Two members of the long-running Long Island band Oogee Wawa have swapped the tour van for a bar rag, opening a new neighborhood pub called The Undertow on South Ocean Avenue in Patchogue. Guitarist JP Aceto and MC Jesse Lee, a surfer who has spent more than a decade fronting the reggae-rock-hip-hop outfit, are behind the new spot, which sits near Patchogue Bay and leans hard into a beach-community look with surfboard decor and an outdoor patio.
[b1] The Undertow steps into a space with a complicated recent history. It replaces The Legacy Room, a high-end restaurant that opened earlier in 2026 serving dishes like duck breast and cauliflower steak, according to Greater Long Island. That elevated menu never caught on with local diners, and the space quickly turned over to Aceto and Lee's group, who shifted the concept toward a casual pub menu featuring a $15 double smashburger and shoestring fries combo, tacos, and hand-rolled chicken fingers marinated in a buttermilk seasoning blend and coated in a house-seasoned flour dredge.
According to Suffolk County Government, the Department of Health Services conducts food-establishment inspections to help preserve and improve public health. Suffolk County Open Data publishes food-establishment violation records that include the facility name, address, city, ZIP code and inspection date.
The new ownership group also includes Jesse Lee's wife, Melissa, and a partner named Jean Pierre, and their pitch to the neighborhood is intentionally low-key. Rather than another big nightlife draw, The Undertow offers an eight-seat bar with a neighborhood bar-and-grill feel — a deliberate departure from the larger, party-oriented venues that have historically dominated South Ocean Avenue's dining and drinking scene.
From Touring Reggae Act to Local Restaurateurs
Oogee Wawa emerged on the local music scene more than 15 years ago and built a reputation as a Long Island fixture, touring the United States and playing as many as 200 shows a year during its most active stretch. Aceto and his bandmates played Patchogue frequently over the years, and the band performed at the Great South Bay Music Festival in July 2026, appearing on a reggae-rock bill headlined by Sublime. These days, Oogee Wawa functions more as a nostalgia side project, with the band limiting itself to just a few shows a year.
[b6] That shift away from constant touring has coincided with Aceto and Lee putting down roots as local business owners. The pair reportedly drew inspiration from beach communities they visited from San Diego to near San Francisco, aiming to recreate that laid-back coastal atmosphere inside a Patchogue storefront. Aceto told Greater Long Island that he needs foot traffic and wants to hook customers once they enter.
A Growing Hospitality Footprint in Downtown Patchogue
[b8] The Undertow isn't Aceto's first venture into local hospitality. The Bookstore, a craft cocktail bar and literary hideaway on East Main Street in Patchogue, is another of his local hospitality projects. It opened in late 2025 as a seven-friend “bartender co-op,” according to The Suffolk County News. That storefront has its own layered history: it previously housed Main Street Apothecary and, for 13 years, the specialty shop The Cheese Patch before that business shifted to an online-only model in early 2025.
The Undertow's arrival also lands amid a wave of turnover in downtown Patchogue's dining scene. Taiwanese eatery Bird & Bao closed in August 2026 after seven years, Locale Gastro Bar & Pizzette shut down earlier in 2026, and The Cuban closed in late 2025 — a stretch of departures Hoodline previously reported reflects rising post-pandemic labor and operational costs squeezing independent venue owners across the district.
As broader cost context, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that its food index increased 3.0% over the last year in its July 2026 Consumer Price Index results.
Betting on Patchogue's Long-Term Momentum
[b12] Despite that turnover, Patchogue's downtown has a track record of rewarding reinvestment. An independent economic analysis by the Long Island Regional Planning Council found that the village's revitalization generated roughly $693 million in total economic output between 2000 and 2017, built on $246 million in private construction and $37 million in public grants. The Great South Bay Music Festival also remains a summer event at Shorefront Park.
For now, Aceto and his partners are wagering that a lower price point and a beachy, laid-back format can succeed where The Legacy Room's fine-dining approach could not. Whether The Undertow can turn that casual charm into the kind of steady, year-round local patronage the ownership group is aiming for remains to be seen, but the band-turned-business-partners are hoping their name recognition around Patchogue gives them a head start.
