Sunlight does not merely enter The Shed in Westbury. It pours through oversized windows and floods across 5,000 square feet of whitewashed wood, hand-selected art, and the kind of beachy warmth that makes you forget you are sitting in the middle of Nassau County. When co-founders John Tunney and John Rieger opened the doors here on May 22, 2024, they were not launching another outpost of an existing brand. They were planting a flag — the fourth Long Island location and perhaps the most architecturally ambitious — inside The Selby, a brand-new luxury apartment complex developed by Beechwood Homes. The pairing of scratch-kitchen comfort food and contemporary residential living was deliberate. It signaled something Peter from the Heritage Diner has observed firsthand over 25 years behind a counter in Mount Sinai: a restaurant does not just serve a neighborhood, it defines one.
As someone who has spent a quarter century running The Heritage Diner on Route 25A, Peter understands that the alchemy of a successful restaurant is never reducible to the food alone. It is atmosphere, consistency, the physical texture of the space, and the unspoken contract between owner and community. The Shed Westbury delivers on all of these fronts, and its story — rooted in a dishwasher’s ambition, a grandmother’s kitchen, and the relentless expansion of the Tunneyvision Restaurant Group — deserves a careful telling.
The Tunney Origin: From Three Village Inn to a Long Island Empire
John J. Tunney III did not come from a restaurant family. He has said as much in multiple interviews over the years, and the honesty of that admission gives his trajectory its particular gravitational pull. Growing up in the Three Village area of Long Island, Tunney’s earliest kitchen memory was helping his grandmother cook fish he had caught himself — a detail he has repeated in profiles from Long Island Pulse Magazine (2010) to el restaurante (2019), not out of sentimentality but because it remains the foundation of his philosophy: every dish begins with something real, something you touched before it hit the pan.
At fifteen, Tunney walked into the Three Village Inn and applied for a dishwasher position. He bought his first car with that paycheck combined with money earned selling seeds door to door (el restaurante, 2019). From that point forward, the restaurant business never released its grip on him. He worked front and back of house across multiple establishments before taking his first leap into ownership in 1993 at Oheka Castle in Huntington, where he launched Carltun Caterers. He followed that with Carltun on the Park in East Meadow, then Olio at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The man was not building a career — he was building a portfolio with the ambition of someone who understood that hospitality, done correctly, scales without losing its soul.
In 2006, Tunney founded Besito Mexican, channeling years of personal travel throughout Mexico into a restaurant concept rooted in authenticity. Besito was named the number-one Mexican restaurant in the tri-state area by OpenTable and expanded to multiple locations across Long Island and Connecticut. In 2010, the Family Service League honored Tunney as Restaurateur of the Year at the 19th Annual Great Chefs of Long Island event at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury — recognition not just for culinary excellence but for his deep commitment to community service (Huntington Patch, 2010). That same period saw him create the Veterans Rock charitable foundation, which aimed to raise $10 million for disabled Long Island Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families (Long Island Pulse Magazine, 2010).
His great-uncle was Gene Tunney, the legendary heavyweight boxing champion who defeated Jack Dempsey. That lineage — aggressive, intelligent, fast on the feet — seems to manifest in the younger Tunney’s approach to the restaurant business: never standing still, always looking for the next opening.
The Shed Concept: Scratch Kitchen, All-Day Brunch, Beach-Chic Ambiance
The Shed was born in October 2017 on New Street in Huntington Village, and it arrived because Tunney could not find the restaurant he wanted to eat at. Melissa Sorice, the company’s head of marketing, framed it plainly in an interview with Greater Long Island (2019): they would have lunch every day, look for places that fit their standard, and nothing quite made the cut. So Tunney built one from the ground up.
The concept is deceptively simple on paper — American comfort food, a scratch kitchen, brunch served all day alongside lunch and dinner — but its execution reveals the same obsessive attention to detail that drives any serious craftsman. At the Marcellino NY workshop in Huntington, Peter hand-stitches English bridle leather briefcases using techniques unchanged for centuries, and he recognizes this quality in The Shed’s kitchen: when every ingredient is fresh-ground, house-made, and prepared to order, you are not running a restaurant, you are running a discipline. Executive Chef Roberto Baez, who leads the culinary team across multiple Shed locations including the Mohegan Sun property, built menus that span buttermilk biscuits with berry jam to grain bowls, steak and eggs to fried chicken sandwiches, with robust vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options woven throughout.
The aesthetic signature is equally considered. Every Shed location features what the team describes as a rustic beach-chic ambiance — warm textured woods, pops of color, and curated works of art. The Huntington flagship is known for its rabbit wallpaper by neo-expressionist artist Hunt Slonem, whose pieces hang in the collections of the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney (Greater Long Island, 2019). Artwork by Peter Diem of Holland, famous for his paintings of flying cows, and positive American-themed pieces by Tunney’s brother, Peter Tunney, also adorn various locations. This is not decoration as afterthought. It is environment as philosophy — a principle Peter understands deeply from designing the interior of the Heritage Diner, where the counter itself tells a 25-year story.
The Westbury Location: The Selby, the Space, the Statement
The Shed Westbury opened on May 22, 2024, occupying the ground floor of The Selby, a luxury apartment development by Beechwood Homes at 685 Merrick Avenue. Newsday covered the launch, noting the concept’s arrival in Nassau County as a significant expansion for Long Island’s most recognized all-day brunch chain (Newsday, 2024). The choice of Westbury was not accidental. Embedding a restaurant within a residential luxury development mirrors a broader trend in suburban mixed-use design — the same kind of synergy between living and dining that Peter and Paola are studying closely as they prepare to launch Maison Pawli, their boutique real estate venture on the North Shore in 2026.
The numbers speak for themselves. The dining room spans a full 5,000 square feet with seating for 120 guests. Oversized windows ensure natural light saturates the space at all hours of the daytime, a design choice consistent across every Shed property. The bar area is sleek, modern, and large enough to function as a destination in its own right. But the crown jewel is outdoors: a custom-designed bi-level patio measuring 1,800 square feet, holding an additional 60 seats. The Shed team has called it the most stunning outdoor dining space on the island (Greater Long Island, 2024), and the reviews from guests consistently confirm that assessment.
The Westbury location currently holds a 4.4-star rating on Google from nearly 600 reviews and has accumulated over 580 photos and 248 reviews on Yelp. Guests describe the space as bright, modern, and super inviting, striking a balance between trendy and cozy. One reviewer noted immediate Southwest Florida vibes upon being seated on the back patio — sunny, relaxed, and full of charm. The staff earns particular praise for warmth and attentiveness, and the restaurant even provides branded water bowls for dogs on the pet-friendly patio (BringFido, 2024).
The Menu: Indulgent to Healthful, No Compromises
The Shed does not operate from a philosophy of restriction. The menu is expansive, running from deeply indulgent comfort food to clean, health-conscious plates, all available throughout the day. The all-day brunch format — one of the concept’s defining innovations — means a guest can order brioche French toast at 3 PM or a grain bowl at 10 AM without apology.
Popular dishes at the Westbury location, based on review analysis and social media activity, include the Shed Burger with Shed Fries, steak and eggs, buttermilk biscuits with berry jam and butter, chicken and waffles, a Cobb salad that has developed a devoted following, the fish sandwich, and a berries and cream dessert that functions as a fitting conclusion to any meal. The bar program features handcrafted cocktails, elevated mocktails, local craft beers, and a Red Sangria that appears in numerous guest photographs. The Bloody Mary has earned its own reputation — one TripAdvisor reviewer called it huge and awesome, a descriptor that, in the context of Long Island brunch culture, carries real weight (TripAdvisor, 2024).
Everything is prepared from scratch. Fresh-ground meats arrive daily. Organic ingredients are used whenever possible. This is the same principle that guides any serious artisan operation — at Marcellino NY, Peter sources vegetable-tanned leather from heritage tanneries like Wickett & Craig and J&FJ Baker because the material dictates the quality of the finished product. The Shed applies that same logic to its kitchen, and diners can taste the difference.
The Tunneyvision Empire: Scale Without Sacrifice
The Westbury opening represented The Shed’s fourth Long Island location, following Huntington (2017), West Sayville (2019), and Plainview (2021). In October 2024, a fifth location opened inside Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, a nearly 8,800-square-foot space seating 205 guests with a full bar, a 3,150-square-foot scratch kitchen, and a culinary team that created more than 100 new jobs (PR Newswire, 2024). The partnership with Mohegan Sun was built on a 15-year relationship through Ballo Italian Restaurant, which Tunney has operated at the casino property since approximately 2009.
The broader Tunneyvision Restaurant Group encompasses multiple brands: Besito Mexican (with locations in Huntington, Roslyn, and formerly West Islip and West Hartford), The Farm Italy (launched in Huntington in April 2023 in the former Mac’s Steakhouse space on Gerard Street), and The Shed. The Farm Italy was named among OpenTable’s Top 100 Restaurants in the United States within its first year of operation — a remarkable achievement that speaks to the culinary team’s caliber. In early 2025, Greater Long Island reported that The Farm Italy would be opening a second location in Westbury at 725 Merrick Avenue, right next door to The Shed, also within The Selby complex. Ballo Italian at Mohegan Sun is being rebranded as The Farm Italy at Ballo, consolidating the brand identity.
What Tunney has built is not a chain in the conventional sense. Each location maintains consistent menu standards and design language while adapting to its specific community. The Huntington original carries a particular village intimacy. West Sayville, which took over the beloved Bluestone Tavern space at 21 Main Street, brought the concept to the South Shore. Plainview introduced a backyard with a putting green and fire pit. Westbury delivered the most ambitious physical footprint. This is strategic growth — not franchise dilution — and it represents the kind of thoughtful expansion that Peter and Paola are studying as they develop the Maison Pawli approach to boutique real estate on the North Shore.
Practical Information: What You Need to Know Before You Go
The Shed Westbury operates on a walk-in-only, first-come-first-served basis. There are no reservations, and the restaurant does not accept bookings through OpenTable or similar platforms. A text-based waitlist system operates at the door. Parties of up to 10 can be accommodated. The restaurant does not host private events or catering. For groups of six or more, the management recommends arriving during off-peak hours — at opening or after 3 PM — to minimize wait times.
The outdoor patio is pet-friendly, making it one of the better options on Long Island for diners who want to bring their dogs along. Accessibility features include wheelchair access throughout the dining room.
Address: 685 Merrick Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590 (located in The Selby Luxury Apartments by Beechwood Homes)
Phone: (516) 794-0572
Email: westbury@intheshed.com
Website: intheshed.com/westburyny
Instagram: @theshedrestaurant — 60K+ followers
Hours:
- Monday–Thursday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Friday: 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Saturday: 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Sunday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Online Ordering & Delivery: Available for takeout by calling the restaurant directly.
Price Range: Moderate ($$)
Dietary Accommodations: Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options available throughout the menu.
A Final Reflection from the Counter
Running a restaurant for decades teaches you to read the vital signs of a dining concept within minutes of walking through the door. The light, the noise level, the speed of the kitchen, the way the staff moves through the room — these are the diagnostic tools of the trade. Walking into The Shed Westbury, Peter from the Heritage Diner sees all the indicators of a concept that was built to last: a founder who started as a dishwasher and never forgot what it means to earn a seat at the table, a chef-driven kitchen that refuses to cut corners on sourcing, a design philosophy that treats every surface as an opportunity for beauty, and an expansion strategy that grows without betraying the original spirit.
John Tunney once said that the food business has gone beyond just having something to eat — it is about the ambient experience (Huntington Patch, 2011). That insight, spoken over a decade ago, has only become more true. In an era of algorithmic recommendation engines and mass-produced dining concepts, The Shed proves that scratch-made quality, genuine hospitality, and intentional design still win. The Westbury location, nested within the architectural ambitions of The Selby, represents something more than a restaurant opening. It represents the ongoing argument — one Peter has been making from behind the Heritage Diner counter for 25 years — that the places where we gather to eat are the places where community begins.
Peter is a 25-year veteran restaurateur at The Heritage Diner in Mount Sinai, NY, the founder of Marcellino NY bespoke leather goods in Huntington, and holds graduate degrees in Philosophy from Long Island University and The New School in NYC. He and his wife Paola are launching Maison Pawli, a boutique real estate venture on Long Island’s North Shore, in 2026.
