Long Island restaurants turning 30, 50, 100 years old in 2026

As folks who have spent time in or around the restaurant industry know, it’s hard work to own a successful eatery. Between today’s economy, an uptick in foodborne illnesses, maintaining a kitchen staff and a downward trend in alcohol consumption, it’s gotten even harder. The good news is that regardless of the challenges, many restaurants across the Island have persevered, with a handful celebrating milestone anniversaries this year.

On the East End alone, Bell and Anchor in Sag Harbor is celebrating 15 years, Rowdy Hall — which moved to Amagansett’s Main Street in 2023 — is celebrating 30 years, and The Clam Bar, another Amagansett mainstay, is celebrating 45 years of chowders and fried clam strips. No easy feat, more so for seasonal destinations.

Acknowledging culinary milestones and the endurance needed to excel, we’re highlighting some long-standing restaurants celebrating anniversaries this year. By no means comprehensive, we tip our chefs’ toques to five steady favorites that have been around between 25 and 100 years: Almond in Bridgehampton, Stone Creek in East Quogue, Mama’s in Copiague, Front Street Bakery in Rockville Centre, and Flo’s Luncheonette in Blue Point.

25 Years: Almond, Bridgehampton

1 Ocean Rd.

A Bridgehampton staple that opened in 2001 at 1970 Montauk Hwy. (currently Armin & Judy), but has occupied a corner home on Main Street since 2011, Almond pays deep attention to local ingredients and purveyors, and reflects that back on the plate. Menu items are named after origin friends, farmers and fisherman — Marilee’s heirloom tomatoes, Tom’s potatoes, Keith’s sourdough, Amelia’s arugula — that’s how community minded the perennial Almond is. 

With indoor-outdoor seating for 120, this buzzy spot boasts over 100-year-old tin ceilings and a hand-carved bar, accented by white subway tile on one side and playful, red zebra wallpaper on the other. Serving traditional French fare like steak (an 8-ounce flatiron) au poivre ($46), escargot ($22.95), mussels, a raw bar and requisite hand-cut fries, the restaurant has evolved since inception. Nowadays, there’s Amagansett street corn with kimchi mayo ($22.95), a mezze platter for two ($45.95), Korean barbecue and bucatini with lobster ($49.95), an indulgent, summer standby. Pages from cookbooks by Craig Claiborne, Gael Greene and Julia Child paper the bathroom walls, an homage by co-owner and chef Jason Weiner and partner Eric Lemonides to some food media giants of yesteryear. In a town where many restaurants struggle to get through one season, these friends since childhood seem to have figured it out.

The restaurant’s April 15 anniversary featured a price throwback to 2001 and the restaurant’s original menu; there was a wine dinner with nearby Channing Daughters in June, and a 25th anniversary collab brew with Sag Harbor’s Kidd Squid — a 25-ingredient fruited pale ale. In 2018, the team opened L&W Market, a casual daytime marketplace and takeout spot, next door to the restaurant, offering farm-to-table prepared foods, gourmet pantry items, coffee, pastries and grab-and-go meals. A Manhattan outpost that opened on in Flatiron in 2008 closed in 2022. More information: 631-537-5665; almondrestaurant.com

30 Years: Stone Creek Inn, East Quogue

405 Montauk Hwy.

It was 1996 when Stone Creek Inn opened its doors in idyllic East Quogue, the perfect dinner stop after a day trip to a more eastern Hampton town. A country house of a restaurant, both charming and ceremonial, this whitewashed standard is an example of how fine dining flourishes under the steady gaze of its owners, the husband-wife team of Christian Mir and Elaine DiGiacomo. The pair met while working at New York City’s iconic Tavern on the Green, a place of both precision and celebration in its heyday, and purchased the historic Ambassador Inn for their own foray into '90s fine-dining. Interconnected dining rooms, once hushed and formal, feel more boisterous these days as regulars, and now their grandchildren, dot tables under the gracious and attentive eyes of its service team — from valet to host to bartender to server.

Though large at 160 seats, there’s an intimacy about dining here. Maybe it’s the plates coming from the kitchen, bursting with the culinary pride of Mir’s native France, inflected with New American, Italian and Asian elements, and illuminating the bounty of the seasons. Divided into two sections, the menu covers classic dishes and seasonal offerings. Classic starters include a light egg custard crowned with caviar ($28) and duck meatballs squatting in puddles of butter-rich mashed potatoes ($26), while seasonal selections recently included grilled baby artichokes in miso ($28) and a seared Hudson Valley foie gras ($28).

Classic entrees range from a herb-crusted rack of lamb ($77) to a rich bouillabaisse ($58), dominated by fat mussels and served in a copper pot alongside good, crusty bread for dipping. Recent summer dishes included a grilled red snapper on a fricassee of local corn, zucchini and tomatoes ($61) and butter poached lobster in a coconut-ginger-lemongrass broth ($78). For their 30th, the restaurant is offering a two-course price fixe for $30 on Monday nights — a $45 value. More information: stonecreekinn.com, 631-653-6770

50 Years: Mama’s of Copiague

922 Montauk Hwy.

Beloved Italian staple Mama’s of Copiague has been the site of many celebratory meals over the decades. On its 50th anniversary, Mama's decided to double down and open a second location, in Carle Place. Originally founded by Graziella and Gaetano Pinello, now owned by the Sala family, siblings Nora, Adam and Ahmy will be at the helm of the bigger, second spot, following the from-scratch playbook set forth by the Copiague original, which has been doing it right for decades.

For the uninitiated, Mama’s trades in all things Italian American, so whether you want plain or novelty pizza, Mama’s sells slices from grandma ($5) to broccoli spinach Alfredo ($6.30) to shrimp pesto ($8.30). Mama’s pastas are dressed with one of 10 daily sauces, from vodka to clam to Bolognese. Mama’s 'roni rolls and eggplant rolls, calzones and chicken cutlet heroes are made fresh daily. Her main dishes come in enormous (we mean this ...) sized portions and range from Marsala to scarpariello, parmigiana to piccata. Seafood selections include shrimp scampi ($29.25), filet of sole Francese ($41) and seafood risotto ($42). For dessert? What else but tiramisu, cannoli and a variety of cheesecakes: Don’t miss the signature pistachio cheesecake.

In lieu of 50-year deals, weekly specials include pasta Mondays ($22.60), seafood Tuesdays — which feature 20+ dishes, including linguine with clam sauce, blackened salmon over pasta, flounder oreganata and shrimp parmigiana with a side salad, pasta, cheesecake and coffee or tea for just under $32. On Wednesdays, choose from eight cuts of steak and a glass of wine for just under $57. Chicken Thursdays include over 25 of Mama's chicken specials — all served over pasta, for under $26 — and range from cacciatori, piccata and pizzaiola. More information: 631-842-9889, biggermamas.com

80 Years: Front Street Bakery, Rockville Centre

51 Front St.

"As a little kid, I used to go down and make boxes with my grandmother," said Lisa Acerno, the third-generation owner of Front Street Bakery, which celebrates 80 years in business across from Rockville Centre’s LIRR station this year. Acerno’s parents, John Wohlfarth Jr. and Arlene Wohlfarth, never pushed her or her brother to work in the family baking business, but the siblings "always had a hand in it. I went to secretarial school. I worked in the city for a year, but I always would work at the bakery on a Saturday, helping my mother out."

The Rockville Centre native nods to her grandparents Julius "John" Wohlfarth Sr. and Frieda Kloepfer for the bakery’s humble beginnings, and now looks to the fourth generation — her son, Robert Acerno, and nephew Jeffrey "J.J." Wohlfarth Jr., named for Acerno’s brother, who died last year after a battle with pancreatic cancer — for its future. "It has definitely brought us closer," she said of now working with her son. "My other kids will say, he’s your favorite," said Acerno, who credited JJ and Robert with working out the details on the kitchen side, while she remains the face of the shop.

With its Danish crumb and seven layer cakes that patrons clamor for on Saturdays to the famous pink dot cookies, Acerno says she and her brother brought the shop "to the next level." They started serving coffee, making 3D and fondant cakes, and they offered more than "just pink dot" cookies for both special occasions and variety — plus the bonus of a free dot cookie to every child visiting the store. More information: 516-766-1199, frontstreetbakery.com

100 Years: Flo’s Famous Luncheonette, Blue Point

302 Middle Rd.

This darling, seasonal open-air luncheonette on the South Shore, which sits a block away from Corey Beach in Blue Point, kicked off the 2026 season by celebrating its 100th year in business. Featuring throwback pricing, carnival games, cornhole, face painting and a "Flo-Back" menu at the centennial celebration in May, Flo’s began as a modest sandwich stand when it was founded by Florence "Flo" Kimball in 1926.

Featuring an expansive garden full of shaded picnic tables and a walk-up window for ordering, the spot quickly became a to-go for beach eats for hungry sunbathers headed to the shores of the Great South Bay. In the 2000s, Dave Vigliotta and his family took over the eatery, which passed to son, Connor —  both of whom have menu items named after them — who sold to J&B Restaurant Partners three years ago. "We want people that haven’t been to Flo’s in a while to come back and to celebrate 100 years and to give back to the community," said J&B's chief operating officer Martin Grimes earlier this year, while also hoping the milestone would draw new customers. The "100 cent menu" included classics such as the cheeseburger, hot dog, grilled cheese, BLT with Canadian bacon, french fries and chicken fingers at $1 each. Those same staples are popular today, though the price tags have increased; the cheeseburger is now $11.50.

These days, Flo’s also serves breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. featuring BEC sandwiches, breakfast burritos and avocado toasts, while lunch and dinner options have been expanded to include chicken sandwiches, lobster rolls (MP), and wraps from chicken Caesar ($13.25) to fried clams ($14.95), plus fish sandwiches like grilled ahi tuna ($21.95) and Maryland crab cake ($19.95). "It’s nice to see something like this where it’s something that’s stuck for so many years," shared general manager Julie Kiley about the centennial. With luck, Flo’s will be around for another 100 years. More information: 888-356-7864, flosfamous.com