Italian Restaurant Opens Third Location In Bay Shore

BAY SHORE, NY - Amid the pandemic, a popular Italian restaurant opened its third location in Bay Shore this month. Butera's, which has a locations in Sayville and Woodbury, opened its latest eatery on 8 Third Avenue on Sept. 1.

Owner Martin Butera, who opened the new restaurant alongside his wife, Laurie Butera; his brother, Gary Butera; his partner, Nick Zografos and brother-in-law, David Novack, says he has been receiving positive feedback from the community so far.

"I'm happy to say [the reception] has been very positive," he told Patch. "The feedback has been very good."

While it might seem risky to open during the pandemic, the new eatery has been a long time in the making. Butera first got the idea to open in the Bay Shore area in 2013, before finally signing the lease in the summer of 2016.

"Overall it's been great, we're really taking to the town too, it's really active and really vibrant," Butera said.

Butera said he's always like the area and the downtown environment.

"There's energy here that's really nice," he said.

While this isn't the first restaurant he opened, this is the first during a pandemic - which Butera said came with a lot of uncertainty.

"When you open a new place, you have the uncertainty of whether or not you're going to be receiving customers and how to get the word out but now you have that uncertainty combined with how many people are willing to come in because of COVID," he said.

Butera said he adheres to all the protocols at the restaurants including required mask wearing, spreading out all the tables, installing sanitizing stations all over the restaurants and sanitizing tables after every use, among others. There is also outdoor seating to provide more space for customers.

"It's another layer of training and preparation and that's what we had to do here and that's how it's different than just opening a new place," he said.

The Bay Shore restaurant will be different from the other two Butera's in a few ways. For one, the new location is described as more "current in design and style" than the other two restaurants. In addition, rather than family style, the food is served a la carte.

The new eatery also has a more casual menu, focusing on their takeout. The popular Italian dishes, such as the veal chop parm, have quickly become a Bay Shore favorite, as well as the fresh homemade ricotta, which is made at 5 a.m. every morning.

All photos courtesy of Martin Butera