Making a transition from one business to another can be quite a gamble. But going into the restaurant business can be even riskier. But it was the risk that the Bustamante family wanted to take when they opened up Gallo Tropical, a Colombian restaurant, in Patchogue.

On October 14, 2002, the restaurant, which used to be George’s Luncheonette, opened up. Before going into the restaurant business, the Bustamantes had their own jewelry store in Bay Shore. But after a brazen robbery, the family moved out to Medford and decided to open their own restaurant.

The Brick House Brewery & Restaurant is another restaurant/pub to the out-of-towner, but to those lifelong residents of the Patchogue area, it is a place whose structure has a long, rich history — way before the restaurant opened up 12 years ago.

In 1986, Joff Sahin came from Turkey with only $30 in his pocket. A chef by trade in his native homeland, Sahin sought to start his own restaurant, which took seven years in the making. During that time, he worked 16 hours a day at a gas station in Northport, and took business classes at Suffolk County Community College in order to make that dream come true.