Long Island Bar

The Long Island Bar & Restaurant was owned and run for over 50 years by Emma Sullivan, her husband Buddy, and her cousins Pepita and Maruja. Buddy and Emma took over the bar from Emma's father, Ramon Montero, who opened it in 1951. Emma’s and Buddy’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are based in the bar's surrounding neighborhoods. Joel Tompkins and Toby Cecchini restored and re-opened the bar in 2013. Cecchini owned the Manhattan bar Passerby. He is also the author of Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life and a columnist for The New York Times' T Magazine. Tompkins co-founded the underground restaurant Coach Peaches. The Long Island Bar's kitchen is led by Executive Chef James Bailey, who follows in the tradition of Texas-born chefs at Long Island Bar. Bailey worked as a chef for over a decade in his hometown of Austin, TX, before spending 4 ½ years running kitchens in Marfa, TX, including at The Capri, Cochineal, and the Hotel Saint George. He moved to Brooklyn in July 2022 and was most recently cooking at Miss Ada in Fort Greene.