Bahama Breeze Looks to Open Restaurant in Lake Grove

Restaurant developers are hoping to bring the food and flavors of the Caribbean to Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.

N & D Restaurants have filed an application with the Town of Smithtown to build a Bahama Breeze restaurant, from the ground up, on the corner of Middle Country Road and Alexander Avenue in the Smith Haven Mall Plaza.

Bahama Breeze is a chain of casual restaurants serving up Caribbean-inspired food ranging from seafood to chicken and steak, according to Darden Restaurants' website, who created the Bahama Breeze brand. The first Bahama Breeze opened in 1996 in Orlando.

The proposed plans outline a 8,780-square-foot restaurant with a large outdoor dining area to be built near Dick's Sporting Goods store and California Pizza Kitchen. The developers are seeking a zoning variance from Smithtown officials to host outdoor entertainment and put a roof over the outdoor dining area.

If the plans are approved, it would create the first Bahama Breeze restaurant in New York. N&D Restaurants declined to comment on their proposed plans.

Darden Restaurants is a full-service restaurant company that also owns the Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille and Seasons 52 brands. In 2011, it had more than 1,900 restaurants operating under these names in North America and employed approximately 180,000 employees.