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blackwell's pub great rock wading river

Photo by Steve Rossin

wading river blackwell's great rock

In a time when many people are watching their bottom line, it’s hard to find a place where you can expect high quality food at a reasonable price.

Well, Blackwell’s in Wading River is looking to provide just that.

The restaurant, which is a part of Great Rock Golf Club, is giving themselves a bit of an image makeover by changing their menu and dining room to reflect a more pub-like atmosphere in hopes of bringing in new customers. They’ve even tweaked their name from Blackwell’s Restaurant to Blackwell’s Pub. A bit of a different feel from the high-end steakhouse persona they have portrayed for so long.

The new menu features an array of burgers, steaks, sandwiches and salads at more affordable prices, and the craft beer is flowing freely. Brian Curtin, the manager at Blackwell’s and Great Rock, has been considering making these changes going back to this past fall.

“During the week a fine-dining, white-table cloth restaurant that averages 40 -50 dollars a person isn’t something everyone wants to come out for on Monday night for no reason,” Mr. Curtin said, “My personal experiences going out with my wife during the week is something more casual, a little more on the quick side, relaxed and not so expensive.”

The restaurant took to social media asking their customers what they would like to see put on the menu. Their feedback weighed in quite heavily on the finished product.

“In any business you would be foolish not to listen to the people who are already coming to you,” Mr. Curtin said. “In the course of a week and a month I probably talked to 200 people and asked what they would like to see and what they didn’t like, whether it’s positive or negative feedback that’s my job to hear both of that and come up with an end result, which is where {the new menu} was really born from.”

In addition to the new menu, Blackwell’s has fostered a relationship with local breweries including Long Ireland and Blue Point Brewery, which are in tap in the bar room. They have a brand new 14 tap tower with several different craft beers to choose from. The restaurant has also added high top tables and will add televisions to the dining room by football season.

blackwell's pub wading river great rock
Photo by Steve Rossin

Blackwell’s is also hoping that these new changes will help them shed the false assumption that it is a private country club restaurant, which has been a challenge they have been faced with over the years.

“It’s a big hurdle for us, it’s a good problem because we have such a nice facility but there’s a lot of people still left in the area that think it’s a private club, but it’s definitely not the case. Our total business is 90 percent public so we’d be nothing without the public,” Mr. Curtin said

“We know this area is full of good people, and we wanted to give them a beautiful setting and quality food that is priced right and just to come out, have fun and relax.”

blackwell's pub wading river great rock golf
Photo by Steve Rossin

 

 

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