Bits of Food News, Shortest Month of the Year Edition

Here are some of the Astoria and LIC food news tidbits that have crossed our desks recently:

D-Lite Donuts, one of the few old school donut shops (RIP Doral Donuts) still around, has been closed for renovations but is expected to open soon. 45-19 Broadway, Astoria

Suzuki Shokudo on 31st Street and 38th Avenue gets good press from Reddit and on Yelp. Yelper Simon R calls it a “great small mom and pop Japanese restaurant.” We hear the fish is very fresh. 38-01 31st Street, Dutch Kills/LIC

A WHA tipster writes in, “For the past 2 or 3 weeks, I have noticed these chairs inside the first floor large retail space facing Astoria Blvd (which has been empty for several months since they completed the construction of the building last year) of the Bridgeview Luxury Apartments Building. I also noticed what looked like possibly an oven and some forms of kitchen equipment, and a framed poster of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” 26-05 28th Street, Astoria

Wine Art & Liquor is having their first anniversary party on Tuesday, February 13 from 6-9pm. RSVP to Adriana at 917-832-6253 to attend.

Ditmars gets a shout out in a Food & Wine article about a new LA Indonesian restaurant, Rinjani.

Rafina, a newish Greek restaurant/estiatorio, has opened up in what used to be home to beloved Italian restaurant Ponticello. From what we can tell, this restaurant was a well-respected one on Manhattan’s east side for a number of years, and has now moved to Astoria. 46-11 Broadway, Astoria

A WHA tipster reports that a brick oven pizza joint is opening in the space that used to be home to New Good One Chinese. We believe the new spot is called Macoletta and they even ran a Kickstarter for the business. THey’ll be serving “Neapolitan pizza, seasonal salads, and globally inspired share plates.” 28-15 24th Avenue, Astoria

No Partners, an old man bar for years, is now with the times and has an Instragram presence, showing of their food offerings. 2911 21st Avenue, Astoria

Queens Gazette likes Tikka India Grill. 34-14 30th Avenue, Astoria

Sweet Chick just had their 500 Foot hearing (Feb 1), so they are likely close to opening. 46-42 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City

The Court Square Blog reports that “Xi’an Famous Foods is coming to 26-19 Jackson Avenue. Xi’an has two other Queens locations in Woodside and also in Flushing, but it will be its first opening in Western Queens. The retail space, owned by Rockrose, is the former home of See.Me art gallery, which closed in late 2015. Delivery is expected sometime in late spring.” 26-19 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City

LIC Talk also has a good restaurant roundup—lots happening in LIC.

Back to Astoria—a 1 Degree Up update: “A Design Like Nothing Else Before. This Has Been a Very Difficult and Calculative Design To Build, But Now It’s Finally Coming Together This Spring & Summer.” As per Instagram. 30-07 Newtown Avenue, Astoria

44-19 Broadway—home to a few Thai restaurants (including the beloved Poodam’s)—had paperwork submitted to the DOB to be demolished.

And ICYMI: a Starbucks is opening on 30th Avenue, Gilbey’s Bar is closing, the neighborhood has lots of Valentine’s Day food action, QWNS Cafe is open in the Ditmars area.

2 Comments

Jim Powers August 7th, 2018

I guess One Degree Up never opened? Their IG is now set to private.

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Mackenzi Farquer November 11th, 2018

That’s interesting! I drive by frequently and it’s hard to tell what’s happening. I’ve also seen IG turn to private when they want to feature less-than-above board content…

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