54-46, that's my number: the Queens thread

De Mole isn't as special as it once was. It was never mind-blowing, just solid, tasty, cheap mexican food in a friendly place. I think when they expanded they dropped off a bit. It's still good for delivery and the occasional visit and certain dishes are better than others, though they're not always consistent. But not a destination restaurant. The tinga is really good, shrimp cocktail, enchiladas, mole burrito.

North and South are very different but it's the same basic neighborhood. South is cheaper. North is beautiful and charming but overrated restaurant-wise. It's a real shame as Skillman could be the hidden gem of the city of the restaurants were actually any good. Quaint is good.

The QB restaurants I stand by are Mangal Kabab and Natural Tofu. Not far from De Mole is another mexican place called Real Sante Fe, started as a steakhouse trying to sell margaritas to sorority girls (who have Ariba Ariba on QB anyway) but now seems to be more about tacos? I had great Al Pastor from them and they were cooking pigs ear tacos in the window, so they're the real deal and I've been meaning to revisit.

Woodside is cheaper still!

we've only had real santa fe delivery. it was okay. despite the atmosphere, our #2 choice for mexican in the neighborhood is arriba arriba. (chips is horrid.)

have you been to salt&fat yet dan? I keep kosher so that place is basically useless to me, but apparently the yelp-types like it.

always packed too

It's not (my) girlfriend-friendly food-wise

ah yeah I remember you said she's veg

And seafood but still. Place is very bacon happy.

to say the least

pretty sure the water is bacon flavored

I feel like the success of the place is sorta a sign of things to come tho. I walk by it very frequently and it's pretty clearly doing great business.

I split with a broker at that corner and peered into Salt and Fat. It looked interesting.

Looks like I'm moving to Sunnyside!

woohoo where at?

42nd St., south of QB. Is that an ok place to live? It feels so disconcerting to be leaving Astoria, thankfully I am only going about a mile away.

a block from me is a good place to live

really tho, I've found it to be really great

Close to Wendy's. But also close to that weird russian jewish supermarket with the best beer selection I've ever seen.

also 3 seconds from (the newly renovated) associated supermarket, which is the best supermarket I've seen in western queens

plus the 24/7 cvs

Cool, a good supermarket is high on my list of essentials. And proximity to iatee, of course:)

when do you move? we should get coffee.

http://gothamist.com/2011/08/10/food_truck_sanctuary_opens_in_long.php

on the one hand cool, food, on the other hand doesn't this sorta hamper local biz development? that part of LIC is kinda 9-5 I guess.

For sure on the coffee. If all goes well, Sept. 1.

Oh no! Dumpster pools!

Btw, is the 7 fucked every weekend?

it happens in phases, but generally it's not as bad as it's been the last few weekends. ime the astoria service changes are actually worse because when you have to make a reverse-transfer trip (which isn't super frequent on the 7, though there have been periods in the past where it was worse) you're doing it on a line that's less frequent (x2).

when the 7 doesn't go to times square, it's generally not the end of the world, but it's always going to be an unpleasant experience at QBP.

so on my way home from the Mets game, should I eat at M Wells, as it's closing soon?

they're eventually reopening in another spot in lic + apparently the lines are even worse than normal cause they're closing (/moving). so only if you've got patience, I guess.

it's probably too late but they're having closing dinners at 200/dinner so I'd think it's probably not a good idea!

maybe I should get the bkfast sandwich on the way out, then

$200? ffs

rip queens

Good riddance, I hate that place. M. Wells, not Queens.

C'mon. Hottest/most hyped restaurant in the city suddenly shuts down, requests for reservations go through the roof so they decide to do a few nights of crazy expensive foie-drenched meals. Let them have it! The food was a mixed bag but when it was good it was great and unique.

Didn't go. I don't ...relate... to food this way.

sorry to be all save-an-elitist dining establishment but their food was super affordable for what it was. They just set up a few special dinners in the last week of existence at that location. Let's not get crazy. It was a totally casual place that served adventurous and interesting meals for reasonable prices.

ate at William-hallet on 30th ave last night.they have some pretty good pub sandwiches.

pretty crazy review / article about M. Wells in GQ. critic goes there, gets bad service, some of his friends dining with him keep mouthing off (he admits), then the owner sends an email accusing him of patting his waitress on the ass

http://www.gq.com/food-travel/alan-richman/201109/alan-richman-m-wells-restaurant-scandal-review?currentPage=all

gonna give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt since it's gq

also it's ridiculous how much press these guys are getting considering that they're just moving to a new location

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/when-a-tornado-in-queens-becomes-an-international-incident/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Think The Beasties Boys are doing something to have that fixed

Um, there might be more to fix soon.

it's prob just gonna fly around the park like a bowling ball

Just went out on a little errand while we are in between rain bands, asked the lady at the Walgreens when they were closing and she said "we are open twenty four hours."

that's the spirit, walgreens lady

prob one of the better places to be, all things considered...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/nyregion/5pointz-arts-center-and-its-graffiti-is-on-borrowed-time.html?hp

looks like this is pretty much official?

I had to get to work from Queens this morning, and ALL of the trains were not working properly -- first I waited about 15 minutes for an R (during which time no M came at all), then I tried to transfer to an E only to be unable to get on the first one, which only came after another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, still no M train at all. Then an out-of-service train of some sort passed slowly through. Then an F, which wasn't even supposed to be there, arrived in the station, waited, let off all its passengers, sat some more, and then pulled away. Finally another E came, which proceeded at a snails pace into Manhattan. Is this what it's like every day?

well...those R, F, M trains are the same trains that go to brooklyn so any delay you had to deal w/ was felt by someone else down the line. that said, the queens boulevard line is supposedly near capacity, so any rush hour disruption is going to lead to crowded trains fairly quickly. (same is true w/ the flushing line.)

don't you live on the l? that's definitely worse

I don't know. I take the LIRR! Sometimes it's 3 or 5 minutes late, but usually it's not problem. I always get a seat and it's 10 minutes to Penn Station!

the ideal would be if the commuter rail systems were better integrated into the subway system, as it's done in Paris w/ the RER. in-city LIRR and Metro North trips should be as cheap as a subway ticket. this would pay for itself w/ increased ridership. rich suburbanites would have to deal w/ 'the city' but and trains would be pretty crowded, but it would be a huge boost in mobility, esp to people in LIRR queens.

What time was this, Hurting, 8:45? You got to be on the train earlier than that or you might get into a jam like you did.