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BEER BAR: Croxley Ales
Residents of Nassau County on Long Island can never complain about a lack of quality draft beers to choose from,
thanks to the presence of the tri-state area's multi-tap king,
Croxley Ales. With 60 taps at its Franklin Square pub, 52 taps in Rockville Centre, 68 taps in Farmingdale,
and a lot more beers in bottles, Croxley offers enough varieties of microbrews and imports to satisfy even the most adventurous beer enthusiast.
Jeff Piciullo and Chris Werle, childhood friends from Franklin Square, opened the original Croxley Ales in August 1992 on New Hyde Park
Road in Franklin Square. For the first five years, Croxleys was a small corner pub with 18 taps, but in 1997 the partners doubled the pub’s size
by taking over some neighboring space and increasing the number of taps to 60, the largest on Long Island and
one of the largest in the tri-state area.
Co-owner Chris Werle with staff at Franklin Square
The beer menu at Croxley Franklin Square started out heavily weighted toward imported beers, reflecting the
partners’ love of British ales along with plenty of selections
from Ireland and Germany. The British influence also extended to the decor, with plenty of dark wood and brass
rails and a bright red phone booth near the front door.
As American microbrews grew in popularity, Werle and Piciullo added more micros to the taps at Franklin Square
and in 1996 opened a second Croxley Ales in nearby Rockville
Centre to focus on American craft beers. Croxley’s has always been a strong supporter of locally-brewed beers
and regularly features offerings from Southampton Publick House,
Blue Point, Brooklyn Brewery and Six Point.
Croxley Rockville Centre had a major renovation and expansion in Feb. 2006 that doubled the size of
the restaurant and added a small outdoor beer garden. Overseeing
the work was Pete van Gulden, who became a partner/manager of the Rockville Centre location. Van Gulden is a
Croxley veteran, having started working at the original Franklin
Square location with Werle and Piciullo in 1996. The expanded Rockville Centre restaurant area has large booths
that seat six or eight people along with one table for 14, which
van Gulden says “will be perfect for the crowds on 10 cent wing nights.” The room can also be divided to handle
private parties and has its own small bar area. The décor of the
restaurant was updated with black tin ceilings and new chrome towers for the bar. For sports fans, the biggest
change was 22 new flat screen televisions located throughout the bar
and restaurant area.
Croxley Ales in Franklin Square
Both the Franklin Square and RVC locations of Croxley expanded their Belgian beer offerings in the late 1990s as interest grew in Belgian food
and beer. Werle and Picciulo knew firsthand about the Belgian wave
from a new venture they started in 1998, a Belgian bistro called Waterzooi
in Garden City. Waterzooi became an immediate hit with 22 Belgian beers on tap and another 100 available in bottles.
Croxley expanded west to Manhattan in 2003 with the opening of Croxley Village Beer Garden on Avenue B
in the East Village. With an extensive beer selection of 31 taps and 100 bottles, and one of Manhattan’s largest outdoor bars, Croxley Village Beer Garden quickly became one of
Manhattan’s most popular beer bars.
The newest addition to the Croxley empire opened in July 2008 in Farmingdale, on Main Street just north of Route 24 at the former site of Downtown Bar & Grill, a
legendary rock and roll club that closed in 2005. Croxley Farmingdale is the largest yet with 5,000 square feet and a decent sized outdoor café. According the Werle, “the focus as always is
on great beer,” said Werle, “with 68 taps, 30 large bottles and a vintage beer cellar.”
One thing that has not changed through almost 20 years of growth is the partners’ strict policy banning all beers from Bud,
Miller and Coors, which sets Croxley apart. Another key to
Croxley's success has been great food, with an inventive menu including several entrees and soups that incorporate
beer. Croxley has also defied the laws of economics by
continuing its wildly popular 10 cent chicken wing nights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. “It’s probably one of the
things we’re best known for,” said Werle. To beer
lovers on Long Island, however, Croxley’s will always be best known as a leader in bringing us great beers from
around the world.
Croxley Ales
Farmingdale
190 Main Street
(516) 293-7700
Franklin Square
129 New Hyde Park Road
(516) 326-9542
Rockville Centre
7-9 South Park Avenue
(516) 764-0470
Village Beer Garden
28 Avenue B, Manhattan
(212) 253-6140
Return to LI Beer Guide