Dang BBQ held onto its Islip location for as long as it could but, after eight years, owner Anthony Mastrantonio had to admit that it was time to consolidate the operation with its larger, newer sibling in Seaford. The last day of business will be Oct. 30.
“I probably should have made the call three years ago,” he said. “Our dine-in never fully recovered from the pandemic and, since then, alcohol sales — which are supposed to help carry you — have been down too.”
“But this is my community,” he continued. “I grew up here, I live here. I wanted Dang to survive here even if we only broke even.”
While restaurants of every stripe and price point are struggling, Mastrantonio believes that barbecue comes with its own set of challenges. “First,” he explained, “it’s not a food that people on Long Island grew up eating — like pizza or bagels or even Chinese. Second, people associate barbecue with vacation travel.”
What this means for the local barbecue purveyor is that customers who eat Italian or Chinese once a week might only crave barbecue every few months. And, he said, “the takeout that sat for 30 minutes in the car may not compare to the amazing experience they had waiting on line for this famous brisket in Texas.”
Dang got a reprieve in February when Mastrantonio posted a heartfelt message on social media announcing the restaurant’s imminent closure. The outcry was loud and swift, amplified by other local business owners who offered support. “In the week following my post,” he recalled, “our business tripled. It carried us through Lent [always a bad time for barbecue spots] and then catering helped us through the summer. But the vast majority of customers were people who had been here before and wanted to come one last time.”
Dang BBQ of Islip took over the old Seaford Diner and rebranded it as Dang Roadhouse. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Actually, there’s no reason for anyone to think they have had their last Dang fix — or that this year’s smoked Thanksgiving turkey is in jeopardy. In 2020, Mastrantonio took over the old Seaford Diner and opened Dang Roadhouse, which supplements its barbecue offerings with Southern and Tex Mex specialties, plus breakfast and brunch dishes. Large scale barbecue catering will continue using the kitchen at Islip’s Marconi Manor, owned by the Mastrantonio family. There’s also the Dang BBQ truck that’s a fixture at Long Island Ducks home games in Central Islip and makes regular appearances at street fairs and public events. (Follow @thatdangtruck on Instagram).
Even though Islip’s last supper will be on Oct. 30, Mastrantonio is planning a going-away bash for either Nov. 1 or 2 that will be a fundraiser for Corey’s Promise, a charity that helps families offset the financial burdens incurred when a child is diagnosed with cancer. “We’ll announce the specifics on our social media. Folks can pay what they want and help us drink what’s left of the inventory,” he said. “We thought it would be a fitting way to say goodbye to the community.”
Erica Marcus, a passionate but skeptical omnivore, has been reporting and opining on the Long Island food scene since 1998.