Welcome to BOAST: Best of Astoria & LIC, the essential guide to the best things to eat, drink, do and see in Astoria and Long Island City, Queens.
On Thursday, November 5, from 7-11pm, Rèst-âü-Ránt will be celebrating its 8th anniversary, and they are inviting you to the party! Free hors d’oeuvres, drink specials, and live music. More information on the website, rarbarlic.com. The address is .
Looking for your comfort food fix on Ditmars? Now you can get it at Pomeroy, which just opened on Tuesday. Here’s the article from Gothamist, which includes some pics.
The address is 36-12 Ditmars Blvd, and the website is thepomeroynyc.com.
BOAST’s Best of Astoria Day was on Sunday, and we had a blast spending the day in Astoria, going to a number of BOAST winners. We had a bottomless brunch at Gastroteca Astoria, saw how cats took over the internet at Museum of the Moving Image, celebrated Oktoberfest with Purple Haze, Czech beer and a polka band at Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, and ended the day with pizza, pasta, and salad at Tufino Pizzeria Napoletana. Check out a slideshow below for pics from the day.
BOAST’s Best of Astoria Day is this Sunday, Sept 27! We’ve got a full day planned, so please email [email protected] to let us know which part you’d like to join us for.
It’s Gastroteca for brunch at noon, MOMI around 2:15, Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden to celebrate Oktoberfest around 4:30, and Tufino Pizzeria around 6:45. We had a tasting at Gastroteca the other day (picture below), so we are VERY comfortable saying that the brunch will be delicious.
You are invited to BOAST’s Best of Astoria Day! On Sunday, Sept 27, just as it’s becoming sweater weather, we are going to spend the day going to a number of the BOAST winners. Let us know which you’d like to join us for by writing to [email protected]. Here is the tentative schedule:
12:00pm: We’ll start at Gastroteca for a pre fixe brunch. We have a special discounted BOAST price of $25 (regular $35), and that includes a first course of family style food for sharing, and a second course entrée. This also includes a mimosa, lambrusco (Italian wine), beer, or juice, and coffee or tea.
~2:15pm: We’ll head to the Museum of the Moving Image to see the exhibit on how cats took over the internet. Meow!
~4:30pm: Our next stop will be Front Toward Enemy for some of their great appetizers and drinks. FTE was a multiple BOAST winner for bar with best atmosphere, bar with best cocktails, best Happy Hour, and best Trivia.
~6:45pm: We’ll head to Tufino Pizzeria for a number of pies (the more people come, the more pizza we get to try).
You can join us for as much or little of the day as you choose, but space is limited for some of the places, so RSVP here on the Facebook page and email me us [email protected] to reserve your spot.
After moving to Astoria and falling in love with all the neighborhood had to offer, Nicole Panettieri decided to open her own little shop of gifts and glam on Ditmars Blvd. The Brass Owl is located at 3619 Ditmars Blvd and is a fabulous place to buy a gift, a pair of shoes or something for the home. The store hosts a happy hour event every Friday, workshops with industry experts, and contests to win private shopping events. The Brass Owl will be celebrating its one year anniversary on September 13th complete with mimosas and a candy bar!
For more information, visit its website at thebrassowl.com, or the BOAST Happening page, which has information about the anniversary party.
—Joanna
Last Wednesday, multiple BOAST winner Sanfords Restaurant reopened after many months of renovations. The restaurant will have shortened hours, 5pm until around 1am, until the Grand Re-Opening early next week. Sanfords expanded, and now has a whiskey bar with over 50 seats. Next week, when it gets to its regular hours, it will no longer be open 24 hours; now it will be open from 8am until around 3am. To check out the menu and other information, here’s the restaurant’s website: sanfordsnyc.com.
The new results were just published, and we used lots of write-ups from the survey. However, there were some that did not make it, and here are a few of our favorites:
“What’s more American than burnt ends, bourbon, and beer. So great that I had my wedding reception here!” (Butcher Bar | Best American Restaurant)
“Come for the egg sandwich. Stay for the waffle fries!” (Tastee Corner | Best Diner)
“After years of living in an area with many Greek restaurants, I recently went here for the first time and loved it. I can’t wait to go back!” (Stamatis | Best Greek Restaurant)
“Others may be better, but for quality, everyday Greek food, this is a great restaurant.” (Zorbas | Best Greek Restaurant)
“Another great place to get cheap, heavy-handed, delicious Italian food. Just like my grandmother used to make!” (Napoli | Best Italian Restaurant)
“It’s half-off sushi, but they don’t skimp on the ambiance, taste, or service.” (Aji Sushi House | Best Japanese Restaurant)
“Hidden in the back of a bakery is the best pizza in Astoria!” (Rose and Joe’s Italian Bakery | Best Pizza)
“Does vegetarian and vegan so effortlessly and without having to worry about that one friend who complains about the lack of bacon.” (BareBurger | Best Vegetarian Restaurant)
“Not sure if it counts as being in the area, but this place has some of the best cocktails in the city.” (Dutch Kills | Best Bar-Cocktails)
“I don’t watch sports, but it looks nice from the outside.” (Twist & Smash’d | Best Bar-Sports)
“Love the meat, cheese and wine special!” (Vesta Trattoria & Wine Bar | Best Happy Hour)
“When will Astoria get a Whole Foods….” (Key Food | Best Supermarket)
“They double my coupons. I walk a mile just to save money.” (Stop & Shop | Best Supermarket)
The warm weather survey results have been published on the site, and here are some numbers and figures.
There were 18 categories in the EAT section (plus three write-ins), 12 in the DRINK section, and 10 in the DO & SEE section. There were 89 different winners, with four places having multiple locations in Astoria (Astoria Bier & Cheese, Bareburger, Key Food, and New York City Bagel & Coffee House). There were three places that were winners in four categories, one place that was a winner in three categories, and 13 places that were winners in two categories (see below). The Ditmars area had the most winners, followed closely by 30th Ave (see below).
Here are the number of winners by location (subway stop in parentheses):
• 36th Ave (N/Q): 7
• Broadway (N/Q): 13
• 31st Ave: 7
• 30th Ave (N/Q): 22
• Astoria Blvd (N/Q): 3
• Astoria-Ditmars Blvd (N/Q): 25
• Steinway St (R): 13
• LIC: 3
Here are the winners in multiple categories:
• Front Toward Enemy: 4
• Sek’end Sun: 4
• Sweet Afton: 4
• Mar’s: 3
• The Queens Kickshaw: 3
• Rèst-âü-Ránt: 2
• Sac’s Place: 2
• Bareburger: 2
• Il Bambino: 2
• Astoria Coffee: 2
• Jujube Tree: 2
• Queens Comfort: 2
• Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden: 2
• Crescent & Vine: 2
• Martha’s Country Bakery: 2
• Q.E.D.: 2
• DiWine: 2
• Museum of the Moving Image: 2
The BOAST: Best of Astoria results (warm weather edition) have been published on the site! There are some new categories, like best place to eat and drink outdoors, and many of the categories are the same from last time. There are some repeat winners, and there are also a number of new winners, and we’re excited to check out all of them more closely in the next few months. Also, all the photos in the slideshows at the top of the pages for EAT, DRINK, and DO & SEE are new. If you’re curious about winners from the previous survey, just scroll to the bottom of the page.
We want to thank you if you participated in the survey, and if you did a write-up, you may see your writing on the site! If you want to know where to go around a certain area in Astoria, check out the LOCATION page, where there is an interactive map with all the winners, and on that page you can see all the categories they were winners for. Keep checking out the HAPPENING page, which is continuously updated, and if you want to get in touch with us, use the CONTACT page, or send an email to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
