Kornerstone Bar Celebrates One Year in Glen Cove

On any given night, a certain man sits at the Kornerstone Bar with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face. He enjoys talking with customers, and catching a football game on television.

What some do not realize is that this man is no ordinary regular at this bar; he is the owner.

Brian Borawski, co-owner of Kornerstone Publik House on Landing Road, attributes his bar’s success to the casual and friendly atmosphere, which he enjoys himself quite often. The local hotspot is celebrating one year in Glen Cove this December.

"The vibe at the bar is that no matter what kind of day you've had, you come to the Kornerstone, you'll definitely leave with a smile," he said.

Borawski opened the Landing Road bar with two longtime friends, Craig Haskins and Francisco Romero.

"We call it a ‘Publik House’ because back in the day, in Ireland and England, you'd go to the ‘public house’ to hang out," said Borawski. "Instead of hanging out in your living room, you went there, and everybody went down and had a good time."

The Long Beach native splits his duties between managing the bar and fighting fires with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), Ladder 158, in Springfield Gardens, Queens. 

Before joining the FDNY, Borawski was a New York City police officer in Red Hook. He attended college at Stony Brook University, where he also played for the football team as an inside linebacker.

Although an accomplished crime and fire fighter, Borawski has developed a passion for tending bar; before opening Kornerstone, he worked at Steamboat Landing and Coco's Water Cafe in Huntington.

"I love the business," he said. "You meet so many great people. At the Kornerstone, everybody gets along, young and old. When we first bought the place, we fell in love with it, and we also pay tribute to the bars before us, going back to Mom & Pop's, which was here in the 50s."

The establishment has received praise, especially from one patron: "The bar has been resurrected in the best possible way," said Lee Poncet, noting the mindful renovations made by Borawski and fellow co-owners.

Since opening one year ago, the Kornerstone staff has developed a wide variety of weekly specials: “Taco Tuesdays” features $2 tacos; “W.O.W. Wednesdays,” 25 cent wings and $3 domestic drafts; “Ladies’ Night Thursdays,” half-priced drafts for female patrons; and weekends, live music and $5 appetizers on Sundays and during football games.

The bar offers up 30 different styles of wings, including traditional and the “Jack Daniels,” as well as more unique flavors such as “So-Co Lime” and “Coca-Cola.”

The Kornerstone also serves up affordable appetizers, soups, salads, burgers, pastas, sandwiches and entrees, or "pub grub taken up a notch," as Borawski describes.

Kornerstone Publik House is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. for lunch and dinner. The bar remains open until last call around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. Click here to "Friend" the bar on Facebook.