Wonder expands to Westbury, 7 more Long Island locations coming
The new Wonder in Westbury. Credit: Wonder
Billing itself as a "new kind of food hall," Wonder lets diners order popular menu items from well-known restaurants in one place — a celebrity chef ghost kitchen with no celebrities or chefs, if you will. On the heels of the first Long Island Wonder storefront opening in Melville, the chain has expanded to Westbury and has seven more locations planned to open here through the end of the year.
Diners can mix and match say, Jonathan Waxman’s roasted chicken with salsa verde and crispy rosemary Parmesan potatoes from Barbuto. Or try Marcus Samuelsson’s fried chicken (made famous at Streetbird in Harlem) alongside brisket from the Texas barbecue spot Tejas, or Bobby Flay's steak in one meal or delivery/takeout order.
Besides signature dishes from headlining chefs, Wonder offers Hawaiian poke, DiFara pizza, Thai from SriPraPhai, kids’ meals from Bellies, and dishes from Yasas, a Mediterranean bowl concept by Michael Symon — over 20 concepts in all — all prepared in the Wonder kitchen.
With on-site dining, the sites have the casual feel of a takeout counter, but a significant draw is ordering for pickup or home delivery via the Wonder app. The Westbury store also introduces Wonder Local, which lets customers tap popular non-Wonder restaurants for simultaneous delivery through the app or website. (Think: DoorDash via the Wonder app.) However, those orders need to be placed separately at checkout, as Wonder doesn’t combine orders from Wonder restaurants and local restaurants in the same transaction.
The company's expansion has been rapid, and is nearly inescapable. After starting as a meal delivery service in 2020, Wonder opened its first brick-and-mortar kitchen in 2023 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since then, Wonder has acquired the meal delivery kit brand Blue Apron, the restaurant delivery giant Grubhub and the streaming home cooking service Tastemade — all doing very different things in the food space. Wonder has opened locations in Walmart and Cumberland Farms, while bringing in over $700 million in new investment. There are now more than 60 Wonder locations along the East Coast with more coming to Long Island this year, said Jason Rusk, the company's executive vice president of restaurant operations.
Those include East Meadow, Deer Park, Holbrook and Plainview (slated to open in November) followed by Port Jefferson, Bellmore and Oceanside in December.
Wonder, 1260 Old Country Rd., Westbury, 855-818-5755, wonder.com; Open daily 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
