Coyle's Ice Cream opens on Main Street in Bay Shore
Gabby Torres presents a cup of ice cream (strawberry and strawberry shortcake) at Coyle's on Main Street in Bay Shore. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Since they bought Coyle’s Ice Cream in 2023, Michael Khoury and Quadir Russell have been busy building the brand founded on Howells Road in Bay Shore by Marty and Janice Coyle in 1985. Last May, they opened an outlet inside the new Gemelli’s Gourmet in Lindenhurst. This May, they moved the Islip store six doors east on Main Street into a sparkling new flagship with almost three times as much space.
But, said Khoury, there was a critical link missing from the South Shore chain. "Yes, we have a place in Bay Shore. But it wasn’t on Main Street — that was our weakness, and our wish."
Wish granted. It took only a few weeks to spot a vacant storefront, sign a lease and Coyle-ify the tiny space at 17 E. Main St. The shop opened last Friday with a dozen flavors — as many as can fit in its freezer case. (Khoury will be installing a 16-tub case soon. Only Islip and Howells Road have production facilities; the other two stores get fresh deliveries every morning.)
Coyle's has opened a new ice cream shop, the group's fourth, on Main Street in Bay Shore. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
The address has exceedingly good food-service karma. Roto All Day Cafe started there in 2023 before decamping to a much bigger new home around the corner. Roto’s successor, Kismet Coffee, also outgrew the space and now occupies the former ITA Kitchen on the next block. The property is adjacent and connected to Fire Island Vines Winery & Tap Room which, briefly, operated a market-cafe there after Kismet decamped.
A tiny outpost was exactly what Coyle’s was looking for. "Main Street has all these bars," Khoury said. "We had lines out the door that first weekend — people really wanted ice cream." He noted that while the other three locations close at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, Main Street stays open until midnight.
He conceded that he and Russell were slightly concerned about Main Street drawing customers away from the original shop, which is about a mile away. But, it turns out, "business at Howells Road is up by 10 percent. And we have people coming into the new store who didn’t even know we had a store there."
Coyle’s Ice Cream, 17 E. Main St., Bay Shore. Open Sunday to Wednesday noon to 10 p.m., Thursday noon to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to midnight.
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