15 new Pudgie's to open across LI

Call him Mr. Pudgie's.

Aman Singh of Central Islip, who already owns three Pudgie's chicken restaurants on Long Island, will be the "development agent" for 15 more in Nassau and Suffolk. The designation comes from Manhattan-based Trufoods Llc, a fast-food franchiser that purchased the chain two years ago. Singh will franchise out the 15 stores during the next few years.

"I am proud" to be Mr. Pudgie, said Singh, 31, who came to the United States from his native India 12 years ago and graduated in 2004 from Stony Brook University with a degree in computer science. After graduation Singh was hired as a technical analyst by Citigroup. His wife, Rosy, worked at a cell-phone store in East Islip.

On his days off, Singh said, he would visit his wife, and they would buy lunch at the Pudgie's restaurant next door.

"I always loved the food," Singh said. "My wife said, 'The food is so great. Why don't you buy' the restaurant?' " He did, in 2005. He bought another in West Islip and another in Shirley in the next few years.

"I believe in it," Singh said.

Pudgie's was once a popular name on Long Island. In the 1990s there were about 38 of them here. Now there are five. Consumers moved to healthier foods. A revamped Pudgie's now features spinach, sweet potatoes, salads and grilled chicken.

Gary Occhiogrosso, Trufoods chief development officer, said plans call for about 20 Pudgie's in the metro area, including the ones on Long Island. "Since the Pudgie's brand name is so well known in the Long Island and New York area, our strategy is to bring the brand back to where people know it," Occhiogrosso said.