The borough’s vast array of restaurants mirrors the ever-fluid demographics. Neighborhoods have distinct flavors, sure, but if you look closely, and spend enough time pounding the pavement, unexpected gems will surface.
The Insider’s Guide presents our readers with an overview of Queens’ best restaurants. Since there are so many to choose from, you’ll find examples of restaurants you’d expect to find in a neighborhood, paired with a listing for a restaurant that offers a surprising cuisine.
ASTORIA ______________________
According to the 2000 Census, 187,540 residents of Queens identify themselves as Italian in ancestry. Although most of the borough’s Italian Americans live in Eastern Queens, there are still symbols of the first Italian settlements in Western Queens, including the statue of Christopher Columbus and Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. But there’s also Forno Italia, famous for its brick oven pizza and handmade mozzarella distributed all across New York.
43-19 Ditmars Blvd.
When people think Astoria restaurants, they undoubtedly make the leap to Greek cuisine. There are many to choose from, but Agnati Restaurant receives especially high praise from locals.
19-06 Ditmars Blvd.
Middle Eastern culture in Astoria is particularly apparent on Steinway Street where hookah bars and sweet shops are well-integrated into the urban landscape. For a simply unforgettable Egyptian meal, try Mombar Egyptian Restaurant.
25-22 Steinway St.
Flushing is the obvious destination for Asian cuisine. Only in Flushing is the highest-quality Korean food available 24-hours a day. Kum Gan Sang, which also has a Manhattan location, is open all day and all night and offers first-rate Kal-Bi, Pa-Jun and Bi-Bim-Bap along with a selection of Japanese entrees.
138-28 Northern Blvd.
For vegetarian Chinese cuisine in Flushing, head to Happy Buddha, where mock meat is expertly prepared.
135-37 37th Ave.
Joe’s Best Burger is another Flushing treat. If you arrive between 9 pm and 10 pm, everything’s half off. Both “Time Out New York” and the “Village Voice” have recognized the joint for its superior take on an American classic.
39-11 Main St.
If you happen to be in the Forest Hills/Rego Park area, it’s not a bad idea to sample the neighborhood’s kosher delis. Ben’s Best, established in 1945, is famous for its spicy pastrami.
96-40 Queens Blvd.
Forest Hills may be known for deli, but those seeking a bona fide French bistro should look no further than Rouge Bistro. Everything from the wash closet to the French “no smoking” signs, to the dim lighting transports patrons to a Parisian atmosphere, where they can spend leisurely time chatting, drinking wine, and enjoying themselves. Look out for the French onion soup, crepes and tarte tatin.
Glendale, traditionally known as an Irish neighborhood, is home to YerMan’s. Yerman’s is a popular night spot and hangout, offering plenty of fine brews on tap and is decked out with television sets and wall-sized projection TVs that offer all the best sports from the U.S. and abroad. Indulge in an order of mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, or fried zucchini and then move on to a burger, sandwich, stew or wrap.
70-26 88th St.
Glendale is also home to a growing number of European immigrant groups. The German restaurant Zum Stammtisch draws diners from all five boroughs and hosts Oktoberfest events. You can’t go wrong with Bratwurst or Knockwurst, each served with potato salad and sauerkraut.
69-46 Myrtle Ave.
Jackson Heights is jam-packed with Indian restaurants. But the Insider’s Guide recommends Indian Taj for buffet-style affordable dining.
37-25 74th St.
In addition to the numerous South-Asian offerings, Jackson Heights boasts one of the city’s best Argentine Steakhouse: La Porteña. The 14-year-old establishment is famed for its filet mignon, shell steak and skirt steak as well as its ambiance.
74-25 37th Ave.
Woodside doesn’t have the largest Thai population in the borough, but it does have what many consider to be the most authentic Thai restaurant in New York. Sripraphai may be BYOB, but its curries, noodle dishes and chicken sate are plenty intoxicating.
64-13 39th Ave.
How Can You Take Off The Weight?
Managing your weight is not as easy as it seems.
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By Brian M. Rafferty
The scale rarely lies. It may offer some information that you cannot believe every now and then, but the constant up tick of the numbers does not necessarily mean that the springs inside are getting weak and deteriorating, showing false results.
No, the simple truth is that you have put on a few pounds.
For some of us, we have put on a few pounds a year for the last several years. You may think that gaining a quarter of a pound in a week is nothing, but over two year that is 26 pounds.
The best philosophies to help people in Queens and beyond to lose the weight are to approach it the same way it was gained – slowly and over time. Thankfully, there are many weight loss options available to Queens residents seeking to fight the battle of the bulge.
Watch Your Weight ______
Founded by a Queens gal, Jean Neidich, Weight Watchers has been the leader in organized weight loss programs for more than 30 years. Though the program has evolved slightly over the decades, the concept remains the same: watch what you eat, understand what types of food you put in your body, exercise more and you will not only lose weight, but develop healthy habits that will lead to a lifetime of fitness and health.
Meetings can be found throughout the borough, seven days a week – in malls, storefronts, churches and community centers. Picking the right one is simply a matter of figuring out the days or times most convenient for you, logging on to weightwathers.com and entering your zip code. From there, scroll through your search results to find the meeting that best suits your needs.
After that, you are going to experience some trial and error. For example, the group that meets in Fresh Meadows Shopping Center on Monday afternoons is an even balance of younger program newbies and older long-timers who are at or near their goal weight. Who makes up the meeting determines the meeting’s pace and impact on the others.
At Forest Hills on Queens Boulevard Saturday mornings there is a middle aged crowd that seems to have its struggles, but always shares exceptional stories of success. Sunday mornings in the Metro Mall in Middle Village is a younger, motivated crowd that is dotted with a few stately elders who have shown success for years.
Whichever you choose, Weight Watchers can point you in the right direction and lead you down the road to lifelong wellness.
Get In The Zone__________
Based on the popular Zone Diet, which gives a balance of carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats, Chef’s Diet (formerly known as Zone Chefs) offers people in Queens a trouble-free solution for healthy eating.
The concept is simple: don’t buy food. Don’t keep it in your house. Don’t have it at work. Don’t sneak it in your car.
All your food is prepared for you by a professional chef and delivered to your door every morning – including three meals and healthy snacks to give you the energy you need for the day without all that you don’t need.
Plans start at $9.99 per day, including lunch or breakfast, dinner and two snacks and range to premium plans for $39.99 a day, which include higher-end dishes, three meals and two snacks.
All of the food is delivered to your door in a discreet, insulated black bag and stored in disposable microwave containers, making heating and clean-up a breeze.
Though the cost can seem steep, compare that with the monthly cost of meals (including going out to dinner every now and then).
To learn more about Chef’s Diet call (866) 805-8108 or go to chefsdiet.com.
Under The Knife __________
Considered by many to be a last-ditch solution toward weight loss, bariatric surgery is a type of medical procedure that actually reduces the size of the stomach, causing a person to feel fuller faster. There are three primary ways this can be done: the lap band, vertical banded gastroplasty and gastric bypass.
The lap band is a type of surgery relatively new to the United States. The doctor enters the body without cutting the patient open and inserts a hollow tubular band around the stomach using a laparoscope. The band can be loosened or tightened based on a patient’s need and progress. The band is removable and after the patient achieves medical goals the band can be removed.
Weight Watchers offers meals that make it easier to watch what you eat.
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Vertical banded gastroplasty is surgery that involves stapling closed a part on the side of the stomach and attaching a band to a lower portion, essentially making a small pouch less than a quarter of the size of the stomach. This procedure is not recommended for people whose weight problems are more self-induced – eating high-sugar foods and simple carbohydrates. However, it does allow the body to continue absorbing nutrition ion a natural way and is less life-altering than full gastric bypass.
Gastric bypass is an absolute bypass of the majority of the stomach and a large portion of the small intestine. This is typically the most successful surgery to reverse morbid obesity, but is also considered in most cases to be non-reversible.
In Queens, New York Hospital Queens has been a leader of obesity surgery for years and has a great success record. To learn more about NYHQ’s bariatric surgery option, go to www.thethinlife.org.
Also, North Shore-LIJ Hospital is now recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, allowing them to accept Medicare for bariatric surgery. To learn more about the North Shore Center for Weight Management go to www.nslij.com/weight.
What Else Works? ________
Vertical Banded Gastroplasty is a surgery that causes food to bypass most of your stomach.
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The answer to that question is simple: whatever works for you works. For some people cutting carbohydrates and following South Beach or Atkins is the way that makes a difference. For others it is fad diets like eating vegetable soups or just rice for weeks at a time.
The truth is, if you are looking for weight-loss advice in Queens, there are too many places to look to know which to believe. Ask someone you know who has lost weight how he or she did it.
Most likely, the answer will be something like, “I started exercising and eating less.”
The advice is as old as any, and is true, too. Eat less and exercise more and you will lose weight, live longer (statistically speaking) and feel better about yourself – which is what you’re trying to do in the first place anyway, right?
Try These Gyms To Get Into Shape
The Rock Gym in Astoria offers distraction while you work out.
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By Brian M. Rafferty
Though it may not be on the forefront of your mind now, odds are that come Jan. 1 you may be thinking about joining a gym. The only trouble is trying to figure out which one is going to give you the experience you need to help you commit to getting into shape – and staying that way.
Which Queens gym to pick depends entirely on the experience that is going to work for you. Are you the type of person who needs to have your hand held throughout the process? Do you like a little supervision but tow work mostly on your own? Are you the person who knows what to do and is just looking for a place that is convenient and less crowded at the right hours?
The good news is that all of these needs are met by the great variety of well-recommended places throughout Queens.
For the hand-holding type there is Body By Berle – one of the best deals in terms of working with a personal trainer, and a place that can give you the encouragement you need to stick with your plan while working with you to develop a healthier physique.
The way Berle works his plan is advanced circuit training. You start on one nautilus machine that works one group of muscles and move on to the next, and so on, without breaks that would bring down your heart rate. The overall effect is that your body builds muscle quickly.
Body By Berle is located in the Fresh Meadows Shopping Center. Go to www.bodybyberle.com or call (718) 264-8787.
And for just $25 a session, the per-month cost is comparable to that of a gym membership with weekly meetings with a personal trainer – except with Berle all your sessions are with a trainer and without having to wait for machines to be ready.
A work out at Body By Berle is a one-on-one experience.
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If you would like to work on your own but with some occasional guidance, a traditional gym may be more to your liking. Constantly rated as one of the best gym clubs in the city, New York Sports Club has locations in Astoria, Forest Hills, Glendale and Rego Park.
The gyms are big, new and clean, with top-of-the line machines to help in your workout, plenty of free weights and tools, and classes designed to enrich your spirit while toning your body. The yoga room in the Glendale location at the Shops at Atlas Park is a Zen palace of silence, dark woods and frosted glass.
There are also personal trainers on hand who can give you as much or as little of a push as you need to help you along the way to you goals. Beyond the one-on-one sessions for which you pay extra, trainers are there most of the time to give you support and to push buttons on your treadmill to force you to work a little harder.
To learn more about New York Sports Clubs go to mysportsclubs.com.
If you are into just going to the gym without anybody telling you what to do or how to do it, then all you need is a place that has the right equipment and is open at the right times. Bally Total Fitness seems to be a good pick.
With locations in Elmhurst, Little Neck and Kew Gardens, Bally’s offers a good variety of equipment, up-to-date machines and a range of services. There is even a pool in their Little Neck location.
To learn more about Bally’s go to ballytotalfitness.com.
A World Of Choices For Medical Care
Celebrating the opening of LIJ’s new critical care units are Lawrence Smith, North Shore-LIJ’s chief medical officer (l. to r.); T.S. Ravikumar, surgeon-in-chief, NS-LIJ; Michael Dowling, president & CEO, NS-LIJ; Jacob Scheinerman, associate chairman of cardiothoracic surgery, LIJ; and Saul Katz, Chairman, NS-LIJ Health System Board of Trustees.
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By BRAD GROZNIK
It’s an unfair reality that we all must endure; we get sick and sometimes have to go to the hospital.
Lucky for us, Queens has some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world.
About a dozen institutions serve the borough’s 2.2 million inhabitants, not to mention the world class facilities just a short ride away on Long Island.
“Queens is the best place in the world to work,” Dr. Robert Crupi, chairman of emergency medicine at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, said. “It’s like working for the United Nations.”
What he means is Queens is home to the most diverse population in the world. Not only do area doctors need to understand local aliments, but they also need to be aware of foreign diseases most Midwest physicians never encounter in a 40-year practice.
Flushing Hospital is Queens’ first hospital, founded in 1884. Today the hospital is a 293-bed nonprofit teaching facility with world class amenities.
A full 20 percent of the nurses at Flushing are Korean to mirror the changing population of the area.
Queens also hosts one of the premier psychiatric institutions.
The walls of Schneider Children’s Hospital are lined with smiling faces. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen
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The Zucker Hillside Hospital is one of only four facilities established by the National Institute of Mental Health as a clinical research center for schizophrenia. The hospital is renowned for its work in diagnosis, treatment and research of the illness.
Executive Director Dr. John Kane heads the hospital and is a recipient of numerous awards for his work in schizophrenia. He received his undergraduate education from Cornell University and his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine.
Zucker Hillside is part of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System which comprises of 15 institutions throughout the state. It is the largest employer on Long Island.
The Schneider Children’s Hospital also is part of the health system and was recently voted in the top 25 children’s hospitals in the nation by “U.S. News & World Report.”
Children’s hospitals are different than general hospitals not just in the patients but also the amount of space it requires. There is a five-acre campus at Schneider, dedicated to the borough’s children.
In 2007 Dr. Ari Goldsmith was voted one of the best doctors in New York by Castle Connolly for his work as a children’s ear, nose and throat doctor.
Schneider is located right next to the Ronald McDonald House, which helps hundreds of sick children receive treatment from Schneider’s world class doctors each year.
One of the largest hospitals in the area is just a short drive on the Long Island Expressway. The Long Island Jewish Medical Center, located on the border of Queens and Nassau counties, is an 827-bed voluntary, nonprofit tertiary care, teaching hospital on a 48-acre campus.
On the opposite end of the county, near the East River, is Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens, a 235-bed community hospital in Long Island City.
Borough President Helen Marshall speaks at the ribbon cutting for last year’s Queens Hospital expansion. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen
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One of the best things about this 21st-century hospital is it is entirely paperless. Records, x-rays, CAT scans, can all be sent to your family physician electronically.
The hospital also is home to Dr. Chun Chen a famous neuro-spinal surgeon, who not only wrote definitive textbook for surgery on the base of the brain, but completed the task in Queens as well.
If, god forbid, you are ever shot or stabbed, you’ll most likely be rushed to Elmhurst Hospital’s level one trauma center.
The hospital is also known for its Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Cardiovascular Intervention led by Dr. Mazullah Kamran’s, which makes angioplasty available in Queens.
Still, what makes Queens so great is some of the best hospitals are passed on your walk to work.
Queens Hospital Center went under a $149 million modernization in 1997. The opening of a new main hospital facility occurred in January 2002. In November 2006, a ribbon-cutting ceremony heralded the opening of an ultramodern Ambulatory Care Pavilion, which houses the hospital’s Diabetes Center of Excellence as well as the Primary Care, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Ophthalmology and Dentistry clinics.
At the helm of the hospital is Dr. Margaret Kemeny, a nationally renowned surgical oncologist who also appeared in Castle Connolly’s top picks.
What To Do In A Dental Emergency
By Brian M. Rafferty
It’s 9 p.m. on a Thursday night and you’ve just settled in with a bowl of pretzels to enjoy a new episode of your favorite medical drama, when you suddenly find that you have developed one of your own.
The pretzel, it turns out, was stronger than the molar you used to crunch it – and it crunched you instead, leaving you with a broken tooth, an exposed nerve and no idea of where to find a dentist at this hour.
The bad news is that you probably will not find a 24-hour office. The good news, however, is that if you are in absolute agony, any one of the Queens emergency rooms may be able to offer temporary dental relief until you can get to a dentist’s office in the morning.
If you don’t have a dentist, you can call (800) DENTIST to find a dentist in Queens who can accept a last-minute emergency case. The dentists are screened and you’re not going to get one who is going to cause more harm than good through the referral service.
In the meantime, the New York State Dental Association offers the following tips of what to do in a genuine dental emergency:
Knocked-Out Tooth: It’s important to retrieve the tooth, hold it by the crown, and rinse off the root of the tooth if it’s dirty. Do not scrub it or remove any attached tissue fragments. If possible, put the tooth back in its socket. If that isn’t possible, put it in a container with milk or water and then get to the dentist as soon as possible.
Broken Tooth: Rinse your mouth with warm water to keep the area clean. Use cold compresses on the area to keep the swelling down and get to your dentist’s office quickly.
Bitten Tongue or Lip: Clean the area gently with a cloth and then apply cold compresses to reduce the swelling. If the bleeding doesn’t stop, go to a hospital emergency room immediately.
Objects Caught Between the Teeth: Try to gently remove the object with dental floss and avoid cutting the gums. Do not use a sharp instrument. If you’re not successful in removing the object, go to the dentist.
Toothache: Rinse the mouth with warm water to clean it out. Make sure food or foreign objects aren’t lodged around the tooth by using dental floss. Don’t ever put aspirin or any painkiller on the gums or around the aching tooth. It can cause a burn on the mouth and do more harm than good.
Knowing how to handle a dental emergency can mean the difference between saving and losing a tooth. Time is important in saving teeth. If your tooth or your child’s tooth has been fractured, or especially if the tooth has been knocked out, you need to get to a dental office or emergency room as quickly as possible.
Check Out Queens’ Blooming Nightlife
The ladies enjoy free admission before midnight at Soel.
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By Liz Skalka
Though Manhattan is the borough best known for its clubs, more and more Queens club-goers are beginning to stay in their native borough for a night out on the town.
This is because Manhattan is growing too expensive for most club-goers, said Eric Mayor, a club promoter and CEO of LatinLime Marketing Group.
Having to pay $50 or $60 just to park your car in Manhattan, he said, has changed the nature of the industry and is forcing club-goers to stay closer to home.
Also, since rent is more expensive in Manhattan, the cost to get into clubs and of drinks is far more than it is in Queens. “That mentality has ruined the nightlife in [Manhattan],” Mayor noted.
He noted that clubs in Queens are becoming more popular due to word of mouth and internet buzz. Club promoters also do promotions in the borough.
Beats pump out nightly at Queens Boulevard’s Blagio.
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Mayor said that each club draws a different crowd depending on the type of music played.
“The industry is so segregated it’s really up to the person who wants to go out to realize what they want to do,” he said.
The types of music can vary from hip-hop, mainstream music, Latin music, reggaeton or a mixture of all or some of them. “The music leads the people,” Mayor noted.
Canela in Long Island City awaits its stream of clubgoers.
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There are also cultural barriers and Mayor noted that in certain neighborhoods one ethnicity may frequent a club that plays their genre of music. Mayor said in Corona there are Colombian clubs that are packed on the weekends.
Mayor also noted that there are a greater number of younger single people in New York City than there were years ago and the average age of club-goers has increased to between 21 and 35 years old.
For a night out in Queens, Partythisweek.com suggests trying some of these clubs:
• Blagio, located at 72-25 Queens Blvd., Woodside. Plays dance, old school, reggaeton, hip-hop. Live music on Fridays. Visit www.blagiony.com.
• Canela, located at 45-01 Northern Blvd., Long Island City. Plays international hits, reggae, reggaeton, hip hop, Latin music. Two-for-one happy hour everyday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Open bar for ladies on Thursdays from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Visit www.canelany.com.
• Central, located at 20-30 Steinway St., Astoria. Wednesday night party with special DJ’s.
• Fantasia, located at 62-05 30th Ave, Woodside. Plays reggae, reggaeton, salsa, hip-hop, meringue.
• Soél, located at 33-02 Queens Blvd., Long Island City. Friday night Latin parties. Ladies free until midnight on Saturdays. Visit www.soellounge.com.
Lace Up And Hit The Boro’s Trails
Forest Park is filled with tranquil paths that spread like a web throughout Western Queens. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen
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By LIZ SKALKA
Call him biased, but Jared Mestre of the Hellgate Road Runners believes Astoria Park is the best place to run in the borough.
“It’s one of the best,” Mestre said. “It has people coming in from Corona and Rego Park and Greenpoint to run.”
Located on the East River, the park has phenomenal views of the Triboro and Hellgate bridges.
Not only does the park have a track, it boasts scenic paths that run along the water and throughout the park’s 66 acres.
A majority of people prefer to train at the park in the evening hours, Mestre said, though he added that many seniors jog there in the morning.
Although Mestre urges people to be cautious and recommends training with a partner, he’s seen people running at the park as early 4:30 a.m. “If someone goes out that early in the morning it’s because they feel safe,” he noted.
Though Astoria Park may be considered a safe and scenic spot to stretch your legs, there are other great spots to run in Queens.
Sean Phillips, coach of Awesome Power Track Club, has his youth track club run at Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica, located at Merrick Boulevard and 115th Street.
“It’s a good place to run,” Phillips said. “It’s not boring, it’s entertaining.”
Phillips noted that park-goers are very courteous to runners. “They walk wide and they respect the runners,” he said, adding that he believes the best time to run there is between 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. when there are a lot of runners training. For a quieter run, visit the park from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Another Jamaica-based coach has a different opinion about the best place to run.
Ray James of the All City Blazers Track Club believes the best site for running is at Forest Park, which borders Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Glendale and Woodhaven.
James believes it’s the best because of the small hills on its paths. He also noted that there’s a 1.9-mile horse trail at the park that’s shaded and great for running in the summer.
James pointed out that there are also small hills that are good for training at Cunningham Park, which runs along Francis Lewis Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows and Hollis Hills. Alley Pond Park also has bike trails with small hills that are good for running.
Forest Park, Cunningham Park and Alley Pond all have packed dirt trails. “Those [parks] are the best for trail running,” James noted.
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Juniper Valley Park and Astoria Park all have asphalt trails that are good for flat-surface running.
James said the best time to run at all these parks is at 6:30 a.m. “It’s light enough by then,” he said. If you choose to run in the evenings, he said, you have to start running by 5:30 p.m. so you’re out by the time it gets dark.
If you choose not to run in parks or on park trails, almost every neighborhood has a track nearby, though James said tracks can sometimes get too crowded.
If you want to run in the street, he said, make sure to run in the opposite direction of cars and wear reflective gear.
