Setauket's Country Corner Reopens After Renovations

It's been a long time coming.

The Country Corner, a local bar that has been around for more than 100 years and which has been in Ben Saraydarian's family for 23 years, closed on Sunday for interior renovations. The bar reopened Wednesday and Saraydarian couldn't be happier with the work he and contractor Steve Molison have accomplished.

"I've always wanted to do this. It's always been in the plan," said Saraydarian, who moved to Long Island from Massachusetts when his father, Sahak, died in 2010. "With everything I've done here, I've tried to keep the feel of what it is."

"I feel great about it. It's everything I imagined and a little bit more."

When he arrived in Setauket after his father's death in 2010, Saraydarian – along with a group of friends who came down from Boston to help – gave the place a quick makeover. Since then, he has also redone the bathrooms and added new TVs. He made a few changes such as closing up a window with a wall on which he mounted dartboards.

But now, that window has been opened up once more, and after the rearrangement of the benches and tables, dart boards are in a place that makes much more sense. Drink rails line the walls, with hooks underneath for people to hang their personal belongings. The bar has been refurbished with a deep blue finish. Tap handles now have a display on the wall, and the green wallpaper behind the bar has been replaced by a dark red paint job. New benches were built using materials from the tables that had been removed.

"Everything's reclaimed. We're very green, environmentally friendly," said Molison, who also renovated Kodiak's in Farmingdale, Garden City Café and Barton at Home in Northport.

Saraydarian said his mother, Christine, approves of all the changes. "She's very excited. I really wanted to make sure that she felt good about it," he said.

Saraydarian said that while moving back down to Long Island was difficult at first, but he's happy with the choice he made.

"There's no doubt this was the right thing to do three years ago," he said," and it continues to be the right thing."