Meadowlands Sports Bar opens in East Meadow
Meadowlands Sports Bar and Restaurant has opened on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, Feb. 5, 2015 Credit: Newsday/ Erica Marcus
Raymond Mayleas is determined to bring stability to one of Long Island’s most volatile addresses. His Meadowlands Sports Bar & Restaurant opened Thursday at 2367 Hempstead Tpke. in East Meadow, a location that housed seven restaurants from 2008 to 2014.
“We’re making a fresh start,” Mayleas said. “And we think we’ve got the right formula for East Meadow.” Mayleas’ formula is a straight-ahead sports bar, with 16 television screens, 10 beers on tap, another 16 in bottles, and a cogent menu of game-friendly appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches and half-pound burgers (all less than $15), plus a little fish, a little chicken, a little steak and a handful of pastas (most well under $20). A children’s menu features seven items for $6.95 (including a small drink). Chef Al Iadanza used to cook at Stuart Thomas Manor in Farmingdale.
The revolving door on Hempstead Turnpike has long perplexed local restaurant-watchers. The Italian restaurant Arthur Ave. opened in the space in 1997 and had a long run. In 2008, the Singh Hospitality Group took over the location with the steakhouse Louis & Marxx. Later that year, the steakhouse gave way to Ruby’s Famous BBQ, and over the next five years, Ruby’s was succeeded by the Singh ventures BeSi, Long Fin, RUB BBQ, Kansas City Smokehouse and Fuego Picante, which closed last year.
Mayleas worked at the Singh restaurant Singleton’s in Bethpage in the early 2000s. “If you can come here and have a good burger and a beer for $20, we’ve done our job,” he said.
Meadowlands Sports Bar & Restaurant is at 2367 Hempstead Tpke., East Meadow, 516-597-5152.
