Boqueria is an east coast Spanish tapas chain. The food here is quintessential Spanish shareables, including large paellas. We originally ate here with some friends in the Upper East, but we have also tried this restaurant in Flatiron. Reservations are fairly easy to secure, and it does get busy during core hours. If you have a decent sized party, this is probably a decent restaurant to bring folks that might be into family style sharing.

We came here around 8:30 PM on a rather cold Saturday evening. Typically there is a long line outside, but today people were crowded and bundled up inside. I put my name down for 2. The wait was approximately 40-50 minutes. We had contemplated leaving when we heard the wait time, but we decided to power through and wait. It was worth it. On July 1, 2023, we visited this restaurant again, and it has moved from it’s previous location.

I heard good raves about Dino BBQ from other people. The pickling of the salad is pretty good in general. In the trio of meat, you will find pork belly, chicken, and brisket. The brisket to me was just ok. I think Hometown was much better. The pork belly was also ok. Surprisingly, I liked the chicken the best. It was tender and full of flavor and not overcooked. The collard greens were not memorable and neither was the cornbread.

The place was pretty dead when I went, but the pizza was excellent. In some ways I actually liked this more than Lombardis. Got a margarita pizza with pepperoni on it, and it was tasty. Would love to go back and try their stromboli or calzones as well. Final Verdict It’s a nice addition to the sparse Long Island City neighborhood. The pepperoni pizza quality and ingredients tasted really good.

Stumbled onto this just walking around. Was interested in salted pepper pork chops. All we got for a quick afternoon snack was just pan fried rice cakes with pork and the pork chops. Nothing to write home about, but the food was good for what we ordered. Note that we did not order the soup dumplings because frankly there are a gazillion other places to order this, so why would you order it here?

Hirohisa apparently has been around for a while, but they just received a Michelin star again this year. With that in mind, I felt the price point $160 pp for the 9-course tasting + $70 sake pairing was a decent price for splurging for a special someone’s birthday dinner. Just a note: they do respect some allergy restrictions. My guest had lobster specific allergies, and they were able to accomodate easy.

This apparently received a coveted 1 Michelin Star at this time of writing. Went here for brunch, and I’d love to go back to try the dinner. Just like Casa Enrique, I find it pretty good but pricey for what you get. The horchata was tasty, but does not beat those horchata machines back in LA. Also, it was loaded with ice, so the amount of liquid you get is pretty small for $6.

Had the churrasco here, and it was pretty good. The chicken and sausage was good. Make sure the steak is ordered medium rare. We ordered medium, and it came out borderline medium well. The caipirinha was really good too. Get the passion fruit and guava. Avoid the kiwi.

This place’s beef noodles was just OK. I’ve had better. The portion size is just ok. I also got a side of bean curd, and it was a little on the salty side.

This place is CASH ONLY as well. Food was pretty good, and it seems like a nice date spot. I got the steak with bone marrow. The potato (au gratin style) was also pretty good. It also came with a side of brussel sprouts and bacon mish mash. The sauce was salty, but the steak was cooked nicely for a medium rare. Final Verdict I’d come back here again if I was near the South Village, had cash, and wanted to eat something French.