Long Island breweries tap into the family vibe
Nika Ogievetsky and Carson Aksnes with their 8-month-old, Anneliese, at Bright Eye Beer Co. in Long Beach. Credit: Linda Rosier
An acoustic guitar duo sings "When Will I Be Loved," the music covering the sounds of children playing indoors at the Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore while parents enjoy a beer and a Giants game on the big screens one recent Sunday afternoon.
Michael Fusco, 38, of Ronkonkoma, who works in sales, has brought his son, Anthony, 3, and daughter, Melody, 4 months old. Anthony tosses a miniature football to Fusco’s co-worker Josh Dellett, 24, of Hauppauge. "Not so hard. Throw it soft," says Fusco while holding Melody. "He loves anywhere he can run around a bit."
Some breweries on Long Island embrace families as a target market, welcoming them into cavernous indoor beer halls with long picnic-style tables, offering games like Uno or cornhole and special events such as contests in which kids compete to eat a doughnut hanging from a string without using their hands.
"Some of my favorite regulars are under the age of 10," jokes Nikki Torres, a Great South Bay Brewery bartender.
Lisa Kuster, left, and Kristin Bass, both of Massapequa, visit Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore with their kids, from left, Sophia Kuster, 4, Jacob Bass, 4, and Olivia Bass, 2. Credit: Rick Kopstein
While some breweries across the country have banned children, that’s not the case on Long Island, brewery managers and owners say. "We’re always going to be a kid-friendly, family-friendly place," says Luke Heneghan, who co-owns Bright Eye Beer Co. in Long Beach. "We’ve read articles about kids being an issue, but we haven’t had a major issue with parents not being in control of their kids. It’s not a free-for-all. It’s not ‘Lord of the Flies’ in here." That classic novel often read in high schools is about a group of boys stranded on a deserted island who devolve into violence.
Some breweries reserve the right to limit families during certain times. At Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, a sign next to a children’s arcade machine with stuffed animal prizes reminds: "No kids or dogs after 6 p.m. on Saturdays. After 6 p.m. we become a 21+ establishment."
A COMMUNITY SPACE
Amanda Adjami, of Albertson, with her 2-year-old, Kayla, at Great South Bay Brewery. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Danielle Sharaby-Glasser, 40, a nurse practitioner from Long Beach, spends a recent Sunday at Bright Eye with her husband, Joseph Glasser, 45, who works in sales, and their children, Ryan, 11, Jolie, 8, and Everett, 3. She calls breweries community spaces. "We like to play Uno as a family when we come here," Sharaby-Glasser says.
Ryan plays cornhole outside in front of the brewery with Everett. "I like their Shirley Temples, and I like to play pool upstairs," Ryan says. "It’s a place where you can just chill."
People typically don't visit a brewery with the goal of getting drunk, says Brendan Maxim, the brewer at Bright Eye. Breweries usually only sell beer, not other types of alcohol, he says.
It’s not like a bar. If you saw kids running around, you’d be like, ‘What’s going on here?’ People come here, it’s more for an experience. People are here to get out of the house and hang out. You aren’t coming here to do shots.
— Brandon Maxim, the brewer at Bright Eye
Dan LaManna, 39, a teacher from Long Beach, calls Bright Eye "a fun meeting place. I’m not going to bring my kids to a regular bar. It’s definitely a different vibe here." LaManna brought his children Greyson, 7, and Dahlia, 5.
One patron describes the brewery as a middle ground between gathering at home and visiting a more intense partying venue. Others say it allows parents to socialize and be with their children at the same time. And kids aren’t the only family members people can bring — families even bring along their dogs.
The upstairs room at the two-story Bright Eye has open space and couches and chairs, and children are running and playing during the brewery’s annual fall festival. A mother and son play cards at one table; at another, children color while their parents relax.
ANY COMPLAINTS?
Lorenz Zaragoza, 38, who lives in Long Beach and works in sales, passes a recent Sunday afternoon at Bright Eye with his six children, ages 8, 6, 5, 3, 2 and 1. It allows him and his wife, Katie, 36, a stay-at-home mother, to enjoy some time out without having to hire a babysitter, he says.
Michael Fusco, 38, of Ronkokoma, with his 4-month-old, Melody, at Great South Bay Brewery. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Fusco says he likes that he can bring his toddler and baby to the Great South Bay Brewery and give his wife, Ashley, 35, who works in purchasing, a needed break. "My wife has time to herself," Fusco says. "Hopefully taking a nap."
Luke Mason, 29, who works in marketing, and Sara Frank, 29, a data analyst, don’t have children. They stop at Great South Bay Brewery for a meal on their way home to New Jersey after a friend’s wedding. They say sharing space with kids doesn’t bother them.
"As long as they’re well-behaved, it really doesn’t make a difference," Mason says.
Do other patrons ever complain about children being in the brewery?
"We do," says Christopher Chiarelli, who works as a bartender at Great South Bay. It’s frustrating when people don’t supervise their children and they’re running around where they shouldn’t be, he says. "This isn’t a day care," he says.
"At the end of the day, it’s an adult space," Torres says. "We don’t care if kids get up and move about. They just have to be supervised at all times. It’s when it’s getting a little unruly it's difficult."
As for whether there's a concern about exposing young children to a setting where alcohol is served, Laura Siddons, who runs The Nesting Place family wellness center in Farmingdale, Yaphank and Merrick, says so long as parents are being safe and choosing a designated driver, she doesn't see an issue. She has gone to breweries occasionally with her 7- year-old twins and 9-year-old.
"It's a very personal decision. As a mother myself, I don't think a child in a brewery is the issue per se. It's what we're doing while we're there," she says. She points out that parents take children to restaurants where adults order drinks. "You go to a fall festival, they're serving alcohol there, too. We live in a culture where kids are around parents drinking all the time," she says.
Kathleen Rivera, a licensed social worker and executive director and chief executive officer of the Roslyn Heights-based North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, encourages parents to make sure they ask themselves why they are choosing a brewery for a family outing when there are so many other choices on Long Island. If they have a family history of substance abuse or trauma involving alcohol, for instance, a better choice would be other places that have a different type of focus, she says.
CHILDREN PLAY NEARBY
The Kuster and Bass families bring their children to Great South Bay Brewery after picking pumpkins at the nearby Brightwaters Farms. They monitor the children, Kuster siblings Sophia, 4, and Aidan, 2, and Bass siblings Jacob, 4, and Olivia, 2, as they play near the table. "They can make a mess and no one cares. It’s loud, so you can make noise. They can take up as much space as they want," says Alex Bass, 34, a project manager from Massapequa Park.
Aidan had just spilled his water under the table. But the reaction of the brewery sums up why families like it.
Says Patrick Kuster, 38, a wealth adviser from Massapequa: "Nobody cares about spilled water. Get the pun?"
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
