While there’s no shortage of places in Farmingdale to grab a bite to eat, The Main Event, a new restaurant located at 1815 Broad Hollow Road, is making a compelling argument for locals to try them out.
Family owned by Gerry Constantatos and his sons Alex and Mike, The Main Event, their second endeavor into the restaurant field after the successful opening of their original location 11 years ago, is proof that the food business clearly runs in their family’s blood.
“We’ve worked in our father’s restaurants for years, and then we left for other career paths,” said co-owner Alex Constantatos. “But eventually, my brother and I decided that we wanted to get back into restaurants, so in 2002 we purchased place on Old Country Road called Sluggo’s, which was a sports bar and grill, and converted to more of a family-style restaurant.”
“We’re a family-run business and we have a relaxed sports bar atmosphere,” Mike Constantatos added. “What sets us apart is the food. A lot of people come in here for the burgers or the wings, but because we’re also in the seafood business we have lobster, clams on the half-shell, oysters…we gat a bar crowd, but the base of our business is the families that come in.”
Over the years, the two brothers were passively looking for a second area that would be ideal for a second Main Event; when the former Kodiak’s Restaurant and Bar location in Farmingdale presented itself, they jumped at the opportunity, Alex said.
“We did quite an extensive upgrade to the location,” he said. “We re-did the entire kitchen…that was the most important thing. There was a lot of old equipment that was not set up to produce the five-page menu we have.”
In addition, they also re-surfaced the floor, separated the restaurant area into four rooms, supped-up the entire audio/visual aspect with new televisions, re-did every table, chair, and booth, added a new tap system, and converted one of the bar areas into a dedicated dessert station. Upon entering The Main Event, customers are greeted by an expansive space filled dark wood, plentiful seating, and an astonishing 60 widescreen television sets that are tuned into everything from national sporting events to cartoons for the kids.
Despite the jitters that one might feel regarding opening a new business considering the unstable economy currently plaguing the nation, Alex said that he is nonetheless confident that, with some hard work and perseverance, The Main Event of Farmingdale can potentially meet or even exceed the success of their original location.
“I would say the most nerve-wracking thing was getting the location up and running and making sure it mirrors what we do in Plainview in respects to our high-quality food,” he said. “From a financial perspective, the hard part in a restaurant such as ours is that during the summer months weekends can be a little slower. So, getting through the summer months and make sure we’re prepared for football season is something very important to us.”
Opening in Farmingdale on May 23 but only celebrating their grand opening now, Alex said that there are a few aspects of The Main Event that enables it to have a distinct advantage over other local area eateries.
“One of the great things about The Main Event is that one of the owners is always at the restaurant…you always have someone to relay a positive or negative message to,” he said. “But what I really think sets up apart is we try and make as much of the food in-house as possible, and we try to give the best possible service that we can.”
Mike echoed his brother’s sentiments, saying that Farmingdale represents a big opportunity to expand The Main Event into a big-name restaurant among the community.
“It’s very exciting and it’s a very big challenge,” he said. “We care very much about all the little details…we know there’s a lot of competition out there, but we want people to know that if they come in, we’ll treat you like we like to be treated…make you feel very wanted and taken care of.”
