The Nutty Irishman Of Farmingdale Wins Best Nightclub On Long Island: Bethpage Best Awards

FARMINGDALE, NY — The Nutty Irishman was named Best Nightclub on Long Island in the 2025 Bethpage Best of Long Island awards.

The restaurant, located at 323 Main St., Farmingdale, has a motto of "Cold beer, great music, good times." A bar area with tables is in front of the establishment, while a huge back room features another bar, more tables and a stage, where DJs and live bands perform several times a month.

Joe Fortuna, owner of The Nutty Irishman, said winning the award is a "great feeling."

317 Main Street, another restaurant owned by Fortuna, won Best American/Continental Restaurant on Long Island.

"We all work so hard," Fortuna told Patch. "We’re always striving. Like at 317, we strive to be the best. I’m competitive."

Fortuna said he coached football for many years, and all of his five children have played sports, so his family is competitive by nature.

"That competitiveness doesn’t stop with sports, but also in life and in business and in any endeavor that you do," Fortuna said. "It’s not so much a competition against someone, but it’s a competition against yourself to be the best and to have the compliments."

Fortuna said he treats The Nutty Irishman as being in the entertainment business.

"Every weekend, we’re throwing a party," he said. "I want to make sure you’re having a great time. It’s not just putting a DJ on, opening the doors, and let people come, and that’s it. No. We want to make sure that we have the best DJs, that we have the best bartenders — that they’re friendly and you feel welcomed. That you feel safe. These are all things that we strive to be the best at. It’s nice to see it pays off when people respond and say, 'Hey, yes, this is the best hangout place.'"

Fortuna and his restaurant group took over The Nutty Irishman in 2016 after the bar opened in Farmingdale in October 2004.

The Nutty Irishman won best nightclub for the first time since 2013 and for the fourth time overall. The win marks Fortuna's first time earning the best nightclub award as owner, which he said was extra satisfying.

He said he does not know what put his restaurant over the hump this year to win for the first time in over a decade, however.

"It’s odd. We give the same effort each and every year," he said. "It’s kind of hard to say. I don’t know what made it this year. The only thing I’ll say is, there are less and less places like the Nutty. We’re a true club. We have the stage, we have the lights, we have the big screen, we have the fog. We have the experience. We’re not like a hamburger joint that takes out the tables and puts the DJ on; we’re a nightclub. We’re a live music venue. As the years have gone on, there are not many places like us that are there."

In addition to the bars, The Nutty Irishman offers an extensive food menu with burgers, sandwiches, pub appetizers, and more.

The Nutty Irishman celebrated its 20th anniversary this fall, so Fortuna believes "everything kind of clicked" for the restaurant to win this year.

"How many small live music venues are left?" he said. "I’m not talking about big places like The Paramount. But there are very few places where local bands can show their talents. This year, it’s fitting, because it was our 20th anniversary, and we got the best nightclub. So it was fitting how everything fell into place."

Every employee at the restaurant is trained, Fortuna said, from the door people to the bartenders to the wait staff.

"We train our door guys," he said. "When people leave, [they say] 'Thank you,' 'Have a good weekend,' 'Have a good night.' It’s about making the customers feel at home. It’s satisfying to see that what you’re trying to accomplish, you have accomplished."

Fortuna wanted to thank The Nutty Irishman's customers "tremendously."

"We love our customers. We love Farmingdale."