"Queens" a Queens Travel Page by cjg1

The borough of Queens is where most of you coming to NYC arrive. It is home to both LaGuardia and JFK airports. One of the most ethnically diverse areas of the city you can certainly experience the world in a day.

The recent (June 16, 2007) site of a VT food tour we made four stops in Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Astoria sampling cuisines from Argentina, India and China, the Middle East and traditional eastern European pub food. This made for a very nice and quick and easy tour through a section of the city most tourists do not ever see. Included amongst our group were visitors from California, Maryland, Florida New Jersey and Connecticut.

By picking places that were both diverse ethnically and also near transportation options or walkable we were able to smoothly go from one to the other in about 20 to 30 minutes each.

Starting out at La Portena for some Argentinean lunch we met up to find the restaurant was closed until one this day only. Normal hours have them opening at noon daily. Well Paul who was waiting for us as we were delayed due to track work was able to arrange a special opening. Once inside we all enjoyed some appetizers and various wines and Quilmes while getting to know each other a bit better.

After about two hours here we were back on the 7 train heading towards 40th street to enjoy the Chinese-Indian fusion restaurant Tangra Masala on Queens Blvd and 39th street. This was quite interesting and very good food. The group had grown by four and shrunk by three and everyone was sharing their dishes. This gave everyone who chose to eat a chance to sample a wide variety of dishes.

After this the plan was to walk the 1.6 miles up 39th street and Steinway Street to the dessert shop. Laziza of NY Pastries. This was quite worth the hassle to get there. The rains started about 1/3 of the way to the shop and we finally piled into two cabs. I admit to being surprised at the number of cabs available. When we arrived the shop is quite small and narrow. They have three tables in the back that permit just about 12 people to sit and enjoy the wonderful desserts. I highly recommend this place.

Another short walk had us over at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden. This really was a bit too much like a frat party for my likes and that of others but we all had a good time. Vters do that. Make all situations a good time.

So come to Queens. Explore the various neighborhoods and see bits of life from around the world in a single day.