Box Car Burgers opens at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove

Box Car Burgers has joined the food court offerings at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. Business partners Steve Cannon and Michael Dorian held a grand opening on Aug. 13 for the eatery, which took over the former Duchess Cookies site. 

Their kiosk is "dead center in the food court; it’s one of the bigger of the kiosks of all the units," Dorian said.

The opening of their second Long Island outpost comes six years after they opened in Ronkonkoma at 90 Railroad Ave. "Our goal, it was to really mirror what we did in Ronkonkoma," Cannon said. "The idea is to keep growing the company. We feel it’s important to keep it consistent."

The menu includes double cheeseburgers ($8) and specialty sandwiches, like the Third Rail, with crispy homestyle chicken, American cheese, crispy back and buttermilk ranch sauce. Sides include sweet potato fries ($5.25) and mac-and-cheese bites ($4.95).

The pair have had their eyes set on opening at the mall since 2021.

"We might not have been ready for it at the time but it’s something that always stayed in the back of our mind," Cannon said. It took about six months of work before opening in the food court.

"People are coming to the mall for the food now, not just the clothing, not just the apparel," Dorian said. "That was the whole idea behind why we chose the mall, we felt like we needed to keep up with that promoting of our brand."

He added that another smart thing malls are doing is "putting mom-and-pop places, local branding in what used to be mega corporation facilities. ... The mall took out Wendy’s, they took out Sbarro, they took out Roy Rogers from back in the day and they started filling them in with local [businesses], the pizzeria, Los Amigos Tacos."

Box Car Burgers, 338 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove, 631-672-5551, boxcarburgersli.com. Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.