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

good egg creams are GREAT. I've never had one I liked that I didn't make though.

(thank you sodastream)

Pretty good version of that old chestnut "Guantanamera."

Have I ever told you about my irrational dislike of the song Guantanamera?

It's not a bad song or anything, it's just sort of the Freebird of latin music.

Yeah, exactly. That and "El Condor Pasa."

Anyone here been to LIC Market? I've heard good things, although the menu seems less interesting than I would perhaps like. Maybe someone can recommend a better date night dinner within a few subway stops of FH? (want to stay close because it will be our first night using a non-relative babysitter).

I really like it for brunch

but pastries are like my favorite food and they give you really good mini-pastries w/ your brunch

I think the good date-y places are probably all in astoria

Is Vesta near a train?

Kebab Cafe in Astoria is a great date spot, if you don't mind it feeling like a 3 person date w/ the chef.

I had the BEST food from a place I'd say is maybe the worst date night dinner location. Gola Kabab from Kababish. Meat minced so finely that they have to wrap it in twine so it doesn't fall of the skewer. I had to remove the string before eating. I don't know how they serve it on a sandwich.

haha I was gonna suggest vesta

it's really far from the N and REALLY far from the R

what about Salt & Fat in Sunnyside -- anyone?

that is the closest restaurant to my apt but I don't go because I keep kosher

brooklyn types seem to like it and its generally busy

It's pretty great. Especially for Queens. Maybe it wouldn't seem so hip or special in Brooklyn or Lower East Side!

La Flor can be pretty decent for dinner, but they often have live music, very misguided.

should i move here? i'm going to move to nyc this year if it kills me; it's been a lifelong aspiration and now is the right time. i have more friends in brooklyn, but i think it's more expensive.

I like la flor a lot but it doesn't feel so date-y to me

if you like foreign food and relatively affordable rent you should live in queens

if you want to date hot young ppl and go to hip concerts and be poor you should live in brooklyn

Brooklyn is way more expensive, but Queens isn't for eveyone.

La Flor is suprisingly charming at night.

their service is reliably awful

thanks. i've liked astoria well enough when i visited there and will consider queens. happy to hear they have a thriving food culture because much of my discretionary income goes to restaurants.

i'm tossing around the idea of moving back to NYC. is there a part of queens that's cheap (1,100/month max rent, less the better), good for a single 30 yo into the usual ILX type shit, and is easily accessible to Penn Station?

to Treeship: I think if you're in your 20s and single and you can afford "Brooklyn" (meaning a part of Brooklyn that is palatable to 20-something post-college single types), move to Brooklyn. Only a cranky contrairian like iatee would profess to actually prefer Queens. But if BK is too beaucoup, there are plenty of likeable neighborhoods in Queens. Also there's Ridgewood, which is in Queens but is increasingly an extension of Bushwick as far as people like you are concerned.

Spectrum: when you say 1100 max rent, are you talking about a room in an apartment, or an apartment?

I've said it before, but I prefer Sunnyside/Woodside/Jackson Heights to Astoria.

Everything's expensive these days. Queens is cheaper but you're still gonna struggle to find anything less than 1200. You can find 2 bedroom apts for less than 1800, but studios and 1 bedrooms don't come cheap anywhere.

Hard to beat Woodside for convenience to Penn Station. Take the LIRR, 10 minutes door to door.

cranky!!

either or, I'd prefer to live alone honestly, but I'd consider a roommate

thanks Hurting. i don't know what my budget is going to be yet but it will be tight. ridgewood sounds interesting, i've loved the time i've spent in bushwick and wouldn't mind living in cycling distance from there.

you could probably find a studio in western queens for 1100 if you weren't picky and were on top of your cl game

there are hip young folk who prefer queens, but it takes a certain type. Usually cranky contrarians actually.

Ridgewood will still make you a pioneer, but easy access to that boomtown that is Bushwick can pay off.

Anyone been to Bunker Vietnamese on Metropolitan in Ridgewood just past Bushwick? Good stuff.

You can bike from Sunnyside/Woodside to Greenpoint or even Bushwick, though it's a pretty sketchy bike ride.

I liked Woodside when I was checking out places during my first run in the city. You're right about the price, Queens isn't as cheap as I'd thought it'd be ... though plenty of studios in "Upper Ditmars" Astoria.

yeah nobody should bike from sunnyside to greenpoitn or even walk really

I mean I do sometimes but nobody should do it

1100 is pretty tight for a studio anywhere decent, but I do see some listings at that price in Jackson Heights right now

astoria has a pretty huge range of prices because there are parts of astoria more than half a mile from a subway

Upper Ditmars is far but it's actually the only part of Astoria I would live in! It's nice up there near Astoria Park. A bit further away from the euro zone party time craziness that is much of Astoria.

iatee, wtf is up with Williamsburger opening up in Blissville (LIC/Sunnyside border on Greenpoint Ave)?

And I don't totally hate astoria. just can't imagine living there. Queens Kickshaw is killing it though.

no idea w/ the blissville thing, tho I do think blissville could turn into a cool neighborhood one day

You know like 95% of the toxic spill from Newtown Creek leaked south into greenpoint and barely affected the northern bank.

that's interesting I thought LIC was pretty toxic too. but yeah, old buildings, isolated but not too isolated from the city, cool skyline views, cheap rent, close to brooklyn....

(blissvile not LIC, LIC sucks)

treeship and spectrum you should move to blissville

you made that up

The Mr Vino Cucina store is open (gourmet store from the people who brought you the slightly overpriced and underwhelming wine store Mr Vino), but it has a surprisingly great single bottle beer selection:

http://www.beermenus.com/places/9011-mr-vino-cucina

I picked up a good belgian sour there today. The sales guy is extremely knowledgeable.

Thought this would about Tuomas coming to visit us.

he's coming to queens?

I would be completely out of place in a club like this, but I almost want to go once just for the ridiculous visuals:

http://www.electrovoice.com/sitefiles/pr_images/Club_Glazz_07.jpg
http://velvetlist.com/devTemplate/uploads/images/1708_06262012124326.jpg

(Club Glazz, Elmhurst)

I'm a heavy club goer and 9/10 do VIP bottle service, the only times I don't is when I haven't planned the outing and even then I'll grab my own table. I travel a lot and all over and hit at least 3-4 clubs depending on the amount of time spent in town. From NYC-Europe-Asia-Cali/Vegas-back to NYC! I figured I post a review cuz I'm every open minded, non-bias, and well versed with different types of clubs. OK, here we go 1st post! Glazz!!! Honest opinion the venue is amazing in appearance (5/5), the crowd is predominantly Latin (because it's a Latin club duh don't be told otherwise) and parties pretty good (3/5) but advice to travel with a group, Security was pretty tight and not on a power trip (if you got thrown out, you might have deserved it) (4/5), VIP was "cheap" ($200 for 750ml, which is weird cuz I had to special request a liter for $375) but there are other venues that'll give a lot more space (I had a party of 24 with 7 bottles at one table, which the space was no bigger than my bathroom, SERIOUSLY!!!!) and bigger bottles (0/5) you'll feel like you paid just an entrance fee vs $1,600+, management might as well be non-existent because they do a HORRIBLE job moving the VIP parties through the line to their table a served (my party took 1 hour and 45 min to eventually be served!) (0/5), music is mostly Latin duh lol but a good mix of: hip hop, pop, lil house, top 40, and reggae but too many obvious changes of DJ (3.5/5). Overall I personally will never return unless they get new management! It's a shame a place with so much to offer be ran so sh@&$y! Save your money if you plan on going, pre-game (drank before going for those who don't know) arrive very early to avoid a crazy line and pay entrance fee only because there is really no difference between that and VIP, REALLY! I could give you plenty of other choices with better music, an actual VIP section, and a management team that will make your night one to remember! I hope this helps, safe clubbing and party hard!

QB clubs might not be the safest places. There's this place closer to woodside on QB called "Play" and there was a shooting there. It kinda cracked me up later to notice that the sign outside on the building says something like "eat drink play dance shoot", because they're also a pool hall.