Patchogue has a new neighborhood pub and grill on South Ocean Avenue: The Undertow, opened by a team that includes members of the Long Island band Oogee Wawa.

Guitarist JP Aceto and frontman Jesse Lee, longtime fixtures of the Patchogue music scene going back to the days of Brickhouse Brewery and Stereo Garden, teamed up with an ownership group of industry veterans, including Lee's wife Melissa and Jean Pierre, to open the spot in the space that formerly housed The Legacy Room.

The Undertow leans into an "oceanic feel," with an outdoor patio and surfboard decor nodding to Lee's own surfing background. The menu swaps out The Legacy Room's higher-end fare for casual crowd-pleasers: fried chicken snack wraps, smashburgers, tacos and hand-rolled chicken fingers, including a $15 double smashburger and fries combo.

"Every local that walks by, they walk into the place on their way home and they're like 'Finally!'" Aceto said. "They love the prices...and then they love that it's a comfortable place to hang out before you go home."

After more than 15 years and hundreds of shows a year on the road with Oogee Wawa, Aceto and Lee say they're bringing the beach-bar feel they picked up touring the country to their own neighborhood spot.

Source: Greater Long Island