Business

J&L’s Chicken, Fish and Ribs coming to downtown Riverhead

Leroy Hines, co-owner of the soon-to-open JL's Chicken, Fish and Ribs, behind the grill at Riverhead Country Fair Sunday. (Credit: Rachel Young)
Leroy Hines, co-owner of J&L’s Chicken, Fish and Ribs, behind the grill at the Riverhead Country Fair on Sunday. (Credit: Rachel Young)

J&L’s Chicken, Fish and Ribs fed a steady stream of customers from its tent Sunday on the Peconic Riverfront at the Riverhead Country Fair.

Anyone who didn’t have the chance to the taste their food Sunday is in luck: J&L’s will open a brick-and-mortar store in downtown Riverhead at the location of the former Kratoville’s Luncheonette in the next few weeks, co-owner Leroy Hines said.

“I wouldn’t want to open anywhere else than downtown Riverhead,” Mr. Hines said. “It’s my hometown.”

Mr. Hines is opening the casual-style restaurant with his business partner, Joseph Clark of Westhampton. The menu will feature a wide variety of comfort foods, including fried chicken, cheese steaks, gyros, hot dogs and hamburgers.

This is the first time Mr. Hines has opened a restaurant. For the past 28 years, he’s operated a private catering company, Hines Catering, which includes an ice cream truck that makes rounds in Riverhead.

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