Long Island's legacy eateries make FeedMe's Top 50 restaurants list

Our annual list of Long Island’s Top 50 restaurants has arrived. It is designed to delight, to reveal, to explain and, yes, to inspire debate.

Our fervent hope is that we will lead you to a wonderful spot you’ve never been to, whether it’s a hidden gem you’ve driven by a hundred times or a distant eatery worthy of a meal-focused day trip.

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The list has never been more diverse, celebrating cuisines as far flung as Peruvian, Egyptian and Korean alongside our considered — and much-debated — picks for best Italian, Chinese, steakhouses and other competitive categories. Geographically, the restaurants extend from Great Neck to East Hampton — with stops in towns not generally regarded as hotbeds of culinary excellence. This year, more than 10 of the 50 restaurants are new to the list.

But, as the saying goes: Make new friends, but keep the old. One of our favorite categories is "legacy" restaurants, nine establishments that have been around for at least 20 years with the same owners, the same concept and, most critically, the same unwavering commitment to quality.

While the last two decades have wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry — the vagaries of social media and influencer culture, skyrocketing prices and wages, plummeting alcohol sales — these spots stay the course. In an unpredictable world, is there a greater comfort than the towering pastrami sandwich at Lido Kosher Deli in Long Beach (celebrating its 40th birthday this year)? Or sidling up to the counter at Bigelow’s in Rockville Centre for a heaping platter of fried clams? With its gabled roof, striped awnings and neon sign, the building has barely changed since it opened in 1939. When the Andreolas family bought the place in 1991, they recognized the perfection of founder Russ Bigelow's vision, and dedicated themselves to preserving it (though, during the pandemic, they added a deck that is peeled down to the screens in the summer, zipped up and heated in the winter, doubling the eatery's capacity).

While many Long Island steakhouses have beefed up their menus with sushi, burrata and more, there's little at Bryant & Cooper in Roslyn that wasn’t served in 1986, when George and Gillis Poll opened the first link of what became their glittering Gold Coast restaurant chain. It's still the place to see and be seen, but the scene never overshadows the cuisine. And, long before most Long islanders knew what omakase was, sushi buffs were heading to a modest strip mall in Westbury, taking a seat at the even-more-modest sushi bar and handing the reins of their dinner over to chef Taka Yamaguchi, who opened Taka Sushi in 2005.

Is there a spot more simpatico to vegetarians than House of Dosas in Hicksville? Since 1999, it's been delighting the meat-free set with its huge menu of dosas (manhole-cover-sized crepes), uthappams (smaller, but thicker) and other glories of the Southern Indian table. And there is certainly no better reason to drive to East Quogue than dinner at Stone Creek Inn, now entering its third decade as the closest thing we have to that French country inn that blends mom-and-pop comfort with elegant service and stellar food.

Whether it’s a legacy eatery or a relative rookie making its sophomore appearance, we regularly assess each restaurant to ensure it is not resting on its laurels or, as happens not infrequently, hasn’t been surpassed by another place that is doing the same thing — only better. As with all Feed Me coverage throughout the year, we do not collaborate with restaurants: We pay our own way and strive to dine anonymously.

And with that, let's dig in! Read the entire list of this year's 50 best restaurants at Newsday.com/Top50.