P.F. Chang's opens to-go-only location in Plainview
Chang's chicken lettuce wraps at P. F. Chang's in Lake Grove. Credit: Yvonne Albinowski
If your area code is 516 and you’ve been missing P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps, Dynamite shrimp, Crispy Honey chicken or Mongolian beef, relief has arrived in the form of P.F. Chang’s To Go in Plainview. The chain's new concept, which started rolling out last year, has a much smaller footprint, a slightly smaller menu and offers only takeout.
Nassau’s sole P.F. Chang’s, at Samanea New York (formerly the Source Mall) in Westbury, closed in March 2020, citing coronavirus as the reason. The new location, in Plainview Centre, takes over the old e.l.f. cosmetics store between Chocolate Works and Northwell Health’s Urgent Care. (Long Island’s other two locations are at Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station, which is open for dine-in, delivery and takeout, and Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, open only for delivery and takeout.)
According to Damola Adamolekun, CEO, the company had already embarked on a strategy that focused on off-premise dining when "we experienced a year that brought an incredible shift in dining habits and industry practices." The first To Go locations opened in Chicago; the next four, in Manhattan, theretofore a P.F. Chang-free zone. More locations are planned for Florida, Colorado and Texas.
Even though there’s no dining area, the new venue still exhibits P.F. Chang’s opulent décor. All cooking is done on the premises and the menu, which was edited to eliminate dishes that don’t travel well, is only slightly abbreviated — five dim sum items instead of six, 11 lunch bowls instead of 15, 19 mains instead of 21.
For now, all orders must be done online or via the P.F. Chang’s app, and it’s pickup only; delivery will probably be added at a later date.
373 S. Oyster Bay Road, Plainview, 516-534-5274, pfchangs.com.
