Flo Lounge Founder to Open New Spot in Northern Astoria

We’ve learned that a new eating and drinking establishment of a little over 6,000 square feet is opening up in the northerly reaches of Astoria, in a property owned by Chris Minadakis, one of the founders of the very popular 30th Ave hangout Flo (which, as you know, suffered a terrible fire but returned like a phoenix). The space is located at 19-42 Steinway Street, just about a block north of Central Lounge, and only a couple of blocks from Singlecut Beersmiths, as the crow flies.

According to their DOB records, they’re going to convert a warehouse into this new food and drink space—perhaps a restaurant/lounge—and add a mezzanine level to it.

Up the street at 19-26 Steinway Street is the address of the infamous Racks, AKA the proposed bikini bar that wanted a liquor license last summer, but was denied because of suspicion that it was really a strip club. Originally it was a billiards club. There hasn’t been much information in the news about them, so we also wonder what the heck happened—did they remain a billiards club? Is there stripping going on without the possibility of an alcoholic buzz? One wonders these things at 12:30 a.m. (that’s when I’m writing this).

It will be interesting to see what happens in this new Minadakis space and how they handle being near the spectre of such a controversial neighbor, even if it is just its lingering reputation.