New York Convincing your friends to hang up out in Queens is no gentle exploit , but NYC ’s most populous borough has in reality seen some exciting intellectual nourishment and booze developments in late old age – as in top - snick breweries , cocktail bars , and brunch topographic point . Hooray gentrification ! We ’ve already lay out thebest place to chow down in Astoria , but Long Island City ’s got its own fib to tell : with long vino list and whole - rib steaks , these 13 bars and restaurants are well deserving braving a ride on the 7 train .
Note : The border between Astoria and LIC isnotoriously ambiguous , and while everyone ’s mystify their own opinion , we ’ll utilise 36th Ave as the northernmost dividing line for the purposes of this article .
< h2 class=“venue - rubric input”>Best beefburger : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / eat / new - House of York / restaurants / quoin - bistro … Bistro
Jesse Winter (edited)
< em>47 - 18 Vernon BlvdIf you ’re look for a straight gripe burger covered in dethaw American Malva sylvestris and crispy bacon , this is your muddle . If you ’re looking for that same burger topped with homemade chili pepper instead , this is still your mess . If the musical theme of getting both McSorley ’s light and glum ales on tap is appealing in any way … well , you get the mind .
< h2 class=“venue - deed input”>Best felicitous hour : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venue / drink / new - york / bar / lic - bar”>LICBar
< em>45 - 58 Vernon Blvd < /em>This 100 - year - old place is brimming with history , from the antique wooden prevention to the original tin ceilings , but it ’s not the past that should concern you – it ’s the $ 3 beers and well deglutition , and the $ 5 margaritas and well drink . Show up from 4 to 7 Prime Minister on weekday , and you ’re set .
Corner Bistro
< h2 class=“venue - championship input”>Best steakhouse : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venue / eat / new - york / eating house / m - wells - steakh … . Wells Steakhouse
< em>43 - 15 Crescent St < /em>Suggesting the salad at a steakhouse is ordinarily a bad joke , but the Caesar salad here comes heaped with enough Parmesan cheeseflower to make a lasagna bloom , and that ’s drive ta be worth something . On the carnivore front , though , thing get pathetic courtesy of the bone - in hamburger and the gigantic, 40 oz tomahawk steak Peter Wells described as " < a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2024-12-01 / dining / eating house - recap - m - wells - stea … of a Flintstone" – it’s served on a whole rib and cover with cheese , but at $ 160 , it ’s only really an option if you share .
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best pizza : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / eat / new - york / restaurant / slice”>sLICe < … ;
LIC Bar
< em>48 - 11 Vernon Blvd < /em>Sometimes all you really require is a classic slice of NY pizza pie , be it plain cheese , nanna , or margherita – and in case the giant neon sign out front was n’t clear enough , this is the place to go in LIC . Give the scant costa meatballs a shot as well . It ’s open ' til 3 am on the weekends , too , making it the perfect accompaniment to a night of toast at …
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best umber shop : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / locus / deplete / new - House of York / restaurants / sweetleaf”>Sw … ;
< em>10 - 93 Jackson Ave < /em>This place is actually a twofer , equal voice artsy deep brown shop and vegan - friendly bakery . All the pastry are made sweet each day – try the cinnamon bark donut gob or the chocolate chip cookies – and there ’s even a disk way in the back where you ’ll find a lazy Susan and an talkative collection of vinyl radical . Because nothing complements artisanal coffee like vinyl , maaaaan .
Jesse Winter
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best wine bar : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / locale / imbibe / new - york / bars / domaine - bar - a - vins … blockade a Vins
< em>50 - 04 Vernon Blvd < /em>With vino by the glass , oysters and tall mallow plate , and unrecorded wind operation every Thursday , this dimly unhorse and intimate Browning automatic rifle can turn an OK date into a great one – or a forged particular date into one you wo n’t wanna immediately pussyfoot aside from . The Gallic expat barkeep are passing knowledgeable , which is helpful when you ’re faced with a leaning of 40 wines and you kinda sorta made your appointment intend you were an amateur sommelier .
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best cocktail measure : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venue / drink / new - york / taproom / dutch - kills”>DutchKills
sLICe
< em>27 - 24 Jackson Ave < /em>Named for the historic subdivision of LIC in which it resides , this renowned cocktailery offer a leaning full of handcrafted mixed drink , or choose for the bartender ’s pick by intimate a radix spirit and let them work their conjuring trick . The owners operate a custom ice store too , so depend on the cocktail , you ’ll also receive a peculiarly hewn piece of ice reap from a single 300 lb blockage – bighearted regular hexahedron for rocks glasses and " Collins shaft " for highball meth . & nbsp ;
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best Italian : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / eat / new - House of York / eating house / il - falco”>IlFalco
< em>21 - 50 44th Dr < /em>Whatever you get here , be it the chicken Parm , the seafood Italian rice , or the Blue Point oysters , you ’ll encounter complimentary bruschetta at the beginning of your meal and a limoncello spud at the goal to cap things off . Plus , the dessert crepes are made tableside – which , if you ’ve never watched crepes being made , is almost as fun as eating them . Almost .
Sweetleaf
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best smirch for hot dogs and Manhattan views : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venue / potable / new - york / bar / anable - basin - sailing … Basin Sailing Bar & amp ; Grill
< em>4 - 40 44th Dr < /em>Yes , the grill live dogs and Burger are great , and the edible corn on the cob is indeed delicious , but the primary attractions for this property – its outdoor seating and waterside Manhattan view – are only available from April through October . Or , they used to be: Anable Basin will be open yr - round jump in 2016 , meaning you ’ll be able-bodied to score tasty bison burgers and chorizo sausage balloon even when it ’s seasonally inappropriate to do so . Welcome to the future !
< h2 class=“venue - title of respect input”>Best brunch : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / lic - market-11101”>LICMarket
Isaac Rosenthal/Dutch Kills
< em>21 - 52 44th DrSkip the sometimes time of day - long wait at this weekend breakfast hotspot by arriving before 11 am , then help yourself of the slow - roasted duck’s egg hash bounty that await you . Other hot - tag items admit the bullseye testicle , the brisket slider , and the unclean Elmer Rice frittata , but you ca n’t really go awry with anything on the brunch carte du jour . Bonus points if you shout " Hakuna Frittata ! " when your meal get .
< h2 class=“venue - title input”>Best restaurant you may dance at : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / mundo - newfangled - york-11101”>Mundo</h2> ;
< em>37 - 06 36th St < /em>This eclectic , bi - level spot inside the Paper Factory Hotel lead its culinary cues from Mediterranean and Latin cuisines , and while the nutrient ’s obviously the main reason you ’re coming here , the atmosphere is a close s . Between the expose - filament temper fall , the springy euphony and dance , and the 30 ft column made from vintage books ( it ’s the " Paper Factory " after all ) , this place feel like a swank Manhattan restaurant – until you walk outdoors and remember you ’re in LIC .
Anable Basin Sailing Bar & Grill
< h2 class=“venue - claim input”>Best cheap eats : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / m - wells - dinette”>M. Wells Dinette
< em > MoMA PS1 , 22 - 25 Jackson Ave < /em>An branch of the aforementioned M. Wells Steakhouse , the cafeteria at PS1 used to propose entirely Quebecoise cuisine before adding an array of sandwich to the menu – the star of which is doubtlessly the spaghetti sandwich . The . Spaghetti . Sandwich . It ’s like someone shoot your preferred food , turned it into a cake , and smashed it between two pieces of garlic gelt – no , wait , it ’s not like that , it IS that .
< h2 > Best breweries : < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / salute / new - york / bars / lic - beer - project”> … Beer Project , < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / big - alice - brewing-11101”>BigAlice Brewing , < a href=“https://www.thrillist.com / venues / toast / new - york / bars / rockaway - brewing - one C … Brewing Co.
Flickr/Garrett Ziegler
LIC ’s dumbfound some unwavering competition when it come to brewery , so we ’re gon na take the easy way out and say that you should just visit all three – they ’re actually snug enough that a Australian crawl is n’t out of the head . Big Alice and Rockaway both have the advantage in blood line and beer variety , but do n’t sleep on LIC Beer Project : the newcomer ’s been turning out killer suds since it opened in May of 2015 .
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Flickr/Daniel Zemans
Flickr/Bitch Cakes
