La Bottega to test breakfast in Mineola

Noah Manskar
La Bottega, the Italian restaurant chain based in Garden City South, is set to open a location at 100 Main St. in Mineola. (Photo by Noah Manskar)

Patrons will soon be able to have all three meals at downtown Mineola’s newest restaurant.

La Bottega, the Garden City South-based Italian chain, is set to open its 16th restaurant at 100 Main St. in mid-January, with plans to debut a new breakfast menu featuring sandwiches, omelets, smoked salmon and more, owner Giuseppe Ruta said.

“We kind of tried to focus on people that want to have a different style of breakfast,” Ruta said. “You have still healthy ingredients and you don’t have to cheat quality in breakfast.”

Famous for its panini sandwiches, La Bottega will replace Yatai Casual Asian, which closed in July after just a few months in business.

Ruta first sought a Mineola location about six years ago but could not finalize a lease for a space, he said. He found the Main Street storefront in October and has since worked to clean and redecorate it, he said.

The new spot will help La Bottega reach customers who might be just out of range of the Roslyn and Garden City South locations, such as those who work in Mineola’s many office buildings, Ruta said.

The village’s efforts to revitalize the downtown area also made the location attractive, he said.

“It is going to be challenging to get the people in in the beginning, but I think people know us already,” Ruta said. “We have a following already.”

Mineola has a large market for La Bottega’s new breakfast menu given the number of people going to work in the area between 8 and 10 a.m., Ruta said.

The menu of about 25 items will feature breakfast sandwiches with eggs, meat, cheese and vegetables on breadstick-like filone bread and a smaller round bread, as well as “breakfast bowls,” such as one with kale, quinoa and a poached egg, Ruta said.

“You just come from the gym or you’re ready to go to work, you have a bowl like that, it does it all,” he said.

La Bottega will join several other restaurants that have opened in downtown Mineola since last year, drawn by the large commuter apartment complexes that are open or under construction.

Having a new restaurant occupy the space after Yatai closed will help “continue the growth” in the area, village Mayor Scott Strauss said.

Ruta said he hopes La Bottega will give Mineola patrons yet another restaurant choice so they’ll stay in the village rather than spend their money elsewhere.

“I’m not competing with the pizzeria, I’m not competing with the hamburger shop or the deli or the restaurant,” he said. “I am a concept of my own that people kind of know what I do.”

La Bottega will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Reach reporter Noah Manskar by e-mail at nmanskar@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @noahmanskar and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.

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