welcome to new york // operation: explore astoria
As you can tell from the title, our recent weekend excursion was real. It was serious. It was OPERATION: Explore Astoria.
Let me back-up.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that the hubs and I start e-mailing with B&K, our weekend partners in crime, in early March to try and figure out when and where we’re spending the lazy days of summer. So, somehow, we were completely surprised and confused when all four of us realized a huge oversight! We were going to be in the city this weekend with nothing on the schedule. How did this travesty happen?! Luckily, we had a plan.
Operation: Explore Astoria
The boys moved out to Astoria a few months ago. We’ve visited a few times since then, but Saturday was the perfect time better acquaint ourselves with their return to B’s original New York ‘hood. Consensus? Brooklyn gets all the glory as the outer borough worth exploring, but I think Astoria deserves some recognition, too.
aroma31 // We literally walked 10 steps from their apartment before finding this cute little cafe, and when we noticed the sign advertising $15 brunch with unlimited mimosas and sangria, we were sold.
Pros: The food was fresh, the drinks were good! Order the red sangria over the white, and enjoy the bright and sunny vibe.
Cons: Our waiter mumbled something about having a special juice recipe that wasn’t on the menu. We all heard him offer to sub in one of the juices for our unlimited option, but after we agreed, he said it was going to be $5 each. The juice was fine, but we were played.
Euro Market // After brunch, we decided to stop by Euro Market. The boys had mentioned before that it’s full of amazing cheese, olives, and tons of beers from all over the world. They weren’t lying. Bonus points for selling Lemon Fanta, which, as K pointed out, is pretty much impossible to find in the US.
Pros: The entire back wall of this fairly large grocery store (by NYC standards, at least) was full of imported beers from around the world. There were refrigerators full of brands we had never even heard of! Also, the cheese & olives didn’t look too shabby.
Cons: By no fault of the market, it was entirely too hot to picnic anywhere. Alas, we were forced to walk around and drool, but not pick up anything to actually try. Next time!
Club 21 // It wouldn’t be a lazy Saturday in the city without more daydrinking. Eventually, we settled on Club 21. Most people would argue that it’s impossible to truly explore Astoria if you don’t explore its Greek influence. But the more we wandered around on Saturday, the more I realized just how much of a general European influence there is on Astoria. Case in point? The Club 21’s website encourages you to “Eat like a Czech, drink like a Slovak and party like there is no tomorrow!” I don’t even know what this MEANS, but I liked it.
Pros: The cute (and shaded!) beer garden in the back was pretty comfortable even in 95 degree weather. It was more comfortable after two pints.
Cons: It’s definitely off the beaten track, but its random location took us a little out of our way.
Also, the day’s special was jägerbombs. I haven’t done a jägerbomb since, like? I don’t even know. Basically what I’m saying is, if you are a bar and you’re going to brag about your daily specials, I would recommend not having Saturday = jägerbombs.
Obviously we did them anyway.
Mister Softee // I know, I know, this isn’t exclusive to Astoria. BUT. Unlike in Manhattan where you just have to walk half a block to find a truck sitting and waiting for you, Astoria’s ice cream trucks are old school. We were walking back to the apartment when one came down the street playing its “I’M HERE AND SLIGHTLY ANNOYING BUT IT MAKES YOU NEED ME” song, and how could we resist?
Pros: Everything, it’s ice cream.
Cons: The jackass who stopped his car in the middle of the street, turned on his blinkers, and cut us in line because he was “in a hurry.”
Locale // The four of us ended up having dinner in Manhattan on Saturday, but on another recent trip to Astoria, we dined here, and I can fully recommend it.
Pros: I’m a sucker for open-air restaurants and the food was yum.
Cons: We were there on a quiet night so it was a non-issue, but there wasn’t much room to wait for a table. I would recommend making a reservation in advance if dining on the weekend.
Beer Garden hopping // This is our usual Astoria go-to, so it didn’t make the cut for this visit, but you can’t say you’ve been to Astoria if you haven’t visited one of their beer gardens. It’s a law. We were already deeply in love with the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden when the Garden at Studio Square (NOW CLOSED) came along… and I won’t try and sway you with my own personal opinions because they’re both worth visiting, but my heart still belongs to the Bohemian.
And that, my little friends, is how we made it our lil summer mission to explore Astoria. Hope everyone else’s weekend was equally as relaxing! Details?
xo,
the romantic
Lazy Travelers
The Lazy Travelers are two transatlantic best friends who have mastered the art of exploring a new city. Though Ashley is based in London and Carolyn is in Philadelphia, we'll use any excuse to reunite around the world. We’re professional bar hoppers, pub crawlers, and food testers, and you’ll never see us zipping around, checking things off a list of “must-sees.”
21 Comments
The World Wanderer
LOVE Astoria! Next time go to the Istria Sports Club for some great Croatian food! 🙂
the lazy travelers
ahh amazing, will definitely check it out! i wish we had been able to try more food, but we were stuffed after brunch.
Ana Silva O'Reilly (@mrsoaroundworld)
Have heard about Astoria recently and this was quite timely. I need to explore other boroughs rather than just manhattan!!
the lazy travelers
i’m sure it must be overwhelming to visit new york because there’s so much to do, but i absolutely would recommend it! both brooklyn & astoria have tons to offer.
D.J. - The World of Deej
My parents were recently in Astoria and simply raved about it…It’s been added to my list:)
the lazy travelers
how funny, hope they enjoyed!
tawnymclark
That ice cream cone looked spectacular! I liked that you added the pros and cons as well. We’re definitely going to have to check out Astoria for ourselves.
the lazy travelers
it’s actually hard to look at that picture without running out the door to our neighborhood mr. softee. my love for ice cream is the real deal.
Jetting Around (@jettingaround)
I’m adding this to my NYC list!
the lazy travelers
you definitely should!
Leah Travels (@L_e_a_h)
That’s my kind of gluttonous day. I’ve heard of Astoria, but didn’t know much about it until now. I’m totally down with any place that has a bar who’s motto is, “Eat like a Czech, drink like a Slovak and party like there is no tomorrow!” Will you be taking your baby javelina there in the future?
the lazy travelers
we have to figure out if baby javelina’s are allowed on the subway, but if so, he will most definitely frequent astoria.
travelrinserepeat
For me, Astoria is where I tell the cab driver to take me to from LGA so I can catch the metro into Manhattan. I haven’t spent enough time actually exploring the neighborhood. But I do love some other neighborhoods in Queens, and it looks like there is a lot to love in Astoria too.
the lazy travelers
i haven’t seen too much more of queens, but definitely recommend astoria! parts of it feel like a small town, so it’s the perfect little escape from manhattan.
lola
NIIIICE jagerbombs! you are such a troublemaker. i love it. and this quote “Eat like a Czech, drink like a Slovak and party like there is no tomorrow!” is my new mantra come Prague in November. thanks for keeping me smily Lazy Travelers.
the lazy travelers
yes, upon return, you will HAVE to let us know exactly what “eating like a czech” entails.
Raul (@ilivetotravel)
Mister Softee on my list now! And that pic of a jagerbomb is phenomenal! I have fond and not-as-fond memories of Jagermeister.
the lazy travelers
oh my god, LOVE mister softee. jagermeister i could do without.
Ted Nelson (@travelingted)
Looks like a great day. Any day with sangria and jagerbombs is bound to be interesting.
Lazy Travelers
this is true. and don’t forget all the beer.