Bellport Village went more than three years without a supermarket. Cirillo's Market IGA at 115 South Country Road closed in June 2023. Fine Fare opened in that same building on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Cirillo's did two jobs under one roof, and those jobs are now handled by two shops on the same stretch of South Country Road.
What 115 South Country Road Used to Do
Cirillo's was a family-run market for more than 30 years. The Long Island Advance's opening-day report remembered it for custom meats, gourmet deli items and imported cheeses. In other words, it was the place for the weekly shop and also the specialty counter.
When it closed, both of those left the village together. Newsday reported that the closest supermarket was a Stop & Shop in Medford, nearly four miles away. A trip that used to happen on South Country Road now meant driving out of the village.
Three Years of Asking
The building did not refill on its own. Newsday reported that the former Cirillo's site sat vacant for years while community members, Mayor Maureen Veitch among them, pushed the landlord to bring in another grocery store. The property owner is Staller Associates Realty Inc., whose president is Cary F. Staller. According to Bellporter, Veitch brought in former mayor Frank Trotta to help with the deal. She described Village Hall, Trotta, Lukeman and Staller as working together to get it done.
From there, the published record moves in steps:
- June 2023. Cirillo's Market IGA closes after more than three decades.
- December 2025. Patch reports that Fine Fare will take over the empty IGA space. It quotes a Facebook teaser from the store that points to parking and access from Montauk Highway.
- January 2026. Co-owner William Lukeman tells the Advance he has signed a 20-year lease, and he estimates an opening in late April or early May.
- September 2026. Newsday reports the opening has moved to mid-October because licenses and equipment are delayed.
- Oct. 2, 2026. The doors open, ahead of that revised target.
Much of the wait came from the details of reopening an old supermarket space. Lukeman told Newsday the renovation had cost more than $3 million. That covered custom refrigeration and shelving along with replacement HVAC, electrical panels, gas lines and grease traps. In his January interview, he said New York's environmental rules on refrigerants required a new refrigeration system. In September he was still waiting on two approvals: New York State Liquor Authority sign-off to sell beer and wine, and federal authorization to accept SNAP benefits. The new electronic price tags had also been "stuck at the port." Coverage since the opening has not said whether either approval has come through.
He was firm about the deadline, as he put it to Newsday:
"in mid-October, no matter what because the community needs food"
The Store That Opened on October 2
At roughly 8,500 square feet, Fine Fare Bellport is small for a supermarket. Lukeman and his partners also run Fine Fare stores in Copiague, Riverhead, Farmingville and two in Brentwood, and Newsday reported that Bellport would be the smallest of the six. The Advance noted that the Fine Fare name dates to the 1970s and now covers 60 supermarkets in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The Advance's opening-day coverage describes what is actually on the floor:
- An organic produce section. One shopper told the paper it was "the best produce market I've ever seen."
- A deli with a juice bar that serves all day.
- A hot food section with macaroni and cheese, lasagna, crab cakes, meatloaf and baked chicken.
- A large Latin American dry-goods aisle with seasonings, drinks, coffee, sauces and dried fruit from El Salvador, Mexico, Ecuador and other countries.
- Sections for Chinese, Korean and Japanese foods, including a wide selection of ramen.
In January, Lukeman had also described plans for a Boar's Head deli, in-house butcher meats from Porky Products, a custom cheese bar and a custom flower case. The opening-day report does not confirm each of those counters, and hours have not been published in the coverage so far. The paper also said the store had 58 five-star Google reviews before it opened, left after the announcement earlier in the year.
That lineup is aimed at the full weekly cart: produce, dry goods, international aisles and ready-to-eat dinners. A store this size has limits, and the imported-cheese and custom-meat specialties people remember from Cirillo's had already turned up a few doors away.
The Counter That Moved Down the Block
By late June 2026, Greater Long Island was reporting that Jennifer and Collin Preziosi had recently opened Off the Wheel at 139 South Country Road. The building had long been a gallery and before that a bookstore. Greater Long Island reported that the couple's idea grew out of semesters in Italy. Collin went to culinary school and spent six months in Calabria, and Jennifer studied in Florence.
The shop sells close to what Cirillo's was known for:
- About 15 kinds of cured meats and roughly 40 cheeses, many imported from Italy and other parts of Europe.
- Rotating butcher cuts, including steaks, burgers, sausages and ribs.
- Bread delivered daily: ciabatta, focaccia, baguettes and sourdough.
- Sandwiches and take-home dishes such as eggplant parmesan, short ribs with mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.
Greater Long Island reported hours of Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jennifer told the outlet what she had been hearing around town: "We're so excited you're here. I don't have to drive anymore." The owners plan to use the lower level for fresh ravioli-making workshops, painting nights, sewing classes and family activities.
Put the two stores side by side and you have Cirillo's again. Fine Fare at 115 covers produce, dry goods and hot dinners. Off the Wheel at 139 covers the imported cheese, cured meats, butcher cuts and bread. The same block now does both jobs Cirillo's used to do. The village's smaller food spots have kept changing too. Shelby's Kitchen, the deli at 124 South Country Road, closed in February 2025 after four years.
Where the Fall Calendar Puts You on South Country Road
Both markets sit on the stretch where the village's fall and holiday events happen, which is also the year the Bellport Chamber of Commerce marks 100 years since its 1926 founding.
- Oct. 31. The Village Halloween Parade on South Country Road, with lineup at 11:30 a.m. and the parade starting at noon.
- Nov. 28. The Chamber's Small Business Saturday + Soup Contest.
- Dec. 5. The Bellport Village Tree Lighting.
- Dec. 12. The Holiday Shopping Stroll.
This will be the first holiday season since 2022 with a supermarket open on the block. For more about the village around it, see our Bellport neighborhood guide and our earlier piece on Bellport's arts and green spaces.
If you're wondering how a walkable grocery store affects day-to-day life on a particular Bellport street, or how a reopened storefront like 115 South Country Road shows up in a home's value, Marina Putova is happy to go over those details with you, one block at a time. Let's Connect.
