I took a trip to Queen Restaurant for my most recent "Who Goes There?" column on Eater.com. It's a place I've passed by a hundred times on my way to the subway or downtown Brooklyn, but never gone in. Partly because it was near a McDonald's (don't underestimate the power of guilt by association, where restaurants are concerned); partly because the shutters were often closed, discouraging inspection; partly because it kinda looked like a diner.
It had the best food of any of the "Who Goes There?" restaurants I've tried so far. It was also the most pricey. And also the most ugly. I'd love to advise them on a redo of the interior. I swear their business would skyrocket. But, then, I guess the place just wouldn't be the same.
I haven't been there in ages (back when I live around the corner on Schermerhorn). You're right about the food and the prices.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be packed every day for lunch, but I don't know if that's still the case.
I live on Court and Pacific and eat at that restaurant all the time. As you say, it's dog ugly, and pricey, but man that is some serious good Italian food. I was turned onto a restaurant from an Italian friend who grew up in the neighborhood and grew up going there after Church on Sunday. Apparently it was, and on many nights still is, THE place for old school Italian families to enjoy some traditional fare.
ReplyDeleteI lived within a ten minute walk back in the 90's, and I often wondered the same thing. They haven't changed a bit. Was it crowded when you went? I mean, who DOES go to Queen restaurant?
ReplyDeleteI used to live on State Street in the early 90s and have had many a meal at Queen. Good food.
ReplyDeleteAnyone miss My Little Pizzeria?
I went there about a month ago after hearing from locals that it was tops Italian in the nabe. It was. The old man running the front of the house said it was fifty years old, with the same chef(!). Location is slightly different from years past, though. It used to be where the Court St. Cinema now sits, with an adjacent pizzeria.
ReplyDeleteThe Queen Marie has been a family favorite since I was a child. In my opinion, it's the best Italian food in the city. The owners/Chefs, the Vitello brothers, came over from Italy and opened the place 50 years ago. It's pricey, but worth a trip on special occasions. Aside from the hardware store across the street, it's one of the few places that's survived on that little stretch of Court (having outlived Barney's drug store, the Court St. fish market, Julio's place, the Queen porno theater and my nursery school on the corner of Atlantic). If you happen to go on your birthday, make sure to tell the little Maitre d' (Frankie), he's got a tremendous operatic voice for a little man!
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