Blackbird Kitchen & Cocktails team opening Bar Franco in Commack

Chris Perrotta and Frank Ubriaco may be Long Island’s lowest-key restaurateurs. Certainly their Blackbird Kitchen & Cocktails in Wantagh (est. 2016) is one of the least flashy spots on Newsday’s Top 50. When they took over Woodbury’s Rustic Root in 2021, it took customers (and one noted food reporter) a while to figure out that there had been a change in ownership. Their Uncle Frank’s Pizza & Cocktails, which opened in the shadow of the Wantagh LIRR in 2023, attracted some attention, but they are going to need to prepare themselves for the reaction to this news: They are taking over the old Jackson’s on Jericho Turnpike in Commack and calling it Bar Franco.

Perrotta, the chef, said that Bar Franco would seat about 100 and offer a menu similar to that at Uncle Frank’s (artisanal pizza, refined pastas, Italian starters and sides), but with the addition of burgers, steaks and some casual entrees — the kind of gastropub fare that Jackson’s served. "In a place like this, everyone wants a burger. Even at Blackbird, as many pastas and crudos as we sell, most nights we’ll do about 35 burgers."

"We love this area," he continued. "We can pull from Smithtown, Dix Hills, even Huntington."

Shortly after Jackson’s closed last September, a restaurant called Noto ("Modern Italian Restaurant & Lounge") announced it was taking over the space. That venture fell through, but one of its principals, contractor Dominick Marinelli, was a longtime Blackbird customer, and he proposed to Perrotta and Ubriaco that they join him in Commack. "After going all in three times and emptying out my bank account every time," Perrotta said, "it was great to have a partner." 

Perrotta hopes to have Bar Franco open by the end of October.