The owner of the Queen’s Room at 36-02 Ditmars Boulevard (formerly 60 Beans) has a close bond with her new bistro bar’s location.
Antonia Joannides, who took over the lease with business partner Yiannis Vasilas in April, says the apartment right above the redesigned bistro bar is where her family used to live when they first moved to Astoria from Cyprus in the 1950’s.
“Yiannis and I were looking for a place to open a bar/restaurant in Queens, and when I saw this exact space was available, I felt like it was meant to be,” she said.
Antonia initially kept the name “60 Beans” when she acquired the business but decided in August that she wanted to revamp the location and give it a different feel and name and no longer be entirely coffee-centric.
She closed the doors of the establishment on August 15th and reopened it as Queen’s Room in the first week of September.
“We wanted this space to be more than just a coffee shop,” Joannides explained. “We have maintained the casual daytime vibe but are now offering a full dinner menu and restaurant ambiance at night.”
Joannides hired Mike DeVito as chef, who has developed an extensive lunch and dinner menu since the reopening.
The menu includes items such as the “Queen’s Room Burger” that consists of a housemade blend of ground beef, swiss cheese, caramelized onions, bourbon BBQ sauce topped with buns from Rose & Joe’s Bakery on 22-40 31st St.
Other individual items they serve are a grilled cheese sandwich with goat cheese, mozzarella and bacon jam, half roast chicken, halloumi cheese fries, cacio e pepe pasta and an assortment of other sides.
In addition to the cuisine, the remodeled bistro will be serving a slew of new cocktails, such as the “Dark Queen,” a chocolate espresso martini, and the “Princess Aurora,” made with Tanqueray 10 gin, beets, aquafaba, lemon and thyme.
Happy hour pricing on drinks begins at 4:00 pm every day, with brunch served every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm along with $7 cocktails. The cafe will remain open every day until 8:00 pm.
Hours of operation at the Queen’s Room are:
Monday to Wednesday – 7:00 am to 11:00 pm
Thursday & Friday – 7:00 am to 1:00 am
Saturday – 8:00 am to 1:00 am
Sunday – 8:00 am to 11:00 pm
5 Comments
Under new ownership or the same old ownership, this is another case of that old Greek proverb, you know, the one about a guy called “Manolios”, who removed his underwear only to put it back on, turned inside-out! In other words, it’s the same old stinky thing! 2 thumbs way downtown!
Instead of being critical of one’s venture, how about being more constructive and suggesting something else that would be a good “fit” according to your expertise. And no, I am not the owner of the establishment… Two thumbs way downtown to you “file mou” ,(translates to my friend in Greek).
It used to be called 60 Blunts
Anyone remember when this was a newspaper/smoke shop?
Yes, it was my favorite place to play lotto and buy snacks for my kids.