New Health Food Store Opens In Deer Park

DEER PARK, NY — Business owner Tony Mavruk opened not one, but two new stores during the pandemic.

Mavruk first opened a restaurant several years ago, but later discovered he needed something to supplement that business to help keep it alive. For several years, Mavruk, along with help from his wife Liana Mavruk, had been selling healthy meals and snacks to local gyms.

Liana, who is a bodybuilder, would even make her own special protein muffins, which she calls "buffins," which quickly became a big hit. The couple decided to expand on that healthy food business and open the first HummusFit in Holbrook in 2015.

The business focuses on meal prep which was inspired by the couple's interest in fitness.

The two then began selling the "buffins" along with other chef-prepared, fresh, and healthy meals. The business even received the Best of Long Island award for best healthy eatery in 2021.

Then in 2019, Mavruk expanded the business opening the second location in Selden. He had planned to expand before the pandemic hit. Once coronavirus hit Long Island, he had a tough decision to make.

"Everyone took a big hit but we didn't give up, we kept working hard and we kept doing what we had to do to stay alive," he told Patch. "We were ready to grow before the pandemic and once the pandemic hit it was either you give up or you have to make the sacrifices and grow."

That's when he decided to open the main hub kitchen in Ronkonkoma last year and finally, the most recent location in Deer Park.

The new location is located next to the ProFit gym on 41 Mercedes Way. In addition to being close to the gym, Mavruk wanted to open in Deer Park to make it easier for his customers.

"People didn't want to travel now due to COVID, so we had to open where the customers are," he said. "We worked really hard to get meals to customers with minimal work for them."

He also wanted a hub to serve customers in western Suffolk and Nassau. Customers have the choice to either have their meals delivered or picked up at the store.

The meals use restaurant-quality ingredients, using a local butcher, the Medford-based Cubs Meat, to get custom blend meats.

Since the new store opened about a month ago, Mavruk said the Deer Park location has been very busy and that he has gotten good feedback from customers.