A Taste of Tuscany Coming to Park Ave.

This story was updated at 5:45 a.m. on 8/8/13.

A new Italian restaurant-bar is under construction in Long Beach.

Brixxs & Barley, at 152 W. Park Ave., the former location of Grillfire, is due to open for business in October, according to the co-owners who spoke with Patch at the site last week. 

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The business will consist of two areas —one a full-service restaurant and bar; the other strictly for take-out and deliveries — with a glass wall dividing the rooms and separate front doors.

“It’s going to be a hybrid,” said co-owner Daniel Mascaluso, who has partnered with Rich Cammarata of Ciao Baby in Commack and Massapequa, and Anthony Millwater, a bar manager at RC Dugans in East Meadow.

Mascaluso, the former general manager at DaVinci’s in Island Park and a Long Beach resident, said Brixxs & Barley will serve Tuscan food with fresh ingredients and focus on brick oven pizza. The casual dining area will seat 150 patrons, including outdoor dining, and feature a 30-foot full wine bar with televisions for sports fans, who will also have a choice of about 100 craft beers, both bottle and tap.

While the owners declined to reveal the name of the chef they hired, they said he is a native of Tuscany who is a well-known executive chef at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. They are currently developing the menu with him.

“We’re going to be the first Italian restaurant to open in Long Beach after Sandy,” Macaluso said.

When asked why they chose to open a business in Long Beach, especially after Hurricane Sandy hit the barrier island hard, the owners emphasized that the dining-take out hybrid concept works will in city venues.

“The people that suffered from the storm wanted something new,” said Macaluso.

Paul Fetscher  president of Great American Brokerage, a Long Beach-based firm that specializes in restaurants and retail who represents Brixxs & Barley, said of the new restaurant: “This promises to be a nice step up in Long Beach cuisine. It will be exciting to have an authentic Tuscan-born and -trained chef producing outstanding food at affordable prices. Their fast, casual side will provide grab-and-go home meal solutions.”

Fetscher also brokered a new sports bar down the block, at 20 W. Park Ave., former site of Avenue Cafe, which is expected to open later this month or early September.