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Messages - Dodger

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1
Restaurants & Food / Re: New Chinese “Mini-Food Court” in Elmhurst
« on: May 07, 2018, 10:24:07 AM »
If we are talking about the Manhattan/Brooklyn food courts that sell fried chicken sandwiches for $12-15, then I'm inclined to agree with you -- Enough already! 

But I make a (big) exception for a Flushing-style food court opening within walking distance.

Quote from: sl on May 07, 2018, 09:47:10 AM
Quote from: DijoninJH on May 07, 2018, 07:56:33 AM
Found a post on Eating in Translation from last February.
http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2017/02/new-food-courts-planned-for-queens.html

Do we really need so many food courts?

2
Neighborhood Chat / Re: Work commencing on Diversity Plaza
« on: May 04, 2018, 11:34:12 AM »
Quote from: Lilybell on May 04, 2018, 11:00:12 AM
What a bunch of miserable Debbie Downers you all are.

Seriously! I am looking forward to seeing how the plaza turns out. I'm confident it will constitute an improvement, even if it's not everything it might have been.  Public spaces can develop in surprising ways as people start to use them.

3
Neighborhood Chat / Re: Awnings along 37th Avenue
« on: April 07, 2018, 03:33:11 PM »
Quote from: dssjh on April 07, 2018, 01:44:17 PM
there are some rough patches, for sure. i actually prefer stretches where the individual awnings differ -- to me, that's old new york -- versus an unbroken stretch of unified awning. but either way, a ratty awning or patch is a detriment, agreed.

Agreed--I don't like how some of the block-long buildings seem to impose a uniform color to the awnings of all the businesses.  I like the variety of different signs, colors, fonts, awnings.

4
Neighborhood Chat / Re: freelancers,writers, work from where???
« on: March 24, 2018, 12:42:15 PM »

I can confirm that Oda has free wifi at 969 NYC Coffee, have used my laptop, and he's fine with it.  I always buy lunch items plus coffee and I don't stay too long. I've seen other people with laptops there and it's a pleasant place to be as Oda likes to chat and the place has a friendly vibe.

Caffebene is a good option as well.  I don't feel bad about taking up a seat along the windows since it leaves the tables for groups of people.

Agree that Communitea in LIC is great.  Wish we had a place like that here.

Quote from: the80s on March 23, 2018, 11:25:52 AM
This thread is a great resource!

I too have had no trouble working at the big table at E77 on weekdays; seems reasonable to me they want to reserve the little tables for people more likely to be meeting someone for lunch, etc. I love working there.

Tea Cup Cafe at 77th & Woodside is a good spot with wifi too. (Haven't been in a while but went there often when I lived closer.) It can be loud and a little crowded (it's quite small-- one row of seats), so not good if you need perfect silence, but I like that it's open late (often till 11pm).

Does anyone know how Oda in 969 Coffee feels about laptops? Am I wrong that they have wifi there?

A little further afield, I also like Coffeed; good wifi, tables, they leave you alone, rarely crowded. Communitea in LIC is a favorite working place for me; a beautiful, comfortable space with great food and drinks. (Sometimes can get overrun with little kids—but then so can E77. Does not really bother me!) Not remotely convenient but Bean Square in Bayside is large, solid wifi, lots of tables, feels almost office-y. And of course there are a number of good cafe options in Sunnyside and Astoria now (Tea Plus cafe a favorite for writing/working).

The JH library is good; the beautiful renovated Elmhurst branch is even better.

Also, I have not explored this for myself (seems an odd pairing), but Brooklyn Boulders in LIC has a coworking space:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2017/02/24/brooklyn-boulders-climbing-gym-co-working-space/#2e6d84747dc0

And of course there are two WeWorks in Queens now. Great to learn about Austin Space, and really cool that people are thinking about a co-working space in Jackson Heights. I think it would really fill a need—so many creative people, freelancers, work-from-homers, writers, part-timers, etc here.

Not to go too off topic but another neighborhood need I've heard people talk about is artist studio space. The closest are way over in Astoria/LIC/Qboro Plaza (not counting one I know of in Woodside), and seems there might be spaces on Northern, in Corona, etc that could work.

5
Restaurants & Food / Re: Uncle Zhou's
« on: March 20, 2018, 10:38:25 PM »
I tried it as well and while the menu is substantially the same, the knife-shaved beef noodle soup (which was one of their specialties) was not quite as good as I remember from dining many times at Uncle Zhou's: The noodles are not cut nice and thick like before, so they lost some of their chewy consistency. And the broth did not have a deep meaty flavor like at Uncle Zhou's.  Instead it seemed less rich and a lot more salty. The dish looks the same as before, but in my opinion not quite the same in how it's executed now.

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Restaurants & Food / Re: The Queensboro!
« on: February 27, 2018, 11:43:28 AM »
WOW--the space looks beautiful. This is very exciting.  I just want to say I totally support the advanced purchase "gift card" approach to contributing to a business and I will purchase one myself.  Your webpage makes it look like $250 is the minimum purchase, but once I click I can select any amount. Perhaps you might want to make that clearer on your webpage so as not to scare off smaller contributors.

7
Restaurants & Food / Re: What does Sac's have to do to get more business
« on: February 06, 2018, 04:24:16 PM »
Yeah maybe the best thing we can do for Sac's is stop speculating about their demise.  My sense is neighborhood (non-fancy/destination) pizza and sushi places do most of their trade in delivery these days. Slightly forlorn restaurant spaces may not be a cause for concern.

Oceanic Boil is different because I think people prefer to eat a messy food like a seafood boil in the restaurant rather than bring it into the home.  And it helps that their crab and sauces are delicious and their service is really sweet and friendly. That place is a lot of fun.

8
Restaurants & Food / Re: City Coffee: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner?
« on: December 26, 2017, 06:02:06 PM »
I've never seen more than a single table occupied every time I walk by (at various hours).

It always looks forlorn, in contrast to Jahn's, Jackson House and Ricky's. Love the atmosphere and food at Jackson House in particular.  Perhaps three old-school diners on 37th are sufficient to meet demand.

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Restaurants & Food / Re: New Year is approaching...What do you want to see opening comes 2018?
« on: December 22, 2017, 03:18:29 PM »
I'd raise Sunnyside for the sake of comparison, rather than Astoria which is the one always raised. The rents in Sunnyside are only a little higher than in Jackson Heights (which is probably due to the closer to Manhattan location) and are a good bit lower than Astoria. (For instance, if you search 1 bedrooms in Sunnyside, Jackson Heights and Astoria on Streeteasy and sort by most expensive, the first three pages are all Astoria.)  And I think coop sales prices are a good bit higher in Jackson Heights than Sunnyside.

But Sunnyside has a small collection of wine bars, Neapolitan pizza, gastropubs (and the thing I pine for most -- Parrot Coffee). Perhaps we are just in the bellwether phase there, but I wouldn't be so sure. I don't think there is a single process "gentrification" that operates as a tidal wave everywhere once you let the first drip drip drip in. There are multiple dynamics and actors involved. To me Sunnyside feels like it's achieved a stable balance of different kinds of businesses along with income and ethnocultural diversity.  And I'd like to see Jackson Heights move a little in the Sunnyside direction.


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Restaurants & Food / Re: New Year is approaching...What do you want to see opening comes 2018?
« on: December 12, 2017, 07:35:29 PM »
I think we have done this discussion recently but I'll bite:

1.  A bookstore
2.  A friendly and less regulated cafe
3. A grocery store that ups their game in terms of more varied selection, prepared foods (Mediterranean?),  and no expired items.
4. A place to buy fresh fish

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Restaurants & Food / Re: Favorite Trader Joes products
« on: December 03, 2017, 07:06:49 PM »
Good question!  I love their Thai Chili Lime cashews, their Bolognese pasta sauce, and their gorgonzola gnocchi.

12
Restaurants & Food / Re: FRESH Spi'L't Milk
« on: October 31, 2017, 02:09:34 PM »
I was wondering if this was in fact the Just Made 4 U folks expanding their empire -- the naming quirks reminded me of them.

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Restaurants & Food / Re: Addictive Banh Mi, Beer and Cheese
« on: October 05, 2017, 08:21:06 PM »
Look forward to trying yours! I think my first selection will be your lemongrass chicken though.

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Restaurants & Food / Re: Addictive Banh Mi, Beer and Cheese
« on: October 05, 2017, 04:51:55 PM »
Nice little article.

I imagine banh mi need no introduction for many of us, especially with JoJu so close by (http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/joju/).

Also curious what's Vietnamese about your Vietnamese tuna (from an earlier one of your posts): Is it that the tuna is from Vietnam, or is it about the herbs and spices added to the tuna salad?

15
Neighborhood Chat / Re: Kim Brothers Market
« on: September 08, 2017, 02:53:03 PM »
I love Kim's Brother. I agree that it's a language barrier. They are always polite with me during the payment and the younger woman who sometimes works there is more overtly friendly. Mostly I find it awkward maneuvering those narrow aisles but the quality of the produce makes it worth it.  And any opportunity for me to avoid the incredibly stressful atmosphere of Foodtown (with the lines snaking around, half the self check-out machines broken with their covers up in the air) on a weekday after work, I'll take it.

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