That Meetball Place opens in Farmingdale

That Meetball Place, a key player in Patchogue’s culinary revival, is betting on another burgeoning downtown: Farmingdale. The casual, meatball-centric gastropub has just opened in what used to be Van Kemenade Paints.

The Farmingdale location has the same ownership team and chef (John Hesse) that opened Patchogue in 2014, and the same menu, too. There are soups, starters and salads ($6 to $15) but the main event is the meatballs. Choose among nine “ball” varieties: classic (beef, pork and veal), chicken, buffalo chicken, spicy lamb, “balls of fire” (pork, chorizo and black beans), lobster risotto, vegetarian risotto, eggplant pesto, wheat-free vegetable. Then choose a sauce: marinara, mushroom-cream, pesto, spicy Asian, pancetta cream or tzatziki. Finally, choose a style: four in a bowl with focaccia ($9), four over pasta ($14), four with cheese ravioli ($17), one as a slider ($3, or $3.75 with cheese) or three on a baguette with salad ($12).

It’s a big restaurant, with dining rooms and bars upstairs and downstairs, plus an all-weather veranda out back.

Farmingdale’s Main Street dining scene has been heating up. Led by Caracara Mexican Grill, Rolling Spring Roll and Hush Bistro, the last few months have seen the opening of Soup-or-Hero Kitchen, Lithology Brewing and Vespa Italian Kitchen & Bar.

That Meetball Place is at 206 Main St., Farmingdale, 516-586-8880, thatmeetballplaceli.com