King of Queens for $40 per diem

April 29, 2009 4:42 PM

Any interesting stuff around Citi Field in Flushing, NY?

My brother is stuck at the Holiday Inn LaGuardia across the highway from Citi Field until Monday. He will be working at the stadium, so he is there most of the days there aren't games and has already attended a couple baseball games. Otherwise, he is incredibly bored and doesn't have that much time to escape the neighborhood. Any good bars/restaurants or interesting things to do in the neighborhood when he has downtime?

posted by rabbitsnake to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Take the 7 train (the one that goes to the stadium) and get off at any other stop in Queens. Every stop is pretty much a different ethnic enclave with tremendously good and cheap food.
posted by Jon_Evil at 5:12 PM on April 29, 2009

He should definitely check out the World's Fair relics at Flushing Meadows / Corona Park.

And eat at the Jackson Diner.
posted by thejoshu at 5:16 PM on April 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

The area directly adjacent to the stadium is still a wasteland. But he can (and should) walk down Roosevelt Ave. under the tracks, or take the 7 train one stop, into downtown Flushing. There's all kinds of good food there to be explored. Spicy & Tasty and Szechuan Gourmet are my Szechuan standby choices; there's tons of interesting stuff from every East Asian cuisine in the indoor malls' food courts; around a mile down Kissena and a few blocks off is the fantastic South Indian at Dosa Hutt.

Here's a recent Times article on eating in Flushing; and here's another one.
posted by RogerB at 5:16 PM on April 29, 2009

Flushing Chinatown! The best, most expansive asian neighborhood in NYC. Some great restaurants, but since I haven't been there in a while, I would suggest searching Chowhound for the latest and greatest recommendations. Lots of great little shops and carts all around.

Flushing Meadows Corona Park -- has a pitch n putt golf course (eg. 'executive', 3-hole), the famous Unisphere & other landmarks from the 1964 World's Fair. The Queens Museum of Art is also located in the park, next to the unisphere.

Willets Point might be fun for a walk -- it's a row of auto parts shops that looks like something out of Slumdog Millionaire transported to America.

All of this is within walking distance of the stadium.
posted by hamsterdam at 5:20 PM on April 29, 2009

Little Pepper, on Main Street. Get the lamb with cumin.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:36 PM on April 29, 2009

7 ONE STOP to Flushing, Main St. the best Chinatown in North America, also a Koreatown, and if he walks south on Main to where Main and Kissena split, he can visit the Flushing Branch of the Queensborough public library. Also Kissena park.
jeez, so much to do.

As Jon-Evil said, ANY stop on the 7 is a winner. Queens is the most ethnically diverse place on the planet, and we all live together (mostly)
posted by xetere at 6:12 PM on April 29, 2009

Response by poster: Ask.me, FTW! Thanks, everyone. I'll update when he reports on his findings.
posted by rabbitsnake at 7:03 PM on April 29, 2009

Take a tennis lesson at the USTA center? Most of the grounds are open to the public, except Arthur Ashe stadium. [phone]
posted by Calloused_Foot at 10:35 PM on April 29, 2009

Seconding the QMA, if for nothing else the vast panoramic model of NYC. The NY Hall of Science is also right there, which is one of those kids, hands-on oriented type museums.
posted by mikepop at 5:26 AM on April 30, 2009