Burger Haven returns to Huntington

Could it be? Is Burger Haven coming back? Huntington Village has been abuzz with questions since a "coming soon" banner was hung over the former Kick’N Chicken sign at 339 New York Ave.

Savvy observers noted that while the name, lettering and burger-proffering-little-boy mascot were the same, the name "Conte’s" was missing. It was brothers John and Carl Conte who opened Burger Haven at 76 E. Pulaski Rd. in Huntington Station in 1961, and John’s son, Robert Conte, who closed it in 2008.

So is the new Burger Haven a continuation of the old one? Sort of, said co-owner Paul Hansen. It’s complicated.

Two years ago, Hansen and his partners (who also own The Coop in Farmingdale plus six locations of Cactus Cafe) bought the freestanding building that had been Conte’s Burger Haven. By then, the property was owned by Mark Salese, longtime operator of Marco’s Pizza. Salese, it turned out, had an agreement with Robert Conte to keep some of Burger Haven’s most popular items on his pizza menu, namely the Big Boy, a quarter-pound cheeseburger.

Marco’s stayed open until May, when Hansen’s group began a renovation to turn it into a new pizzeria, Paulie’s, which opened Friday. Over the years, they had all gotten friendly and so they invited Salese to look at a small space they were leasing in Huntington Village. They’d opened it as Kick’N Chicken in 2023 but closed it in December. "The sales just weren’t there," Hansen explained, "but we kept the lease."

The men hatched a plan for the former chicken joint: What if they opened a Burger Haven? Salese introduced them to Robert Conte and, Hansen said, "He gave us the OK, but asked us not to use the family name. He even gave us some advice on how they made some of their items."

While the original Burger Haven offered burgers, chicken, fish and, toward the end, tacos and quesadillas, the new incarnation has a very tight menu of burgers — including the Big Boy ($5 for a single, $9.25 for a double), a chicken sandwich, hand-cut fries and onion rings (both fried in beef tallow) plus sodas and milkshakes.

While the restaurant's planned opening had to be delayed due to a water issue, the new spot debuted in August.

Burger Haven, 339 New York Ave., Huntington, 516-736-2593, burgerhavenli.com. Open Sunday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11:30 to 1 a.m.