same way Oyster Bay popped up. We came to Long Beach, looked at the space, and I just saw exactly how I could envision it. Why not have one on the North Shore and the South?" We couldn’t agree more.

Beach Bird, Long Beach: 163 E. Park Ave., Long Beach; 516-517-2899, beachbirdli.com; Open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:45 p.m.

By Marie Elena Martinez

marieelena.martinez@newsday.com@mariesworlds

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.