Brookhaven approves Qahwah House, Talkin' Tacos for vacant Centereach site

Brookhaven has cleared the way for two fast-growing food brands to move into 1702 Middle Country Road, a long-vacant Centereach property that once housed Blu Bar and Saigon Casa. The town board approved façade changes and site improvements, a step that could finally turn one of Middle Country Road’s lingering eyesores into a functioning retail stop.

The approvals matter because this is more than a simple restaurant lease. Qahwah House and Talkin’ Tacos are not just filling empty space; they are changing the look and use of a site that has sat idle in the middle of a busy Suffolk commercial corridor. Councilman Neil Manzella said the project would replace an eyesore with something active and useful, and that the building should finally get the facelift it has needed.

Qahwah House brings a coffee concept with local and national reach. The company says its roots trace back eight generations in Yemen and that it now operates more than 30 cafes across the United States, including an existing Long Island location in Westbury. Talkin’ Tacos brings a different kind of traffic draw. The chain says it was founded in 2020 by Mohammad Farraj and Omar Al-Massalkhi as a South Florida food truck during the COVID-19 pandemic, then grew into a fast-casual franchise with 22 locations.

For Centereach, the immediate question is not just what is coming in, but what has to happen next. The façade work and site improvements still have to be completed before the new tenants can fully move in, meaning the town’s approval is the green light for construction and buildout rather than the finish line. Still, the project gives Brookhaven a concrete example of how land-use decisions can shape the look and feel of a commercial strip that has struggled with vacancy.

The bigger picture is whether 1702 Middle Country Road becomes a one-off fill-in or the start of broader investment along the corridor. Another vacant Centereach property, the former Pizza Hut at 2082 Middle Country Road, was also slated to become a Guac Time restaurant, suggesting restaurant-led reinvestment may be gathering along Middle Country Road rather than landing in isolation. Brookhaven’s regular meetings in Farmingville make those kinds of changes part of a formal public process, not just a private landlord announcement, and that process is now reshaping at least two prominent empty storefronts in Centereach.