Riverhead's Moonfish Brewery closes
“Girl lunch” from Moonfish Brewery in Riverhead served in a jumbo martini glass. Credit: Newsday/Melissa Azofeifa
Moonfish Brewery has closed after just less than a year in Riverhead. Rob Kurtz, co-owner and director of operations, confirmed to Newsday that the brewery, which overlooks the Peconic River, permanently closed on Aug. 30.
Moonfish Brewery opened in October of last year in the space that used to be Riverhead Brew House on East Main Street. Riverhead Brew House was run by Lily Flanagan’s Restaurant Group and provided beer for its sibling restaurants, including Lily Flanagan’s, The Villager and The Local in Babylon, Oakdale Brew House and The Wharf in Oakdale, and The Villager in Farmingdale, Newsday previously reported. It was Peconic County Brewing Company before that.
Moonfish Brewery had about 15 beers on tap and also offered mocktails and cocktails such as the cranberry ginger sparkler made with cranberry juice, ginger ale and lime.
In their last social media post before closing four days ago, they announced the final new beer, the "Laughing Gull Lager," which was described as a "bodied rice lager with bready malt flavor, subtle rice sweetness, low bitterness and a snappy finish."
"And rest assured — this is not the end of the Moonfish BEER journey," the post reads. " We hope if possible, to get our beer out there to farmers markets eventually around the island but TDB on that."
Kurtz declined to comment further on the closing.
The menu included the viral "girl lunch," a Caesar salad with grilled chicken and fries served in a jumbo martini glass and dishes like the chopped Philly cheese or the caprese chicken.
Moonfish Brewery, 221 E. Main St., Suite 5, Riverhead, moonfishbrew.com
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday's FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.
