Burger Haven Returns To Huntington Under New Ownership, Paying 'Homage' To Original

HUNTINGTON, NY — Burger Haven reopened in Huntington Village under new ownership. However, fans of the original Conte's Burger Haven should not be disappointed, as owner Paul Hansen aims to offer them a stroll down a meaty, salty memory lane.

The burger joint opened at 339 New York Avenue on Tuesday.

Conte's Burger Haven initially closed in 2008 after opening at 76 E. Pulaski Road, Huntington Station, in 1961.

"We want to stay true to the original Burger Haven," Hansen told Patch. "We don’t want to change it. It worked for 50 years. We just want to bring it back for nostalgic reasons. We’re not getting rich off selling $2.50 burgers."

Hansen said he and his business partner had the space, after they closed their Kick'N Chicken in December, and wanted to "do something fun."

Hansen said the new Burger Haven team is "keeping it as authentic as we can" to the original menu: The Big Boy, a quarter-pound burger; two-ounce hamburgers and cheeseburgers; The Big C, a fried chicken patty sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; hand-cut homemade french fries; onion rings; and milkshakes.

Those five items allow the new ownership to "pay homage to the Conte family" by keeping the old shop's original menu, Hansen said.

"We think [Burger Haven] can do well," Hansen said. "We hope it puts a smile on people’s face. It’s salty french fries, greasy burgers and a sweet shake. It’s a pretty good meal for me. If I’m on death row, that might be my last meal."

While Conte's Burger Haven expanded the menu toward the end of its tenure to include tacos, quesadillas, burritos, Hansen said the new owners did not want to go that route.

"It’s a very small space here," he said. "We have very little refrigeration space, so we had to keep it a small menu, which worked out well for us. We wanted to do a throwback burger place. Conte’s was kind of perfect for that. That’s what we decided to do. Keep it very simple, 1955-style. I think it will do pretty well in that town."

Hansen and his business partner recently opened Paulie's Pizza at the site of the old Conte's Burger Haven, which had been Marco's Pizza for years.

When Marco Salese opened his pizzeria, the Conte family gave him permission to continue selling Conte's Burger Haven burgers as a secret menu item, Hansen explained. Salese continued to sell the burgers until he closed shop on May 31. Hansen and his partner had purchased the building two-and-a-half years before Salese closed Marco's Pizza.

Hansen and his team had been spending a lot of time with Salese during the transitionary period and befriended the pizzaiola. They bounced potential ideas off of Salese, who eventually said, 'What about doing a Burger Haven here?' Hansen recalled.

"My partner and I looked at each other and we were like, 'That’s actually a really good idea,'" Hansen said. "We ran with it then."

Hansen reached out to Robert Conte, son of John Conte. John had founded Conte's Burger Haven with his brother, Carl. Robert signed off on allowing Burger Haven to be resurrected.

"He didn’t want the family name associated with it anymore," Hansen said. "Understood. We kept Burger Haven."

Now, the focus is on making the burgers taste as good as the original. Hansen said good burgers are made with "as little manipulation to the chop meat as you can." The store uses an 80/20 chop meat Plymouth burger — the same burger Conte's Burger Haven used, according to Hansen. The restaurant adds salt to its burgers when they are on the flat top grill. The burgers are flattened slightly before they go onto the grill.

"I made a silly analogy to a friend of mine the other day," Hansen said. "You don’t doctor a truffle up. I feel the same about chop meat burgers. You do as little as you can to it, because the more you do to it, the more screw it up. I feel like just salt, and let the fat and protein do the rest. Let them carry the flavor. That’s what Mr. Conte went with. We’re going with that."

Burger Haven is open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.