A point comes in every serious diner’s life when they sit down somewhere and realize they’re not merely eating — they’re participating in a cultural argument. Waterzooi Belgian Bistro & Oyster Bar, anchored at 850 Franklin Avenue in the heart of Garden City since 1998, has been making that argument for over a quarter century: that Long Island deserves a world-class Belgian dining experience, that mussels and Trappist ales belong on Franklin Avenue as surely as they do on the Grand Place in Brussels, and that three childhood friends from Franklin Square could build something that would reshape the entire regional conversation around craft beer and European cuisine. More than twenty-five years and over 4.4 million pounds of mussels later, the argument has been decisively won. Waterzooi is not merely a restaurant. It is Long Island’s only authentic Belgian bistro, a pioneer that helped catalyze the American Belgian beer movement, and a destination that routinely ranks among the finest dining experiences in Nassau County.
I have spent twenty-five years running The Heritage Diner in Mount Sinai, and in that time I have developed an almost preternatural sensitivity to the difference between restaurants that occupy space and restaurants that transform it. Waterzooi transforms. It took a stretch of Franklin Avenue — a corridor that once housed the suburban outposts of Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor — and gave it something those department stores never could: a soul rooted in a six-hundred-year-old Flemish culinary tradition, executed with the precision of a fine Manhattan kitchen, and served with the warmth of a neighborhood institution.
The Origin Story: From Franklin Square to the Grand Place
The story of Waterzooi begins not in Garden City but in the working-class neighborhoods of Franklin Square, where childhood friends Chris Werle and Jeff Piciullo opened a small bar called Piccadilly in the early 1990s. They sold it after two years, purchased a corner spot on New Hyde Park Road, renamed it Croxley’s, and started pouring British ales from twelve taps (Long Island Press, 2018). The craft beer movement was barely a whisper on Long Island at that time, and Werle and Piciullo were among its earliest evangelists, expanding to American craft selections and eventually opening additional Croxley’s Ale House locations in Rockville Centre and Farmingdale.
But the true inflection point came during a trip to Belgium with their friend and collaborator, Chef Ed Davis. The three men were stunned by the depth and sophistication of Belgian beer culture — the Trappist monasteries, the lambic breweries, the intricate pairing traditions that treated beer with the same reverence the French reserve for wine. As Werle later recalled, the experience was transformative: the variety and quality of Belgian brewing opened their eyes to an entirely untapped market on Long Island (Long Island Press, 2019). They returned home with a vision that most of their peers considered foolish. They would open a full-commitment Belgian bistro — not a bar with a few Belgian bottles on the shelf, but a proper bistro with Belgian-trained cuisine, an all-Belgian tap line, and a menu anchored in the national dishes of Flanders and Wallonia.
In 1998, Waterzooi Belgian Bistro opened its doors on Franklin Avenue. The name itself is a declaration of intent: waterzooi is a storied Flemish stew originating in the medieval city of Ghent, where fishermen once simmered the catch of the day from the Lys and Scheldt rivers in a rich broth of cream, egg yolk, and root vegetables (Wikipedia, 2025). The dish, which dates to at least the thirteenth century and was reportedly favored by Emperor Charles V himself, represents the essence of Belgian comfort cuisine — humble origins elevated through technique and tradition. Naming the restaurant after it was a promise: this would be the real thing.
Chef Ed Davis: The Engine in the Kitchen
If Werle and Piciullo brought the vision and the business acumen, Chef Ed Davis brought the culinary firepower. Belgium-trained and relentlessly creative, Davis has served as executive chef and co-owner since opening day, overseeing a kitchen that has never stopped evolving while remaining anchored in authentic Belgian technique (Patch, 2010). His early menus featured griddled wild boar sausages with sun-dried cherry kriek sauce and salmon Wellington topped with foie gras and lobster demi — dishes that announced, in no uncertain terms, that Waterzooi intended to compete at the highest level of Long Island dining.
Davis also oversees the kitchens of the neighboring Novitá Wine Bar & Trattoria at 860 Franklin Avenue and has managed culinary operations across all Croxley’s Ale House locations throughout Long Island and New York City. His days routinely begin at six in the morning, and he can still be found working the line during peak service, feeding off the energy of a packed dining room. He has described the rush of a full kitchen — tickets pumping, every station firing — as an addiction he has never wanted to shake (Long Island Press, 2018). That intensity translates directly to the plate.
What distinguishes Davis is not merely technical skill but an intuitive understanding of how to balance innovation with respect for tradition. The mussel preparations — Waterzooi’s calling card — rotate through a dizzying array of global flavor profiles, from the classic Provençale with white wine, garlic, and herbs to the Thai preparation with red curry broth, lemongrass, ginger, and cilantro. Yet each pot arrives exactly as it should: two pounds of pristine PEI mussels, served with golden frites and house-made mayonnaise, in the manner that has sustained Belgian moules-frites culture for generations.
The Menu: 4.4 Million Pounds of Mussels and Counting
The numbers alone tell a remarkable story. Waterzooi has served over 4.4 million pounds of mussels since opening — a staggering volume that speaks to both the quality of the product and the loyalty of the clientele (Yelp, 2026). The mussel pots remain the foundation of the menu, with preparations that range from the Homard (brandy-cream sauce, scallions, fresh chunks of lobster) to the Oreganata and the Waterzooi itself — the namesake preparation that brings the Ghent tradition full circle.
But Waterzooi is far more than a mussel house. The raw bar features a rotating selection of fresh oysters that has earned devoted followers among Long Island’s shellfish aficionados. The artisanal cheese and charcuterie board — Fourme d’Ambert, Beemster XO Gouda, Triple Crème Brie, wild boar salumi, Ibérico salumi, foie gras mousse, marinated olives, and quince — reads like a curated tour of European provisions.
The dinner menu extends into serious entrée territory: Hokkaido bronzed sea scallops with asparagus and roasted corn risotto, pea tendrils, and lemon thyme brown butter; a pan roast of lobster, jumbo shrimp, littleneck clams, and mussels in a creamy tarragon fennel broth; Hudson Valley steelhead salmon over black beluga lentils with endive and haricot vert salad; and a USDA Prime aged New York strip with garlic herb butter, truffle watercress salad, and pommes frites. The bistro burger — USDA Prime beef, Fourme d’Ambert, double-smoked bacon, beefsteak tomato, arugula, cognac Dijonnaise on toasted brioche — is alone worth the trip from the North Shore.
The weekend brunch features Brussels waffles with warm maple syrup and fresh whipped cream, with toppings ranging from Belgian chocolate sauce to wild raspberry preserves and candied pecans. It is the kind of brunch that makes you forget the word “brunch” was ever trivialized by bottomless mimosa promotions and Instagram-bait presentations.
The Belgian Beer Program: 130 Strong and a Knighthood
No discussion of Waterzooi is complete without addressing what may be its single most influential contribution to Long Island’s culinary landscape: the beer program. With over 130 Belgian beers available — twenty-three of them on draft — Waterzooi maintains what is widely recognized as the most comprehensive Belgian beer selection on Long Island and one of the finest in the metropolitan region (OpenTable, 2026). The list spans the full spectrum of Belgian brewing tradition: Trappist ales from monasteries like Westmalle and Chimay, lambics and gueuzes from the Senne Valley, abbey doubles and tripels, golden strong ales, witbiers, and saisons.
The program’s significance was formally recognized in 2018 when co-founder Chris Werle was knighted by the Belgian Brewers Guild at a ceremony in Brussels — an extraordinary honor for an American restaurateur, and a testament to the role Waterzooi has played in spreading Belgian beer culture across the Atlantic (Long Island Press, 2019). As Dan Leeman of Belgian beer distributor Global Beer Network stated at the twentieth anniversary celebration, Waterzooi’s pioneering efforts were instrumental in building the American market for Belgian brewing.
To mark that twentieth anniversary, the restaurant hosted a Knights of the Round Table Beer Dinner featuring a special 20th Anniversary Ale — a robust amber tripel brewed by the Brasserie de Silly artisanal brewery in Belgium specifically for the occasion. The evening included dishes from Chef Davis’s original 1998 menu paired with rare Belgian selections, culminating in warm Belgian chocolate cake paired with Gulden Draak Imperial Stout. These are not the gestures of a restaurant coasting on reputation. They are the actions of an institution that continues to invest in cultural authenticity.
The Space: Euro-Chic on Franklin Avenue
Waterzooi’s interior strikes a balance that many restaurants attempt and few achieve: sophisticated without being pretentious, energetic without being chaotic, European in sensibility without devolving into theme-park pastiche. The main dining room features retro high-backed red booths reminiscent of 1950s New York supper clubs, European-style mirrors, and hand-written dessert menus that lend an air of Parisian café culture to suburban Nassau County (Patch, 2010). The Euro-chic lounge creates a sleek atmosphere anchored by the bar — which, given the Belgian beer program, functions as a destination in its own right.
Outdoor patio dining is available in warmer months, and the restaurant offers private event spaces for celebrations, corporate outings, and special occasions. Its location at 850 Franklin Avenue places it within walking distance of the LIRR Garden City station, making it accessible to Manhattan commuters and day-trippers — a detail that underscores Garden City’s continued evolution as a dining destination capable of competing with Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan for culinary credibility.
Parking is located in a lot behind the restaurant, and the operation is wheelchair accessible. With over 3,100 reviews on OpenTable averaging 4.7 stars and a consistent #2 ranking among all Garden City restaurants on TripAdvisor, the consensus is remarkably uniform: this is a restaurant that delivers on its promises (OpenTable, 2026; TripAdvisor, 2025).
The Waterzooi Legacy: Expansion, Evolution, and Endurance
The Waterzooi story includes a chapter of ambitious expansion: in 2020, the team opened Waterzooi Brasserie & Oyster Bar in Port Washington at 1029 Port Washington Boulevard, extending the Belgian concept to Long Island’s North Shore. The Port Washington location ultimately closed in 2023, with the ownership group expressing heartfelt gratitude to the community and staff who supported the venture (Long Island Restaurants, 2023). Rather than viewing this as a setback, the closure underscored a fundamental truth about hospitality: not every great concept thrives in every location, and the willingness to recognize that is itself a mark of operational maturity. The Garden City flagship, meanwhile, has never wavered.
Waterzooi’s parent group — which includes the Croxley’s Ale House network and Novitá Wine Bar & Trattoria next door at 860 Franklin Avenue — represents one of the most successful independent restaurant portfolios on Long Island. The synergy between these operations allows for shared sourcing, talent development, and the kind of institutional knowledge that accumulates only over decades of continuous service. In a dining landscape increasingly dominated by private equity-backed restaurant groups and franchise proliferation, this kind of founder-operated, passion-driven enterprise is not merely rare — it is essential.
From my own vantage point at The Heritage Diner, I have long admired what Waterzooi represents. There is a concept I return to often in my work with Marcellino NY — my bespoke leather workshop in Huntington — and that is the idea of the “hundred-year philosophy.” You build things not for the next quarter but for the next generation. A hand-stitched briefcase and a Belgian bistro share more in common than most people realize: both are sustained by an uncompromising commitment to materials, technique, and the belief that the unseen details define the masterpiece. The curing of English bridle leather, the seasoning of a cast-iron griddle, the slow reduction of a moules broth — these are all variations on the same theme. Time, applied with discipline, produces excellence.
Essential Information
Address: 850 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530
Telephone: (516) 877-2177
Website: waterzooi.com
Reservations: Available via OpenTable or by phone
Online Ordering: Available through DoorDash and direct pickup via the website
Hours:
- Sunday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Monday – Tuesday: 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday – Thursday: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM
- Friday – Saturday: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Cuisine: Belgian, Seafood, Oyster Bar, European
Price Range: $$$
Dining Options: Dine-in, Lounge, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Delivery, Private Events, Weekend Brunch, Happy Hour
Parking: Lot located behind the restaurant
Transit: Walking distance from the LIRR Garden City station (Hempstead Branch)
Social Media:
- Instagram: @waterzooi_garden_city
- Facebook: Waterzooi Belgian Bistro
Gift Cards: Available through the website
Catering & Private Events: Available — inquire directly
Peter is the owner of The Heritage Diner in Mount Sinai, NY, founder of Marcellino NY bespoke leather goods, and co-founder of the forthcoming Maison Pawli boutique real estate venture with his wife, Broker Paola. He has spent twenty-five years studying what makes Long Island’s independent restaurants endure.
