Patchogue Waterfront Restaurant Drift 82 Looks To Extend Outdoor Dining

PATCHOGUE, NY — The owners of the waterfront restaurant Drift 82 in Patchogue are looking to extend approval for outdoor dining under a tent that was obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant's owner, John Sarno, is appealing to the village's Planning Department to extend the use of a 40-foot by 50-foot tent in the restaurant's parking lot from April 15 until Oct. 15, and plans to have valet parking at the South Shore Boat Yard nearby, according to his application.

The tent has allowed the restaurant to host larger private events which has helped the restaurant survive, Sarno told the board at a recent public hearing, Greaterlongisland.com reported.

“There’s not much money to be made in this business right now … so anything that we can do to keep our business alive and sustained, we’re trying to do,” he said.

But board member Dennis Logan questioned Sarno's motives, telling him that he knew the number of seats he could have, but has now expanded beyond "the means and bounds,” the outlet reported.

Logan went on to call the restaurant, which is situated in a residential neighborhood, "a nuisance," adding, "Just to say you’re going to put the tent back up and nothing is going to change, that’s unacceptable.”

For more in greaterlongisland.com, click here.