Brass Owl to Celebrate 1 Year Anniversary Sept. 13

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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

Sanfords has re-opened

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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.

Write-ups that didn’t make the site

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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)

Some figures from the latest survey results

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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 results (warm weather edition) are now published

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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!

Cool events going on First Tuesdays of the month

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On the first Tuesday evenings of the month, there are not one, but two cool things happening in the area. First, at 7:30pm at Q.E.D., there’s a trivia show called The Big Quiz Thing, which gets the audience involved with interactive elements, like video and audio. The Queens Courier gave it a write-up, and you can check that out with this link.

That ends at 9:30, then at 10pm, there’s a show at the Creek and the Cave called Creek Bros, which is a fun frat-party themed stand-up show. The lineup for August 4 is May Wilkerson, Casey James Salengo, Shakir Standley, John Bilancini, Peggy O’Leary, Scotland Green, Nick Naney, and the headliner for the evening: Anthony P. DeVito.

Creek Bros

You can find out more about these events on their websites, linked above, and on the BOAST Happening page.

4th of July fireworks come early in Astoria

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The NYC fireworks on July 4th will be over the East River this year, but if you want to get in on the action early, there will be fireworks over Astoria Park this Tuesday night. The festivities start at 7:30pm with a performance from the West Point Band, followed by fireworks around 9pm. So get over to the Astoria Park Great Lawn, bring a blanket, a picnic, and enjoy the sky light up!

Here’s more info on the NYC Parks page.

New BOAST survey is LIVE!

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Hello, and happy (almost) summer.

We wanted to let you know that the next BOAST: Best of Astoria survey (warm weather edition) is now live on the web! Here is the link:

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/LBWyWcme

Some categories are the same as last time, and there are some new ones as well. The survey will be live until Friday, July 3 at 5pm, so please take it soon. Even if you skip some categories, go ahead and fill out the ones you do know, and it would be great if you could do short write-ups for your choices (1-2 sentences). You may see your writing on the site!

We are trying to reach as many people as possible, so please share the survey.

As a refresher, you can check out the current winners in the EAT category, the DRINK category, and the DO & SEE category.

And once more, you can click here for the survey.

We’re looking forward to seeing the results!