Eating out for 20 in Queens
January 18, 2024 7:06 AM Subscribe
I'm bringing 13 high-school theatre kids to NYC in a month, staying in Long Island City, Queens. I'm looking for places that will welcome 13 exuberant, exhausted theatre kids along with 7 adults and happily serve them food we can't get in our little Seattle-adjacent community.
Bonus points for dim sum, or at least family-style Chinese.
And yes, it's an easy shot to Manhattan (that's why we're staying there), but I'd like to hear about dining in LIC and perhaps Flushing; cracking open all of Manhattan is too vast an agenda for the moment.
Bonus points for dim sum, or at least family-style Chinese.
And yes, it's an easy shot to Manhattan (that's why we're staying there), but I'd like to hear about dining in LIC and perhaps Flushing; cracking open all of Manhattan is too vast an agenda for the moment.
There are several Mongolian hot pot places in Flushing, including Little Sheep, that can take big groups (especially if you're willing to split in to two tables) and are delicious and fun and probably not like anything any suburban American teenagers have experienced before.
posted by saladin at 7:38 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]
posted by saladin at 7:38 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]
On the Court Square/Vernon Jackson side of the neighborhood: Manducatis is a great old-school Italian family style restaurant. I'm sure there's Italian food in Seattle, but probably not like this, and the atmosphere is uniquely NYC. It's large enough and they should take large groups if you call ahead.
On the Dutch Kills/Astoria side, see Sami's Kabob House for Afghan food. (Seems like they have another LIC location further south but it looks too small for your group)
posted by hovey at 8:11 AM on January 18 [1 favorite]
On the Dutch Kills/Astoria side, see Sami's Kabob House for Afghan food. (Seems like they have another LIC location further south but it looks too small for your group)
posted by hovey at 8:11 AM on January 18 [1 favorite]
The thing about Seattle is that it has really excellent Chinese and South Asian food. That said, Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao in Flushing is wonderful, soup dumplings will probably be a hit if a little messy, and they’re in a big enough space now you could call and see if they can accommodate a party that big. There are also several Chinese/Asian food courts in Flushing - New World Mall is the most famous and I could see setting high schoolers free there to explore being a ton of fun.
Greek food in Astoria also should have a ton of options that could be more “New York”.
posted by A Blue Moon at 9:34 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]
Greek food in Astoria also should have a ton of options that could be more “New York”.
posted by A Blue Moon at 9:34 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]
It would be a good idea to find out about dietary restrictions in your group, including the adults. Some places have meat in every dish. Dim sum should be ok for vegetarians; Mongolian hot pot not so much.
posted by dum spiro spero at 12:40 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
posted by dum spiro spero at 12:40 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but if you have time in your schedule and want to do something unique to New York, you might want to contact Myra Alperson of Nosh Walks and see if she's available to do a tour for your group. I've done a few in the distant past and even as a then New Yorker learned so much and got to explore different corners of city.
posted by brookeb at 1:58 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
posted by brookeb at 1:58 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
for dim sum I like Asian Jewels in Flushing.
Second Sami's mentioned above. I live in Astoria on the same block and eat there way too much for my wallet.
posted by gaspode at 3:16 PM on January 18
Second Sami's mentioned above. I live in Astoria on the same block and eat there way too much for my wallet.
posted by gaspode at 3:16 PM on January 18
If you want Ethiopian, and fancy a walk across the Pulaski bridge, Bersi in Greenpoint could work. They have big platter options that have a selection of lots of things, so ordering could be pretty simple and you'd get a great view of the city on the way.
Hupo in LIC is pretty good Sichuan.
posted by clockwork at 4:23 PM on January 18
Hupo in LIC is pretty good Sichuan.
posted by clockwork at 4:23 PM on January 18
20 people is a lot. Call ahead, try to find times that a restaurant can accommodate your large group.
posted by theora55 at 8:39 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 8:39 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]
You'll be 2-3 easy stops via the G train to Greenpoint where Karcma Polish restaurant would have plenty of room for everyone (but I would still call ahead and let them know you'd be coming? not a lot of Polish food in seattle and a great neighborhood to walk around in generally with cute random shops and scenic vistas where you could say to a bunch of teens - "hey- do your own thing for an hour or two and meet us back here!" and nobody would get that far, bc there are so many cute / random shops within a few blocks.
someone else suggested hot pot above-- if you happen to be in manhattan i know that the chain 99 Favor Taste has a few locations and could definitely accomodate a private room of 13 teens and a few adults in a contained room. I bet you could find similar in easy distance of your LIC hotel.
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:55 PM on January 18
someone else suggested hot pot above-- if you happen to be in manhattan i know that the chain 99 Favor Taste has a few locations and could definitely accomodate a private room of 13 teens and a few adults in a contained room. I bet you could find similar in easy distance of your LIC hotel.
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:55 PM on January 18
Okay - I once was one of those kids. And what I wanted after a show was sugar, in vast quantities. In my hometown the local Friendly's ice cream shop got used to us invading after a performance of the school play, where we hogged up about 5 booths and talked loud to each other and when we went to pay the bill we panicked about "how much should we tip" and dumped all our change on the table because we couldn't figure out what else to do.
For sugar I'm thinking of a couple options:
1. Serendipity. It's a New York institution, and it's what would have happened if Willy Wonka went into the restaurant business instead of doing candy. They do burger/diner type stuff for food - burgers, sandwiches, mac and cheese, hot dogs - and the most INSANE desserts, like sundaes the size of your head that incorporate entire slices of cake, or something they call "frozen hot chocolate" which looks like a big dish of ice cream but tastes like hot chocolate for serious. And I cannot stress enough how big the dessert portions are; I brought my Irish friend (she and I both adults at this time) and we asked for "the SMALLEST dessert you have" to split and they suggested chocolate mousse. It came in a bowl that would have been big enough to keep a goldfish in and we couldn't finish it. ....While the desserts are big, the place is a bit cozy, but it should still be able to accommodate a big group with some warning, so you'll have to make a reservation, most likely. ...It's also only a block from Bloomingdales if the kids want to shop afterward.
2. LIC is also straight shot on the G subway to Brooklyn. (The G subway only runs between Queens and Brooklyn, it doesn't go into Manhattan at all - that will save you some travel time.) One of the G train stops (Hoyt-Schermerhorn, for the record) would get you within 3-4 blocks of the original location for Juniors, an old-school diner-type place that has the absolute best cheesecakes you will ever eat in your entire life, I'm not kidding. (I opt for a slice of the "devil's food cheesecake" - which is a devil's food cake with an entire cheesecake in between the two layers of devil's food cake.)
The particular part of Brooklyn you'd be in is lousy with shops - it's in "Downtown Brooklyn", a big shopping drag right by Brooklyn's municipal district. It's not very scenic as such, though, but you'd be right by every other subway line which could get you to other more scenic/vibey parts of Brooklyn. Or get back on the G and go to Williamsburg, a spot for the ultra-cool with shops, coffeeshops, and cool stuff to look at. Williamsburg is also a short hop on the G back to LIC as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:05 AM on January 19
For sugar I'm thinking of a couple options:
1. Serendipity. It's a New York institution, and it's what would have happened if Willy Wonka went into the restaurant business instead of doing candy. They do burger/diner type stuff for food - burgers, sandwiches, mac and cheese, hot dogs - and the most INSANE desserts, like sundaes the size of your head that incorporate entire slices of cake, or something they call "frozen hot chocolate" which looks like a big dish of ice cream but tastes like hot chocolate for serious. And I cannot stress enough how big the dessert portions are; I brought my Irish friend (she and I both adults at this time) and we asked for "the SMALLEST dessert you have" to split and they suggested chocolate mousse. It came in a bowl that would have been big enough to keep a goldfish in and we couldn't finish it. ....While the desserts are big, the place is a bit cozy, but it should still be able to accommodate a big group with some warning, so you'll have to make a reservation, most likely. ...It's also only a block from Bloomingdales if the kids want to shop afterward.
2. LIC is also straight shot on the G subway to Brooklyn. (The G subway only runs between Queens and Brooklyn, it doesn't go into Manhattan at all - that will save you some travel time.) One of the G train stops (Hoyt-Schermerhorn, for the record) would get you within 3-4 blocks of the original location for Juniors, an old-school diner-type place that has the absolute best cheesecakes you will ever eat in your entire life, I'm not kidding. (I opt for a slice of the "devil's food cheesecake" - which is a devil's food cake with an entire cheesecake in between the two layers of devil's food cake.)
The particular part of Brooklyn you'd be in is lousy with shops - it's in "Downtown Brooklyn", a big shopping drag right by Brooklyn's municipal district. It's not very scenic as such, though, but you'd be right by every other subway line which could get you to other more scenic/vibey parts of Brooklyn. Or get back on the G and go to Williamsburg, a spot for the ultra-cool with shops, coffeeshops, and cool stuff to look at. Williamsburg is also a short hop on the G back to LIC as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:05 AM on January 19
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posted by phunniemee at 7:23 AM on January 18 [3 favorites]