After a year and a half of paperwork and construction, Lunchbox Brewing opened its new taproom in Bellmore last October — and has been working hard to keep up with demand from packed crowds ever since.
Lunchbox was the first brewery to open on the South Shore of Nassau County in five years, leaving many craft beer lovers in the area with no local taproom.
“There were no breweries stretching from Rockville Centre to Seaford,” said Matt Campion, one of four Lunchbox co-founders. “So we saw a great opportunity to fill that attractive market gap.”
The brewery also found a receptive home in the Bellmore community.
“We’re grateful for the backing from the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce and everyone who supported us through the start-up process,” said Campion.
When asked how long the process took, co-founder Leonzo Cuiman knew the exact number right away.
“Five hundred twenty-two days from when we signed the lease to our opening,” said Cuiman. “But it was worth it when we saw how great everything turned out.”
The 2,000-square-foot space, which previously housed a discount retailer, needed to be completely rezoned. To support six tons of weight from the new five-barrel Craftmasters brewhouse, a new concrete footing and high-strength steel columns and beams were installed in the basement. The founders also wanted to open up the space and pushed out the storefront by four feet to accommodate roll-up garage doors.
The results are impressive as Lunchbox’s taproom is sleek and airy, featuring white tiles and a long marble-topped bar with 20 chrome taps and a large lunchbox logo. The name originated from Matt’s brother and co-founder Pat Campion, a civil engineer who worked in Prague a few years ago on heavy construction projects.
“The Czech Republic consumes the most beer per capita of any country worldwide,” said Campion. “And I saw workers bringing non-alcohol beers in tin lunchboxes to have on their meal break.”
As a nod to that custom, Lunchbox Brewing serves its beer flights in old-school metal lunchboxes.
Pat Campion and co-founder Rich Citrola are homebrewers and spent over six years experimenting and building recipes, including several of their beers now on tap. When they decided to start the brewery, the founders tapped brewmaster Jimmy Carlin, who had been an assistant brewer at several Long Island breweries for more than 10 years. The founders’ love of Czech pilsners inspired Lunchbox to focus more heavily on lagers than most craft breweries.
“We’re brewing a wide variety of styles so we can serve not only IPAs and other ales in the taproom but also a balanced selection of lagers,” Carlin said.
To brew larger volumes of high-quality lagers, Lunchbox installed European horizontal lagering tanks in the basement for conditioning to produce crisp, clean beer. On a recent visit, there were five delicious lagers on tap, including a golden German Helles lager, a malty Bavarian-style Kellerbier, a light pilsner made with New Zealand hops, and a refreshing Japanese rice lager.
There were also several hoppy pale ales on tap, including a hazy session ale, a juicy double New England IPA, and the popular Captain We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat double NEIPA, which was a recipe from the homebrewing days.
Since its opening, the taproom has been drawing standing-room-only crowds, but the founders plan to pave a backyard space with 2,200 additional square feet for outdoor seating. Lunchbox has a New York State Farm Brewery license and in addition to its beers serves Pennings ciders from the Hudson Valley and wines from the North Fork, with plans to add spirits from New York farm distilleries. Food trucks visit regularly and patrons are also encouraged to order food from local restaurants to eat in at the taproom.
Per capita beer consumption in the U.S. may never reach the high levels of the Czech Republic, but Lunchbox Brewing is certainly doing its part to raise that level in Bellmore and across the South Shore.
Lunchbox Brewing Company is located at 380 Bedford Avenue North in Bellmore. For more info visit lunchboxbrewery.com.
Bernie Kilkelly is the editor and publisher of LIBeerGuide.com, the authoritative online guide to enjoying great beer on Long Island.
