Black Sheep Ale House in Mineola upgrades

Vincent Minutella is a barkeep with a distinct philosophical streak. The owner of The Black Sheep Ale House in Mineola likes to say "we don’t want to be something for everyone. We want to be everything for someone."

The bar’s commitment to serving craft beers from all over the world, the country and Long Island is equaled by its loud support for patrons of all stripes and orientations. During the pandemic, The Black Sheep was one of the first Long Island venues to mandate that all customers and workers be vaccinated. Both these moves endeared it to some customers, alienated others.

Earlier this year, Minutella and longtime general manager Bob Miller renewed their vows to the establishment, formerly O'Donnell’s, which opened in 2011. They closed during April and May to give the bar and dining room a face-lift and to elevate the cocktail and food game.

Both rooms got a fresh coat of paint and are now tiled with limited-edition screen prints, many of them by Chuck Sperry, famous for his "gig posters" for rock bands. Minutella has been collecting Sperry for years and saw no better venue for their display. 

Most of the other new decorative elements came from Craft House, his short-lived Nautical Mile venture that opened and closed in 2018. A room divider made of Mondrian-ish stained glass was exhumed from storage and now graces the building’s facade, letting in light while "helping to block the outside world." The custom dining tables have been repurposed as a new-but-weathered bar top.

Behind the bar, the 25 taps (plus assorted cans and bottles) and the extensive range of spirits are now joined by an impressive lineup of craft cocktails. "I always loved to order ‘highfalutin’ drinks when I went out," Minutella noted, "but I felt a little out of my depth making and serving them here. We didn’t do too much beyond Jack & Coke and martinis."

The shift required hiring two mixologists (the "yin to the yang" of his existing "beerologists") who came up with such concoctions ($17 to $18) as the Artemis (Amaretto Disaronno, lychee liqueur, wormwood bitters, lemon juice) and the Blackout (Maker's 46 bourbon, Nocello walnut liqueur, black-walnut bitters, cherrywood smoke, brown-sugar syrup, Luxardo cherry) as well as creative mocktails ($13). The Black Sheep always had a small but mighty wine list with more than a dozen glasses ($11 to $15) ranging from "casual classics" like Sutter Home white zinfandel to less common Sawtooth Riesling from Snake River Valley, Idaho, and Château Cabrières Côtes du Rhône from France. Among the handful of well-priced bottles is a 2012 Cascina Adelaide Barolo (Piedmont, Italy) for $60.

Minutella is selling more wine since he hired chef LaShonne Stewart to man the food trailer adjacent to the 100-seat beer garden. Her menu trades mozzarella sticks and tidbits for fried cheese curds with homemade tomato jam and maple-glazed salmon bites with sweet potato hash. Wings can be had sauced with charred pineapple, sriracha, soy sauce and wildflower honey or maple-bacon, Dijon mustard and candied bacon bits. There are burgers, grilled cheese (on a croissant, with aged Cheddar) and corn tacos filled with grilled shrimp and honey-lime slaw, steak with cotija cheese and chimichurri or jerk chicken with mango slaw. Nothing on the menu tops $18.

Beer is where Black Sheep started, and its primacy has not dimmed. The list is constantly changing but, right now, features Hoof Hearted's Konkey Dong Aquatic Ape double IPA from Marengo, Ohio, and Barrier’s Nitro Milk Stout from Oceanside. "Specialty and vintage" selections include Gueuzerie Tilquin’s Oude Riesling Tilquin a l'Ancienne fruited lambic and De Struise Brouwers’ Pannepot Reserva, both from Belgium.

Ironically, it’s beer that has been Minutella’s biggest challenge over the past few years. "I have worked for decades on my relationships with breweries," he said. "Used to be, I could get stuff that nobody — or very few bars — could get. But during COVID, breweries had to pivot to retail sales. Once it was a real coup to serve Zombie Dust [from 3 Floyds Brewing, Munster, Indiana]; now any supermarket will have it on the shelves."

And local breweries are now not only suppliers, they are competition. "So many of them have grown into full-fledged bars. And, because there’s no middleman, their prices are cheaper. They’ll charge $6 for something I have to charge $9 for."

On Wednesday nights, drinking and eating are accompanied by a trivia contest; the second Thursday of the month is usually open-mic night. Every night lasts until morning — The Black Sheep is open until 4 a.m. 

The Black Sheep Ale House, 78 Second St., Mineola, 516-307-1280, Instagram @blacksheepalehouse. Open Monday to Friday 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 a.m.