June 2, 2015 By Michael Florio
A popular Astoria restaurant has closed its doors in order to expand.
Sanford’s Restaurant, the well-known brunch spot located at 30-13 Broadway, has taken over the space next door in order to add a whiskey bar and 65 seats.
The restaurant will be closed for the next month while the two locations are connected. The new space had been occupied by Broadway Natural, a juice shop, which moved from 30-11 Broadway two doors down.
The interior wall separating the two business has already been demolished and the enlarged Sanford’s is expect to reopen in July, according to owners Christ and Gus Karalekas, who are brothers and life-long Astorians.
A 20-foot whiskey bar will be added to the new space. Christ said the bar will be stocked with more than 200 types of whiskey—including 80 bourbons and more than 50 single-malts.
“Whiskey is very popular now and we wanted to be able to offer it,” Christ said. He said that he wants to offer restaurant-goers the widest selection of whiskey in Queens. Sanfords had been offering craft beer and wine.
With the larger space, the restaurant will be able to seat 120 diners, up from 55.
Gus said that the additional space might also be available for private events.
The restaurant will be open from 9 am until around 3 am, Gus said.
“The closing time has not been set in stone, but that is what we are thinking,” he said.
The restaurant has been located at 30-13 Broadway since the 1930’s, and has been in the Karalekas family for the past 40 years, according to Christ.
2 Comments
The proliferation of alcohol in Astoria is stunning. It’s all bars and simple carbs nowadays. Recovering alcoholics and diabetes patients beware!
I hope they improve the acoustics in the new place. I enjoy their food, but the noise level can be deafening!