LIC Gets the Golden Touch – Oro Restaurant to Open Near Queens Plaza

There’s a new Italian restaurant opening in LIC next week and it’s name is Oro (that means “gold” in Italian). You’ll find it in the Crescent Club building (which was sold earlier this year for $97M), owned by father and son team Vlado and Mike Celic; the NY Post reminds us that “Vlado came to New York from Croatia in 1986, and ran restaurant Appetito on W. 39th Street before this.” Executive Chef Tony Cacace joins them as a mighty threesome.

Starting on Wednesday, April 13 Tuesday, April 26 (update 4/11), you’ll get to enjoy both classic and modern Italian dishes at the restaurant. Oro’s PR folks fill us in:

[They’ll offer] Baked Clams, Cornmeal Crusted Calamari and Shrimp Cocktail, alongside creative twists such as Quinoa and Kale Arancini, and Buckwheat Zucchini Frites. Specialties include homemade pizzas: thin crust, deep-dish, and an oblong 24″ family pie with all toppings, pastas, some made from quinoa, and buckwheat, and a large selection of fish and meat.

We’ve inquired about the gluten-free pastas to see if they are prepared in a way that diners with celiac and high gluten-intolerance can partake, but are still waiting to hear back. We’ll update this post once we hear more on this topic.

The 6,000 square foot restaurant will seat 160 and the bar 25 people, so it’s a large place. They say they will be able to accommodate private events, and there will be opportunities for dropping in late at night and hanging out, perhaps with a beautiful cocktail in hand.

It’s great to see another place join the budding Dutch Kills restaurant scene, which includes standouts like Crescent, Beija Flor, Dutch Kills Centraal, and The Baroness. Welcome to the neighborhood, Oro!

Oro (41-17 Crescent Street, Long Island City. 718-729-1801)
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This post has been edited.