Astorian Weekend Edition 05.28.09

Another nice weekend with plenty of sunshine and mild weather produces the perfect opportunity to relax, check out a rooftop bar or even the new beer garden in town.

The rooftop at the Ravel Hotel in LIC is now open. From the pictures, it looks swanky and the drinks are fancy too—they serve frozen blueberry mojitos. Yum! 8-08 Queens Plaza South, Long Island City. 718.289.6101

Check out the LIC Artists Open Studios this Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. This opportunity offers a peek at hundreds of artists’ works at 11 major studio buildings that are in easy walking distance of each other. Click here for participating artists.

Although there is now a new Water Taxi Beach in Manhattan, let’s not forget who started it all—LIC baby! Water taxi rides from Midtown to LIC are now free every Friday and Saturday night from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Take advantage of it! 2-Borden Avenue, Long Island City.

Want to sample a delicious slice of pizza for just 50 cents? Visit Rizzo’s Fine Pizza this Saturday between 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. where pizza, Italian ices and soda will all cost 50 cents in honor of their big 50^th Anniversary. 30-13 Steinway Street, Astoria. 718.721.9862

Raise a glass of cold brewski (or sangria) to the new beer garden in town! Studio Square (pictured above) is not only gargantuan in size, it’s modern, comfortable and a perfect way to enjoy a Friday or Saturday night. With over 18 imported, domestic and craft beers on tap as well as their homemade sangria, you won’t go thirsty and neither will your friends. 35-33 36^th Street, Astoria. 718.383.1001

Astorian Weekend Edition 22.11.07

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Joey in Astoria! We hope you're having a great day with family, friends, and loved ones. If you're still looking for a place to have dinner, you can try Neptune (31-05 Astoria Blvd) and Bel Aire (31-91 21st St) as far as diners go, or Brick (30-95 33rd St) for something more upscale. Also Zenon Taverna (34-10 31st Ave) is having Thanksgiving dinner, with a few Greek items thrown in.

Friday after Thanksgiving is often referred to as Black Friday, the start of the Christmas shopping season. The term was coined in the 70s, indicating the period where retailers are in the black. Not interested in partaking in the shopping storm? Read JIA friend John Roleke's take on avoiding Black Friday in town. And Friday night at sunset, check out dj onda Skillet at AeroTropic: World Series upstairs at Mezzo Mezzo (31-29 Ditmars Blvd). That place has all sorts of things going on, it seems.

This weekend is a fantastic one for classic films at the MOMI (35 Avenue at 36 Street) Saturday they're showing Meet Me In St. Louis (2pm), The Wizard of OZ (4:30), and Singin' in the Rain (7:00). Sunday is the magnificent Gone With the Wind (2pm) and Brokeback Mountain (6:30). Every single one of these is worth seeing! Note that the Museum is closed on Thanksgiving.

For something a little different, movie-wise, head to Hellgate Social (12-21 Astoria Blvd) on Sunday at 8:30pm to see Jingle All the Way, starring California's own Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger as a frazzled dad. I was there for movie night last Sunday and it was awesome. Loved the relaxed vibe and the Polish beer I had was excellent. Stop by Saturday night for DJ Lo-Fi, who will undoubtedly be spinning great tunes.

Great recent eats include Guacamole (38-07 Broadway), Rizzo's Pizza (30-13 Steinway St), and I hafta say - check out the coffee at Cafe Expresso (not a typo) on Steinway (25-51 Steinway St). I had a cappucino there recently and it was really good! Oh, and by the way - Rose and Joe's Bakery (22-40 31st Street) is making little baby cream puffs that are extremely tasty.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Rose and Joe's and Rizzo's.

Over on Grub Street, they've noticed my penchant for Rose and Joe's Sicilian slices. So much so, that they wanted to know if they are really that amazing. Well, they got some responses! The result:

There was a bit of volatile reaction from our readers to the quality of Rose & Joe's Sicilian pies: “Any self-respecting pizza eater in Astoria will know that going anywhere but Rizzo’s for a square pie/slice is absolutely maniacal.”

I have to say, even though I love Rose and Joe's, I do love me some Rizzo's. Whenever I'm in that part of town and I'm hungry for a snack, Rizzo's tops my list. I love their slice with ricotta and tomatoes. Square slices are tasty, too. I think Rizzo's has some of the best pizza in Astoria. Oh, they are one of the few places around that sells RC cola "on tap".

Joey likes Rizzo's too! So does flooz, I believe.

FYI, though, I had a Sicilian slice from Rose and Joe's this weekend, this time topped with pepperoni, and it was crazy delicious!