Bay Shore has a new corner cafe that is equally comfortable making a matcha latte and a plate of crispy fried chicken. Burkii opened its doors at 87-89 Howells Road at the end of August and has spent its first weeks adding to the menu, building a following of students and regulars, and settling into the neighborhood.

Two menus in one room

Burkii runs on an unusual combination. One side of the operation is a drink program: specialty lattes, matcha in several flavors, Kashmiri chai, smoothies and acai bowls. The other side is comfort food made to order, with crispy fried chicken, boneless wings, burgers, loaded rice bowls, wraps and salads. The restaurant describes its cooking as fresh, made daily and built around bold flavors, and reviewers in its first weeks have singled out the chicken bowls and the fruit matchas.

In mid-September, a few weeks after opening, the cafe added a breakfast menu, a move it announced had come by popular demand. The spot now runs from breakfast through dinner seven days a week, with the kitchen open into the evening until 10 p.m. Dine-in, curbside pickup and delivery are all available, and online ordering runs through the restaurant's website.

Built around the school crowd

From the start, Burkii has aimed part of its menu board at the school crowd. It gives 10 percent off to students, faculty and staff who show a valid school ID, an offer it promotes as a standing deal rather than a one-time promotion. On Bay Shore High School's homecoming day this month, it ran an additional discount for the day to match.

That focus shows up in the room as well. The space is small and bright, with a counter for ordering, seating for eating in, and a steady run of drink experiments posted to the cafe's Instagram account, which is where new menu items tend to appear first.

If you go

Burkii is at 87-89 Howells Road in Bay Shore. It is open seven days a week, with breakfast service in the morning and the full menu running until 10 p.m. The phone number is 631-328-1607, and the menu and online ordering are at burkiirestaurant.com. New items, hours updates and specials are posted at the cafe's Instagram, @burkii.bayshore.

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