On Saturday, Dec. 5, the Riverhead Business Improvement District's Merry Market runs from 3 to 8 p.m. in the back lot of the Town Hall campus at 4 W. Second St. At 8 p.m. that same night, Ana Gasteyer's Sugar & Booze Holiday Spectacular starts at The Suffolk, 118 East Main Street. In other words, one show starts as the market wraps up. That kind of overlap repeats all season.
Nearly every reason to go downtown between now and mid-December is on East Main Street or just off it. The projects the Town of Riverhead is moving forward are on the same street: a riverfront playground, a hotel in the same hundred block as The Suffolk, and a search for a "destination attraction" at 111 East Main St. If you live nearby, a December evening out is also a walk past where downtown is headed.
The newest table on the street is in an old house
Abigayle's, at 428 East Main St., is the newest place to eat downtown. It's a bistro, cocktail bar and lounge in the historic Preston House, which was restored by Joe Petrocelli. RiverheadLOCAL reported that the restaurant began serving around Labor Day after a summer preview period and held its formal ribbon cutting on Oct. 10.
The owners already have a North Fork track record. James and Patricia Mangiacapre founded and own The Watershed in South Jamesport. The restaurant credits Lumber + Salt with the interior design, and there's a cocktail lounge downstairs.
Abigayle's hours matter when you plan around the calendar below. According to RiverheadLOCAL, which cites the restaurant's Instagram page, it serves lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday from noon to 9 p.m. It's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Reservations are at 631-775-1550, and questions go to [email protected].
Almost every evening event listed here falls on a Thursday through Sunday, so you can plan dinner around nearly all of them.
The calendar, November through mid-December
This is the season in date order. Most of it is within walking distance of East Main Street, and one item is out at Calverton. Venues sometimes change times or add dates, so check each listing before you buy tickets, and look up exact locations for the East End Arts programs.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Steamroller Printmaking Event, free | East End Arts program | Noon to 4 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Fish & Sips | Long Island Aquarium | 7 to 10:30 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Holiday Princess Tea Party | Long Island Aquarium | 10 a.m. |
| Nov. 20 to Dec. 31 | Riverhead Holiday Light Show | 4062 Grumman Blvd., Calverton | Nightly run |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | An Intimate Evening With G.E. Smith and Special Guest Roger Waters | The Suffolk | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Cherish the Ladies: A Celtic Christmas | The Suffolk | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | The Four Horsemen | The Suffolk | 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | A John Denver Christmas | The Suffolk | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Grease Sing-along | The Suffolk | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Merry Market | Town Hall rear lot, 4 W. Second St. | 3 to 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Ana Gasteyer Sugar & Booze Holiday Spectacular | The Suffolk | 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Etching Printmaking Workshop | East End Arts program | 2 to 5 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Judy Collins, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: Farewell | The Suffolk | 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Santa Brunch | Long Island Aquarium | 10 a.m. |
Sources for the table: The Suffolk's event listings, the Long Island Aquarium events calendar, the East End Arts calendar, the Holiday Light Show ticket page and RiverheadLOCAL's Merry Market report.
Three weekends worth planning around
The Thanksgiving weekend run at The Suffolk. The theater has three shows on three straight nights. Cherish the Ladies plays Friday, Nov. 27. The Four Horsemen, a Metallica tribute act, plays Saturday. A John Denver Christmas, with Chris Collins and Boulder Canyon, closes the weekend Sunday at 7 p.m. If family is in town, there's something for very different tastes without leaving East Main Street.
Dec. 4 through Dec. 6. This is the busiest stretch on the calendar. The Grease Sing-along, which includes a costume contest, is Friday. Saturday has the Merry Market in the afternoon and Ana Gasteyer at 8 p.m. On Sunday, East End Arts runs its Etching Printmaking Workshop from 2 to 5 p.m. The BID was still recruiting Merry Market vendors as of late October, so the final lineup of stalls will come together closer to the date.
Dec. 12 and 13. Judy Collins brings her farewell tour, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes, to The Suffolk on Saturday night. Santa Brunch at the Long Island Aquarium is the next morning at 10.
The earliest dates come up fast. This post goes up Thursday, Nov. 5, so the free East End Arts steamroller printmaking day is this Saturday. The aquarium's Fish & Sips evening is the following Friday.
The same blocks, a few years from now
Walk East Main Street to The Suffolk this season and you'll pass the sites of the town's next three downtown projects. Each one is at a different stage.
The waterfront playground has its funding
The furthest-along project is the adaptive children's playground on the Peconic River waterfront. It's part of the town's larger Town Square plan. In September, Riverhead received a state NY PLAYS grant of nearly $2.4 million, the largest Long Island award in the program's first round. That brings the project's identified funding to about $3.69 million.
The design is by LVF Landscape Architects. It includes accessible paths, inclusive play equipment, sensory landscaping and maritime-themed play structures. Community Development Director Dawn Thomas told the Town Board at its Aug. 6 work session that construction is scheduled to begin next summer, meaning summer 2027. Once the grant came through, Thomas told RiverheadLOCAL that "we'll be able to build it exactly how it's been designed, which is beautiful." She credited staff member Carissa Collins with leading the application.
The playground also connects to money downtown has had for a while. The Town Square effort follows the $10 million state downtown revitalization grant Riverhead won in 2021.
A hotel planned in The Suffolk's block
At 117 to 127 East Main St., in the same hundred block as The Suffolk, the town has approved the proposed Peconic River Hotel. According to the Riverhead News-Review, the five-story plan includes a 116-seat restaurant, a coffee shop, retail space and parking on a lower level. The site-plan approval is valid for 36 months, with a possible one-year extension.
RiverheadLOCAL reported that the Town Board gave site-plan approval on Aug. 4. The developer has asked the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency for a 20-year property-tax abatement, plus sales- and mortgage-tax exemptions estimated at about $1.5 million. The agency's September public hearing drew no members of the public.
For anyone who goes to shows at The Suffolk, the plan could eventually mean a hotel restaurant and a coffee shop in the same block as the theater.
An open call for 111 East Main
Next door, at 111 East Main St., is the building the Long Island Science Center's operator once owned. It's on the west side of the town square. RiverheadLOCAL reported that the town took title to the property through an eminent domain proceeding. Title vested on Sept. 2, when the order was filed with the county clerk.
Now the town is looking for someone to run the site. In October, the Town Board approved a request for proposals for the redevelopment and operation of "a destination attraction" there. The RFP is open to developers, attraction operators, entertainment companies, destination retailers, hospitality groups and public-private partnership teams. Electronic responses are due by 11 a.m. on Dec. 3. That deadline is two days before the Merry Market and the Ana Gasteyer show.
Put these together and the stretch from 111 to 127 East Main, plus the riverfront behind it, is where downtown's next few years are being decided. This December, that same stretch is where you'll be going for shows.
Downtown Riverhead is close to home for me. I've helped neighbors across the North Shore and East End for more than three decades, and I enjoy seeing a familiar street fill up for the holidays. If you have questions about what's planned near your part of Riverhead, or you'd like to talk over what these projects could mean for your corner of town, reach out to Gina Bettenhauser. Let's Connect, maybe over dinner on East Main Street before a show.
