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Croxley’s Smithtown location opens with 80 taps and something different

 

Croxley’s partners, from left: Ed Davis, Joe Mendolia, Chris Werleand Jeff Piciullo inside the new Smithtown location.

Croxley’s Ales, the mini chain of craft beer bars, has opened the doors to its fifth location in Smithtown, Long Island.

Started 20 years ago in Franklin Square, Long Island, with an English pub theme, Croxley’s owners have taken a slightly different direction at their newest location. They’ve devoted a draft tower to German brews. Currently on offer are Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest, WarsteinerLager, Warsteiner Dunkel Lager, Warsteiner Oktoberfest and Hacker Pschorr Dunkel Weiss. The German brews are served in half liter and full liter steins, the Weiss beer in a 23 oz. vase.

Beer tower featuring German brews at Croxley’s Smithtown

Moreover, the new Croxley’s is the only one in the group to offer German culinary specialties on the menu, including wursts, sauerbraten, Wiener schnitzel, kessler ripchen, potato pancakes and a pretzel imported from Bavaria.

Behind the Teutonic accent is the newest Croxley’s outdoor beer garden, which is awaiting permitting and completion, co-owner Chris Werle told me as he watched over the filled-to-capacity bar and dining room on Friday night. Tables to be installed in the beer garden formerly were used by Paulaner in the brewery’s Oktoberfest tent in Munich.

The newest Croxley’s opened with little fanfare on Aug. 17. Just a week later patrons faced an hour’s wait to secure a table. The location seats 120.

The bar scene at new Croxley’s in Smithtown

To be sure, not all the draft beers are German. In fact, Werle said, they expect to devote 15 taps to beers from Long Island, from Brooklyn to Montauk.  Currently on tap are brews from Blue Point, Barrier, Long Ireland, Port Jeff, Greenport Harbor, Brooklyn and Sixpoint.

Croxley’s Smithtown came about at the behest of Suffolk County customers who patronized their bars in Nassau County and a query from the owner of Arthur Avenue, the Smithtown bar that Croxley’s replaced, about their interest in the site, Werle said. “It’s a great spot,” he noted.

The bar, tucked into a slope on the north side of West Main Street, adjacent to the railroad trestle, is not easy to spot. The only sign, for now, is one of vinyl facing west.

Meanwhile, there’s more going on in the Croxley group.  The Manhattan outpost, at 28 Ave. B, soon will double in size with addition of a neighboring building. And construction is underway at a sixth site, 63 Grand St., in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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