Sept. 15, 2014 By Michael Florio
Astoria is going to be all about foodies for a week.
Astoria Restaurant Week kicks off Friday and more than 50 bars/restaurants are expected to participate offering a range of specials–from free desserts to cocktails.
The specials will be available at each restaurant from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28 “The goal is to showcase everything Astoria,” said David Paxton, who is a co-founder of the event, who has teamed up with the Queens Chamber of Commerce to bring it to the area. “We want to focus on the food and culture.”
Several new and established restaurants/bars are participating in restaurant week, such as Marketa, Pink Nori, Ditmars Station Pub, Bubba’s Bistro, Bourbon & Vine and Snowdonia.
Each restaurant will be offering its own special. For instance, The Shady Lady is offering a free drink with any entree, while The Thirsty Koala is offering a free dessert with the purchase of an entree. Click here for the full list of restaurants/specials.
In order for foodies to get in on the deals, they have to sign up for a “Foodie Pass.” More than 500 people have already signed up for a pass, Paxton said, who anticipates as many as 2,000 people will register.
The pass is free and people can sign up online or get one at any of the participating restaurants.
The restaurants and bars didn’t need much convincing in order to take part, since the event is likely to help them bring in new customers.
“We should find some new faces that we haven’t seen before,” said Matthew Callahan, Director of Marketing with Snowdonia. “Once they see our pub we think they will be regulars.”
The organizers are kicking off the event with a launch party on Tuesday night at Astoria Bank, located at 37-16 30th Ave.
Tickets to participate in the 7 pm launch party cost $49 and attendees will be able to sample the food and drink of about a dozen restaurants.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun and there will be a lot of good food,” Paxton said.
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2 Comments
I think it was awesome! Let’s see if Mike can come up with something better, or is he just a negative critic who does nothing but complain about everyone else.
They expect 2000 registrants? That just demonstrates how crappy this event is. Come on Astoria you are a food lovers paradise. Come up with a restaurant week people actually want to participate in.